Eastern Railroad Discussion > Night shooting on the NS Chicago Line-Sandusky, Ohio

I pulled my first all nighter at Sandusky Amtrak just last night from 915 PM-7:00 AM.  I also took out my Nikon D3200 to see how she would do with night photography.  Wow is all I have to say, as I had it set for night photography.  Bigger goal was to get all four Amtrak trains, of which I am very surprised three of the four were nearly ON TIME. All night pictures were taken while my Nikon D3200 was on my tripod for steadiness and to eliminate the shake effect. 

The first two pictures are of the station looking westbound and eastbound for reference. 

I tried a third one to double check everything, then I was ready. 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

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Around 1242 here came Amtrak 30-the Eastbound Capital Limited.  Nearly on time to be exact, so I shot it coming in, however the pic after that one is one of the best ones yet. 

This is the one. I had the end of Amtrak 30 just sitting right in front of me, so I angled myself to pull off this pic.  I was pretty thrilled to see it just in the camera, and yes to me its one of the best I have ever done. 

From there it was just trying out to get streak pictures and to see how those would look.  So here are a few.  This last pic is the head end of a NORX coal train. 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

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Of course I have to add the streak shot of the NORX coal hoppers.  

Then an autorack showed up (guessing it wss a late 27N)  however I timed this pic just right to get the graffitti in it, 

I then tried to do thius-streak of an Ex Conrail locomotive.  I think it turned out quite well. 

 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

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Now I know how some of us feel about law enforcement, however this officer was truly one of the best and very professional. 

I also had a friend out with me named Greg. Local railfan from Huron (we have been friends for a good bit now).  I Had to run back in to hear what my scanner was saying, and was somewhat startled by Officer Gardin of the Sandusky Police Department. There is a reason I am posting this and his picture-with his permission.  I later found out he was just there to check the security of the facility, however once I made contact with him he knew myself and Greg were railfans.  He had no problem with us being out there, just wondered who had let me in, which I explained to him I was there since 9:15PM and that I had let the STS dispatch know I was there (I know the STS dispatch as well).  Between trains running, Greg, Officer Gardin, and myself shot the you know what for at least a good 30-40 Minutes just talking railroads, history, and other things.  I usually carry with me a small portfolio of my work to have just for such situations, and this time it payed off.  Officer Gardin had asked me about my pictures in the portfolio, as I was more than happy to explain them (through the conversation he was a bit of a railfan himself). It was great talking to Officer Gardin, and yes he is one of the good guys-never said Greg and I could not be there, in fact encouraged us to be out there.  I was pretty thrilled to hear a bit more of the history of the Amtrak Station through his eyes, which was quite interesting.  

We parted ways with his thanks and Officer Gardin saying to us both to be safe as Greg and I had a westbound to photograph coming in, as he said to me I had better get back to the streets.  One hell of a nice guy, and a huge credit to Sandusky Police.  

After Officer Gardin left, I did a few more streak shots, however the last two are the best of the rest.  Now if only I could get Officer Gardin's photograph to go vertical. 

I called it a night around 7 AM as Greg left around 5AM right after Amtrak 49 came in.  

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

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Very nice!   I have a D3200 as well.  What lense were you using?
Tom Coughlin
Stow, MA

tomcough Wrote:
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> Very nice!   I have a D3200 as well.  What lense
> were you using?
> Tom Coughlin
> Stow, MA

For these pictures I used my 18-55mm lens and kept it at 18mm, except the third one I zoomed to 55mm as a test.   I have a 55-200mm lens, but decided against using it.  

Many thanks Tom. 

Michael Fair
Royal Oak, MI

There you go.

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