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Jubilee

On the Anniversary of 25 Years Behind a Nikon

Practically everyone, of a certain age at least, and photographer or not, knows that singer-songwriter Paul Simon belted out the praises of Kodachrome film and a Nikon camera way back in 1973. The combination of the two could make for some powerful photography, in the hands of a capable photographer.

While I’d used Kodachrome 64 film almost exclusively since early 1991, I didn’t have a Nikon camera. I’d first used my dad’s Pentax K1000 surreptitiously and without his permission, and then a similarly handling Vivitar V2000 of my own. The Vivitar used K-mount (Pentax) lenses, so in addition to my own gear, I was still able to use dad’s glass, which he was much more willing to “loan out” than his beloved camera. 

Finally, in the late winter of 1995, in anticipation of my forthcoming graduation from college, my parents gifted me a Nikon FM2 SLR camera, along with an MD-12 motor drive and two Nikkor lenses. The motor drive was powered by a bank of 8 “AA” batteries; once connected to the camera with a lens, the combined assembly was heavy as a brick. But I didn’t care. At last, I had a Nikon camera. 

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Editor’s Notebook

A New Video

It’s been almost a year since we added a video to The Trackside Photographer’s YouTube channel, but we have a new video up and I hope you will take a minute to view it. It is a brief (less than five minutes) contemplation of the remains of Southern and Baltimore & Ohio railroads in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Strasburg Junction was once the hub of rail activity in the Valley, but is a ghost of its former self.

If you like this video, please give it a thumbs-up, and consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. We don’t upload new videos very often, but if you subscribe, at least you will know when we do.

And a Book

If you live near the Shenandoah Valley, or find yourself railfanning there, this book is highly recommended. Bob Cohen travels station by station down the Baltimore & Ohio from Brunswick, Maryland to Strasburg, Virginia and then follows the Southern Railway from Strasburg to Lexington, Virginia. Along the way, he tells about the history of each stop and provides historic photos of the stations, people and track structures. He also includes a listing of known Station Agents at each depot. I am indebted to Bob for the history of Strasburg Junction included in the video.

A Trip by Rail in the Shenandoah Valley is available at Ron’s Books.

Edd Fuller, Editor

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Cold!

The second trick operator at MO Tower wades through the knee-deep snow to take over the desk. MO didn’t last much longer. It was taken out of service by the next year.

Tuesday January 18, 1994 was forecast for frigid temperatures and there was a significant snowfall already on the ground. What better time to head up to the top of the Alleghenies at Cresson, Pennsylvania, to take a few train pictures? Listening to the radio on the drive up, the weatherman was warning people that the high that day would be negative 7 degrees. Pretty darn cold. 

I bundled up in my warmest parka, heavy gloves and insulated boots. Remembering mistakes I’d made in the past, I made a mental note to rewind and finished rolls of film very slowly. The extremely dry air at that temperature could cause a lot of static between the film stock and the felt seal on the film canisters. I’d seen lots of “lightning bolts” on people’s film at the lab. Explaining what happened with someone’s vacation pictures to some completely clueless customer was not fun.

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The High Bridge Called 
Devil’s Gate

A pictorial of the high bridge on 
The Georgetown Loop Railroad

In the Snow
A late Spring snowstorm a week before Memorial Day blankets the landscape around Devil’s Gate.
May 20, 2017

I was so happy when I bagged a photograph at Devil’s Gate taken in the snow with a narrow-gauge train crossing the bridge. Just think, Memorial Day was coming up and winter was not planning on leaving anytime soon.

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Fire and Steel

Warwood Tool

Warwood Tool is hard to find—heck, the first time that you came here a friendly lady at the local bakery had to give you directions to it. Built in 1905, way before the residential homes that now hide it, the shop building is long, low and gray, bound by the Ohio River and a rail trail. Warwood Tool is a maker of forged hand tools for the railroads, the mining industry and just about anyone else who uses their hands for their livelihood. The company was founded in 1854 over across the river in Martins Ferry, Ohio as a maker of agricultural tools, but Mr. Warwood brought his shop over to the West Virginia side and changed his focus with great success. Of course, times have changed. Competition from the US and abroad has cut into sales, making the last few years a struggle to survive, but a management change in 2020 has brought new life to the plant. The big hammer “Thumper” runs most every day and tools are still being painted a nice dark blue before going out the door.

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Editor’s Notebook

On the Rewards of Losing One’s Way

An unplanned venture down a dirt road in the rain and fog.

In this era of smartphones and GPS, it is not as easy to get lost as it used to be. Gone are the days of stopping to ask directions, and puzzling over a tattered gas station road map. With a full tank of gas and no place pressing to be, getting lost can be an exciting pleasure, a gateway to discovery. In a sense, being lost is the essence of adventure.

When I set out with the camera, I usually have a plan, but my best intentions are easily de-railed by an interesting side road, or an arrow on a weed-overgrown roadside sign pointing to the unknown. Following my nose, I am soon happily lost.

We discover new things not on a well-worn path leading to a known destination, but by being lost. Being lost in the landscape is a way to be lost in time, and who knows what there is to discover around the next bend.

Of course, the smartphone in your pocket relieves the anxiety of not being able to find the way back at the end of the day, but sometimes I think maybe I would be happy just to stay lost.

Edd Fuller – Photograph and text Copyright 2021

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