Steam & Excursion > SBHRS night photo session in Fullerton

Well last night was the first ever closed photography session with 3751 in Fullerton at the Fullerton Railroad Days grounds. I wasn't sure what to expect. I recall back in 2014 there was a night session in San Bernardino where the kind SBRHS turned on the headlight for an hour. And with fellow photographer Steve Crise involved (and I there was mention of Mike Massee in the email about the shoot but didn't see him) it was great. Like the night shoot in Pomona last year, Steve's provided strobe lighting and led the group in launching exposures as he triggered them. We had reenactors there in period costume to stage scenes around the locomotive. For me, it was all about the locomotive, and to my complete surprise the SBRHS guys lit the fire and provided steam to lights and appliances, blasting out the cylinder cocks, and blowing the whistle. It was really fantastic. I now have my all time favorite photo that I've ever taken of 3751. I just hope that they were able to make some money and didn't burn it all up in fuel and steam for the shoot. Thanks to SBRHS and Steve Crise!

1. My favorite shot. Ambient light, steam from everywhere.
2. Same thing but with flash light courtesy of Steve.
3. A tighter view, with strobes
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/16 22:27 by kurt765.

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4. Ghost train (Amtrak engine touched in by the flash as it went by)
5. Blowing the whistle
6. Reenactors and passing surfliner

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Shot #2 is my favorite! :)

7. Ambinet sheen on 6 foot 8 inch drivers.
8. Headlight beaming
9. More beaming



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/16 16:13 by kurt765.

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It was a real treat. When I arrived I thought "well how awesome would it be if they blew the whistle and sent steam out the cylinder cocks?" and that's exactly what they did.
Thanks, SBRHS! What a great way to spend a Saturday evening!

Fantastic photos, those are all fun to watch.

Nathan

GREAT set of photos!  Thanks for posting.

GK

Santa Fe steam power.... ready for the road.

Great Photos, lots of action with steam.  But who see the great safety violation?  Standing in he gage of track, within 15' from end of equipment. Some railroads now require you clear the end of equipment by 30 feet to walk around.  Sure don't want to give any young people bad idea to be photographed on the track. Never stand in foul and especially never turn your back to anything that can move.  We all know how many engines fall into turntable pits.  They weren't going to move either!  All three of you are to be in my office Monday morning- TM.

PS: If that is the Train Master in the center, the General Manager wants to see him.  That photo is so unnatural it should be hidden, never to be seen again. That crew conference always take place to the side of the train.  Who owns that track?  That could be a serious Railroad and FRA violation under present day law, which could require the locomotive to have 4-point protection and even be skated to make that photo safe.  I sure would not want to be the person who set that up in front of a live locomotive. Some movie people are in jail for taking liberties like that and some are dead. When are we going to learn not to foul 4' from the rails?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/16 13:44 by PlyWoody.

Taking things a little too seriously aren't we PlyWoody? If you look closely at photo 7 you can se ethere are wedges (whatever they are called) installed around most if not all of the wheels on 3751. Also there's people in the cab operating her, making sure she doesn't move. Also she's connected to two Amtrak diesels that to my knowledge were completely shut off and I assume had their brakes on. Also we're in an enclosed area on a fenced off siding under direct supervision. So barring some divine intervention, nothing was going to move anywhere. But reading your post I guess we should have all stayed home.

Lighten up PlyWoody. 

Excellent shots Kurt, hats off to the SBRHS!!!

Regards,
Burlington John
 

Those are wonderful pictures.   My favorites are the first two.  No. 1 is a prize winner.
John Bromley

Kurt, that first photo is surely unique, very different, and I love it.  Thanks for sharing all of them with us.

Thanks for the feedback! Just added #9 above. So many great pics from last night it's hard to choose.

Great photos, Kurt!  All are really wonderful, but I agree that #1 is really unique.

Rich

There that word ASS-U-ME that gets people killed when it is used on the railroad.  Maybe I am over sensitive, but it still looks unnatural to have crews standing in the gage, in foul. .If the hand brakes are on everything, including the parking brakes on the diesels, chocked wheels and cylinder cocks open, and crew in cab and blue flagged, then fine. The crew conference is always done next the the side of the train. Employees are still not allowed to be within 30 feet from the end of equipment.  Being professional is part of the requirements of the act of using someone private property. One photo to take down, the rest are great. The FRA spells the distance between rails as gage, measured by a track gauge tool, or ruler.

VERY NICE collection of images!!!

Old Bob out in Lost Wages

Woody, don't tell the TM that someone on the BNSF put the stairs into and out of the display engine there right into the gauge of the rails. Jeez man.

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PlyWoody Wrote:
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> There that word ASS-U-ME that gets people killed
> when it is used on the railroad.  Maybe I am over
> sensitive, but it still looks unnatural to have
> crews standing in the gage, in foul. .If the hand
> brakes are on everything, including the parking
> brakes on the diesels, chocked wheels and cylinder
> cocks open, and crew in cab and blue flagged, then
> fine. The crew conference is always done next the
> the side of the train. Employees are still not
> allowed to be within 30 feet from the end of
> equipment.  Being professional is part of the
> requirements of the act of using someone private
> property. One photo to take down, the rest are
> great. The FRA spells the distance between rails
> as gage, measured by a track gauge tool, or ruler.

OK, but.  Isn't this a "display area", with all accessing turnouts and tracks blue-flagged, locked, and portable derailers in place? Isn't it all "fenced off" to accommodate the visiting public to "wander around? I can't tell you how many times I've been involved with 4449, 844 and 3985 "on display", where EVERYTHING is properly tied down, blue-flagged (including the throttle in the cab of the locomotive), turnouts locked, and tracks also flagged.

Now, concerning the "staged photo", I must admit that I don't care for how the men are posed either, since it just doesn't look real compared to how I remember seeing the real thing, back in the late 1940s thru the mid 1950s. I also do not recall EVER seeing a railroad official in a "white suit"! 

I guess Woody just can't let it go.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/16 08:36 by mt19a.