Ahhh, sunshine comes back in full force again. A nice change from the dreary Monday I had yesterday. A great morning for a walk and of course some photos. Today would not only bring Providence & Worcester train NR-2, but also a regional Amtrak passing through Groton, CT. But along with the good came a bit of not-so-good. In my effort to slow myself down by shooting with the Rolleiflex TLR, I forgot some basics. In the spirit of the new Simpsons movie – D’OH!
Well, today’s walk woud end up in two parts – one of which was more of a sprint than a walk. I headed out at my normal time with my sights on Red Top this morning. I figured with the nice blue sky, a shot at Red Top with the 6×6 was in order. As I started north, the scanner came alive with NR-2 reporting that they were south of MP12 and about 15 minutes from the sub base. Hmmm, that would cut it close, especially if I hit a few red lights along the way.
Well, Mr. Murphy was out this morning – I did hit those red lights, and as I got to the parking spot at Red Top I heard NR-2 call that they were south of MP5. Woah, they were making good time! So a quick sprint to my spot near Red Top led me to drop a lens cap from my digital. Off to a less than stellar start. And here came the next mistake.
I opted to get a telephoto shot of NR-2 rolling past the Red Top sign, then switch to the TLR for the wide angle shot. Bad idea. But first I had to meter for the TLR shot. So I swapped the telephoto for the wide angle, and took my reading. Quickly adjusted the TLR to match, then swapped back to the telephoto on the digital. Raised it to my eye, and fired off a burst of 3 shots. I got an OK shot of the train at the Red Top sign out of the sequence.
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And I dropped the 20D right on cue to my side where it hung safely on my shoulder. I looked in the waist level finder of the Rollei, confirmed the focus, and just as the train hit the spot I wanted it at, I pressed on the shutter release. But nothing happened. I forgot to unlock the shutter release safety!!! Damn!!! Oh, well, I got a frame of the train passing by, and a shot of the trailing power on the TLR. Not what I intended. Oh, well, live & learn. So I grabbed the 20D and shot a few more frames of the train rolling across the causeway.
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A quick jump down to track level got me my lens cap back. Then it was back to the car, while muttering swears the whole way. Maybe I could save a bit of face by getting a shot around Fairview or across the Thames River drawbridge. As I got closer to the train to the south of the sub base on Military Highway, NR-2 called the Amtrak Shore Line dispatcher for the OK to head to track 4 in Groton. That meant they were heading over to Tilcon. Maybe this was the shot to make up for the missed one at Red Top. Hopefully I’d have time to get over there. The dispatcher gave me some good news – 171 was in the picture, so NR-2 would have to wait.
As I pulled into the spot east of the Groton tower, 171 hit the Midway detector. Perfect timing – they should be here in a couple minutes. So I got to my spot, did a quick metering and this time got a telephoto and a TLR shot.
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As soon as 171 hit the bridge and cleared the block, the dispatcher gave NR-2 permission to pass the stop signal and proceed to track 4. While that was happening, I was swapping rolls of 120 format Fuji Provia 100F in the TLR. Something I haven’t had to do trackside in some time. Moments later the train was clawing its way onto track 4, and my TLR was ready.
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And of course followed by a TLR shot which you’ll see later in the week.
I figured on a couple going away shots – one of each end of the train. But I did these in black & white because of the high contrast from shooting into the sun. I think they work out well like this…
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But that’s just me. 🙂
Again, stay tuned for all the medium format slide shots once I get them back from the lab and scanned in – probably later this week.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
