Nostalgia & History > Moody steam from Emil Albrecht

I’m finding out it’s possible to get to know someone you’ve never met in person, just by scanning his slides. Sorta. Mr Emil Albrecht had a unique way of using his camera. He was apparently fearless in pushing the artistic side of this hobby called railfan photography. Emil definitely wasn’t afraid to shoot something other than the standard ¾ wedgies that everybody (& their dogs) were shooting. And since he started shooting color slides very early in the game he naturally caught a lot of steam action in less than “perfect ¾ wedgie conditions”. Without meeting the man, I feel like our comparative shooting styles were very similar.

I’ll go out on a limb and say the scene below shows a helper crew returning to base, maybe? That said, I’ll let someone else speculate on actual operational details. Instead I’ll concentrate on the artsy-crafty side of this image. I celebrate the idea that Mr Albrecht even took this shot in the first place. Most shooters of the day wouldn’t “waste” a slide in such dreary, overcast conditions. But in my opinion it’s exactly those conditions that make this a great shot. I’m assuming the original slide was Kodachrome. This Ektachrome copy slide was made in 1980 when Jim Watson duped a whole trainload of Emil’s sides. I’ll admit to some Photoshop manipulation here. It shouldn’t be surprising that a 40+ year old EK copy slide needs a bit of photo-editing help. I had to enhance the color a bit. And I could have gone a little deeper with noise reduction. But in the final result I think the sky noise adds a little to the overall moody nature of Emil’s original shot. The focal point is of course, the 3716’s headlight. Even though the tracks pull your eyes down and to the right, the low steam plume trailing back and the rise of the background foothill work together to draw your attention right back into the scene. Needless to say, I think the composition here is really good!

And from a retired railroader’s experience I can just imagine the hogger and his fireman were bundled up tight against this chill-to-the-bone day, passing the ol’ coffee thermos back & forth. I know I would be...

1. UP 3716 (helper??) is drifting by somewhere in Weber Canyon, UT. Date estimation: Circa 1952.
Ektachrome copy slide by Emil Albrecht, from the late James W. Watson collection

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199
Remembering the late Emil Albrecht

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Lance - great job enhancing this image.  When I saw this shot, I almost reached for a jacket and hat.  This shot captures the fact that railroading goes on in all weather conditions.  Thanks.

Steve Salamon
Valley City, OH

Imagine shooting that at ASA 64 (maybe 25? Not sure when ASA64 slide film came out...). You'd almost have to open the back of the camera to get enough light in.
 

march_hare Wrote: > ... You'd almost have to open the back of the camera to get enough light in ...

Yipper! That's what makes me think this engine was just drifting by Emil at the time. A windy day would easily explain the plume laying down like it is. He did get a pretty fair amount of motion blur in his early Kodachrome days. Undoubtedly @ ASA 10. But Emil sure wasn't afraid to "push that envelope"! And we're the beneficiaries of that courage... :^)

Lance/199