NJ and PA at night

I’m down in New Jersey for work this week taking a training class that unfortunately runs until after sunset.  So I’ve had a few chances to play with the Lumedyne at night.  So far I’ve been able to get out twice – once on the CSX Trenton Line in NJ and once on the Norfolk Southern Reading Line in Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday night I decided to head out for a bit and see what I could shoot.  I figured that I’d head down the CSX Trenton Line and see if I could catch any trains.  So I set my sights on Sunnymead Rd. in Hillsborough, NJ.

When I got there, I could see a glow on the horizon to the northeast, and the signal there was showing a green for a westbound out of Port Reading Junction.

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And after a little bit of a wait, a work extra came rolling by

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Then the scanner and signals went dark – it didn’t sound like anything was coming my way, so I decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.

Wednesday night I did get out, but nothing was working out – most of the roads I use to get down by the tracks were closed due to flooding from the big rain/snow storm that came through.  So it was back to the hotel with nothing new in the camera.

Thursday night was much more productive – damned cold & windy, but productive.

I had read about a railfan pavilion out in Macungie, PA on the Norfolk Southern Reading Line, so I looked it up, and it was a little more than an hour from the office.  So I figured it would be worthwhile heading out there and seeing what kind of action goes by there under cover of darkness.

I found the park fairly easily, and pulled into the parking lot.  Just then on the scanner I heard NS train 65J trip the detector a few miles east of me.  OK, guess I had better set up!

It was a cold and windy night, with gusts hitting around 40MPH, so I was really glad I bought a sand bag to weigh down the Lumedyne on the light stand (don’t want to repeat the Hell Night on the P&W).  I quickly set up the light as I could see 65J’s headlights heading towards me.  I picked a quick position without doing a test shot, and then the train came into view.

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Came out OK.  So I looked around for some other angles.  After figuring out what I wanted to shoot, I retreated to the warmth of the car to wait for the next train to come into range.

It didn’t take that long, because another westbound – 15T – hit the detector to the east.  Back out into the cold I went, this time positioning the Lumedyne in a different spot.  A few moments later I got 15T barreling past me.

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After he cleared, and I got back in the car – did I mention wind chills were around zero? – I picked up the detector to the west of me, but this time for track 2, which meant an eastbound was heading my way.

A little while later NS train 39G came into view.  This time I used a second flash to add a little more light on the pavilion, as well as the flag.

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And with them rolling off into the darkness, I headed back to the car to warm up a bit.

A little while later, another eastbound tripped the detector.  This time it was 16T heading my way.  I took the second flash, and moved it inside the pavilion to give a little more light on the side of the power as it passed by.

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And back into the car I went.

But this time the scanner was silent…for a little bit.  Then I heard the dispatcher talking to 68Q – an eastbound loaded unit ethanol train.  Apparently he was having power problems, and couldn’t maintain track speed.  I figured I’d stick around for this one.

A little while passed, and 68Q tripped the detector to the west, so I headed back out into the cold and set up for another eastbound.  I did the same layout as the previous shot – Lumedyne behind me and close to the tracks, and the other flash inside the pavilion for the side.  They soon came into view, and I got this.

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I also decided to get a shot of the loads rolling past

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And got creative with the last car passing by the pavilion

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With numb hands (I was an idiot and forgot my gloves at home), and the clock reading 10pm, I decided to call it a night and make the 1 hour+ ride back to the hotel.

Thanks for looking!
Tom