Steam & Excursion > Steam Photo Charters

I'm signed up for Pete Lerro's New Hope and Ivy steam photo charter planned for May 16...followed by a similar event on the Black River & Western the next day. I don't work for Pete and this isn't an advertisement on his behalf. But we are currently about 18 short of the number needed to make the charter run. Detailed info is on his web site. There are only a limited number of us who participate in such events...wanting to recreate steam as it was in years gone by with prototypical consists and without the obnoxious ever present diesel's and safety vests getting in the way. Unfortunately, Pete's event follows a similar charter on the Western Maryland by a week. And the Cass Railfan Weekend also overlaps. For those of us who aren't on the east coast, it would be great to have these events fall in such a way as to be able to participate in all three within a one week period. It's hard to justify the time and expense of a trip for just a one or two day event. If the WM and New Hope charters were a day apart, that would make both accessible. I'm pretty sure while each organizer has his loyal list of guys who won't go with anyone else, there are also many like myself who don't care who the organizer is, as long as they supply a quality product. I think each would get more participants if they ran one following the other with a travel day in between. Although there are probably good reasons why the specific dates were selected (like each railways tourist operating schedule), perhaps some coordination between organizers would help to benefit both and their respective clients to provide a realistic steam experience which is becoming more and more difficult to find. This was evident in the coordinated effort between Lerro Productions and Far Rail Tours last fall in Colorado. Without each other's clients, there may not have been enough participants to make that event happen. Anyway, just my thoughts. Lets hope enough sign up to make the New Hope event happen.

I can tell you as one who has run steam photo charters for 30 years now, it is very difficult to put on multiple events on different railroads just a few days apart. I have done it but here is what you run into.

First, you have allow for time to set up the trains before the event. If the same person is running all the events then that person has to be there at least the day before to set it up. That is not easy.

Next, you will have to run some of the trips mid-week to give folks a chance to travel between railroads. The mid-week trips are MUCH harder to sell out than those on a weekend.

Finally, when you run multiple trips there will be MANY who wan to be on one and not another. This makes the reservations for those multiple trips another nightmare.

These are some just a few of the hurdles faced when you try to run multiple trips together.

Martin

From what I've seen Pete's trips are excellent, that being said, it's still not real. A reenactment
is just that.

The real problem now is the market is over saturated, especially with the Norfolk Southern running main line steam (whether or not you like the "obnoxious diesels"). There is only so much money out there in the railfan community and right now there are many folks riding, chasing, and photographing the main line NS steam. The charters are nice but expensive and many fans can only afford one of these per year. Just my thoughts from many years of past experiences.

As I said, Pete's charters seem to be the Cream of the Crop, and you pay for what you get.
The comment about the amount of money to go around is well taken but generally the people
who patronize Mr Lerro can usually afford to do so.

The photo charters interest me as something different to do and I would pay for that opportunity and priviledge. The problem is I'm not a great photographer nor do I have any overly great desire to become one. If they were to offer a DVD or something to the participants of the "best of .." photos from the event, I'd be inclined to spend the money to go to and support such events.

Though there are generally 365 days in a year, there are only a
limited number which work well for a charter. The priority is
first based on opportunity - colors & weather, typically. Then
availability - can it run, is it available for us. Then, con-
flicts - is it a wedding anniversary, lol - is there a holiday
(Mother's Day, ect) or a big sporting event or another major
event on the same day (including someone else's charter)? Last,
can we schedule the charter with another event nearby, either
our own, or coordinate with someone else.

Pete, and it would seem many others, try to package multiple
events together for the reason you mention. One event is a
draw to another, whether it's our own, or someone else's event
though it can be risky scheduling too many events within the
same time period as it can then become either or for the more
expensive charters.

I can say for a fact that Pete, Craft and Martin have all worked
together when scheduling nearby events and all three keep an eye
on Carl's WMSR trip dates.

Utopia is when all those pieces come together.

Still - food for thought, every operator should be checking
dates for conflicts:

http://www.railserve.com/steamspecials.html
http://svsfilm.com/diary/
http://steamcentral.com/schedules/



Odd you should use this year as your example as you could actually
work in Carl's WMSR charter on the 11th, Pete's New Hope charter on
the 16th, Pete's BR&W charter on the 17th and still make it to Cass
to catch at least one full day there on the 19th.

/Mitch

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From what I've seen Pete's trips are excellent,
> that being said, it's still not real. A
> reenactment
> is just that.


But it IS real! In the past railroads using equipment
such as steam engines and early diesels made their
money hailing freight and passengers. The equipment
that escaped the scrapper and did not find a comfortable
home at a museum continue to earn their keep hauling
passengers (and in some cases, freight). During a
charter, THE RAILROAD IS GETTING PAID TO HAUL
FREIGHT once more. The only thing that is fake is the
opportunity to see it. When you are standing there
and watching (and of course, shooting it), that is
"real". And we're not talking fish in a bucket. The
best and most proficient (and lucky) will come away with
images not attained by others although all will come away
with something that roughly 7,108,462,738 people will
have missed.

You don't have to be a professional to get good pics,
though it helps to know what you are doing as the the
lighting gets tricky (back-lighting, night shots, sil-
houettes, ect.,) but what better opportunity to learn
then a charter with multiple runbys in quick succession
surrounded by a bunch of pros?

/Mitch

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From what I've seen Pete's trips are excellent,
> that being said, it's still not real. A
> reenactment
> is just that.


What, in 2013, would classify as real? Would a Class 1 railroad have to keep a steam locomotive in service for actual revenue freight as just another locomotive to be considered real? It seems only 844 could be considered "real" since it's never actually been retired then, right? I guess I just don't follow what you're saying.

Strasburg's mixed is very real, the days when Yolo Shortline used to haul freight to West Sac behind the 0-6-0
were very real and there are many other examples. The one difference is the spontaneity and the fact that it's not
a staged event. You don't have to agree with me and if you all did then Pete would be out of business. I'm just
saying from a personal point of view it's just not the same. It's like fishing in stocked lakes, sure you catch a
fish but hey so could anyone.

This is a shot from one of Petes charters, now where Else could you see this? His charters are worth every bit of money.

---

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Strasburg's mixed is very real, the days when Yolo
> Shortline used to haul freight to West Sac behind
> the 0-6-0
> were very real and there are many other examples.
> The one difference is the spontaneity and the fact
> that it's not
> a staged event. You don't have to agree with me
> and if you all did then Pete would be out of
> business. I'm just
> saying from a personal point of view it's just not
> the same. It's like fishing in stocked lakes, sure
> you catch a
> fish but hey so could anyone.

But with certain charters, how often would you ever get the chance to see what's being presented...in real life? For example, with the New Hope charter, you'll get to see steam on the entire portion of the line, not just to Lahaska. #40 rarely, if ever, goes past Lahaska on her normal trips. This is an opportunity to not only see it on the rest of the line, but get the maximum amount of photo opportunities for the time allowed. If you were out chasing a normal train, you may only get one shot at that location, once during the day/weekend/year. This way, you get multiple shots, multiple angles, multiple locations, oftentimes of rare consists on rare trackage. Extremely well worth it to me.

Jim Lipnitz
Morrisville, PA
Big Jim Video Productions

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Strasburg's mixed is very real, the days when Yolo
> Shortline used to haul freight to West Sac behind
> the 0-6-0 were very real and there are many other
> examples.

rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's like fishing in stocked lakes, sure
> you catch a fish but hey so could anyone.


There you go - "hey so could anyone" even in 1940, 1950,
or at Yolo Shortline or even Strasburg's mixed freights

Charters simply make it easier to do so. To relive an
experience that is as close to the real deal as possible
when it would otherwise not be possible.


rehunn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The one difference is the spontaneity and the fact
> that it's not a staged event.

If the Circus Train is due at 10:15 AM, is it then not
"staged"? An Acela at 6:55 AM in Morrisville? An NS
OCS at Horseshoe Curve?

Let's say it's 1952 and you stumble upon a group of
friends waiting for a MILW steam powered freight train
to run past. Now, instead, it's 2013 and you stumble
unknowingly upon a freight photo charter. What's the
difference? Photographically - nothing. The experience,
identical.

If spontaneity is your thing, just leave the photoline.
That's how some of us get some of our best photos. Or
stay in the photoline but shoot a silhouette - or, I
don't know... a pan.

I hear what your saying but it's a small price to pay
for time travel.

/Mitch

Rehunn may prefer the Strasburg freight runs if they transferred the cargo to era-appropriate cars, cost thereof negating the reason to do these runs. Lighten up. I wish I had the bucks to go enjoy the Strasburg doing its regular day to day routine of making a lot of folks happy. As a side note, I got to ride on trains powered by the 1223 when I was but a sprout and that's what made it easy to volunteer at the NMOT in St. Louis (yes it was NMOT at the time, I was just out of high school) and later work on the restoration crew of Frisco 1522. I enjoy seeing the fruits of those who venture out to see the WMSR, NNRY, W&W and all the other lines that offer the opportunity to embrace for a short while the opportunity to see and photograph what has been gone for years.

Just my coupla cents-
MWP in STL

I would wager that both the timing of the New Hope charter and the fact that there have been several of them done in the not-too-distant past may very well be the cause of the low numbers.

I've done a few of Pete's, two of John Craft's, one of Martin's and they're all worth it.

One thing I cant understand though, is this fascination with Strasburg's "Union Line" box car. If the train is supposed to represent the 1950's, a box car that screams "1910" might not be the best car to put up front.

Dave

rehunn- If paying some money, to get results is not your thing...don't go, stay away. I for one have been on charters of Craft, Hanson, Lerro, Franz, Goodheart etc. I love them all! I usually get superior results, better than just photographing a tourist train. I'm in! Sign me up!!!

Ianmck425 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is a shot from one of Petes charters, now
> where Else could you see this? His charters are
> worth every bit of money.

This is just your opinion!! The Strasburg R.R. in Pennsylvania is now hauling revenue freight using steam engines from time to time. This is the REAL thing today, and one can stage an old time freight train there using old freight cars and staging old trucks and autos and create a scene in a similar manor along with the Amish buggies and the Amish farms as backdrops. One can charter a steam train at Strasburg and the cost is well worth it too. So you can create a beautiful photo if you desire. This is a place where you can see this.

And for the record, it's Richard E Hunn aka rehunn and this thing isn't about money, I'd spend one of Pete's
charters on a 35MM slide if it was something I needed or wanted. I have nothing against the photo freight
thing, I'm just not that level of foamer.

I can vouch for Pete Lerro's trips too - highly recommended !!

Wish I was closer so I could attend the upcoming May events, but living on the left coast makes it a long flight (my arms get tired) to the MD area, else I'd be there for sure !

Mike

Reminds me that a number of years ago, an editor at TRAINS Magazine
(no longer associated with the mag or Kalmbach) claimed in print
that all modern steam operations, regardless of who, what or where,
were "highly contrived."

You can imagine the feelings that engendered in those who make things
happen, as opposed to those who simply sit and opine. He didn't last
long as editor.