So, as I had alluded to in my previous post, I had plans for Sunday evening.  And those plans were to meet up with friend & fellow photographer Nick Palazini to do a little night shooting.  We were going to continue our experiment of shooting two cameras at the same time along with synchronized flashes (our last attempt didn’t go well – here’s the story).  Hopefully this time there would be no equipment ending up broken.

The plan for the evening was to meet up in North Smithfield, RI, combine cars, and head out from there to see what we could catch.

Once we met up, and moved my gear into Nick’s car, we headed north.  Our first stop would be the Blackstone River just south of the P&W’s Worcester yard where we should be able to catch PRWO just before they pulled into the yard.

Nick figured we had 10 minutes to set up before PRWO came into the picture, so after a quick survey of the scene, we decided on an angle and started setting up the cameras and lights.  After a few quick tests (that didn’t quite work), PRWO came into view to the south.  So I ended up getting a single shot off with just my camera of the train crossing the river.

Well, we were off to a not-so-stellar start.  Not from a picture standpoint, but rather on the technical end of things.  Well, actually, the picture wasn’t ideal either – I wish I had used the fisheye instead of the 18-50.  But I’ll have a chance to rectify that problem with WODA later on.

So with PRWO safely tucked into the yard, we started thinking about our options.  With just under two hours before WODA was in the picture, we decided to break things down and head over to North Grafton to shoot the Grafton & Upton equipment there.  We should have enough time to shoot everything there and get back in time.

When we got to North Grafton, we shot the equipment in the yard there – a pair of GP9s, including the former CN unit, a caboose and a CF7.

With those in the camera, we packed up and headed back to Worcester to catch WODA coming out of the yard.

When we got back to the Blackstone River bridge, we could hear WODA getting their train together.  This time, though, we managed to get the cameras synced up with the flashes and get passable shots.  And also, this time I strapped the fisheye on the camera for my shot.

Not long after we were set up, WODA came into view, and we bagged the shot of them crossing the river

Not too bad…  Now on to our next stop – which was just outside of the Londsdale Yard Limits in Cumberland, RI.

On the way, Nick called Nate Lafond to see if he wanted to check out how we were doing the shots.  We also took the opportunity to put in an order for some coffee – we figured we didn’t have time to make a stop at Dunkin’ D0nuts (thanks for the coffee Nate!)

We met up just north of the yard limits and set up the next shot, and waited.  Not long after setting up, we heard horns to the north, and after a few minutes, WODA came into view.

Not bad…a bit tight, but it works…  Then we packed things up, and bid farewell to Nate – he was heading back home, and we were heading to our next, and final stop – Providence.

We set up at ORMS interlocking, just outside of the Providence Amtrak Station, figuring we had about 10 minutes before WODA showed up.

After considering a few angles, we settled on one and set things up.  Soon after that we saw headlights coming our way, followed by WODA asking Amtrak for permission through Providence Station.  With permission to head through, the train came into view, and I took the shot – but the first one didn’t fire the flashes or Nick’s camera.  So I hit it again, and this time everything fired…except that Nick’s ended up firing too late – part of the train was out of view.  I was a bit wider, so the train didn’t move out of the frame for me…

Well, another night packed with learning – but at least this time there was no broken equipment, thankfully!  As WODA continued south, we broke down the equipment, then made our way back to Smithfield.  After transferring my gear back to the car, I made my hour long trek back home in the wee hours…but things were well worth the drive.

Thanks for looking!
Tom