Nights on the Valley

Now time to start making up some ground on the post landscape.  Starting on November 25, 2011 the Valley Railroad began running their popular – and often sold out – North Pole Express trains.  Because of their popularity, they had planned on running two steam-powered trains at the same time each night – one with veteran 2-8-2 No. 40, and the other with the newly completed 2-8-2 No. 3025.  Through November and December I got out to photograph a number of these runs, getting shots of both 40 and 3025 at various points along the Valley Line, between Essex and Chester, CT.  And I’ve pulled together a recap of those shots here, in one post.  This is going to be one of my short on words, long on photos post.  So grab a beverage, and check out the shots.

Lighting used for nearly all of these shots was my two Lumedyne flashes, triggered by Paul C. Buff CyberSync radio triggers.  There was one shot at Essex Station that was lit with ambient light, and a little help from Kevin Madore’s flashlight.  Feel free to post any questions or comments below in the comments section – or drop me a line if you’d like.

Thanks for looking!
Tom