Tacoma Rail GP20 - Old Loco, Old Camera

Tacoma Rail has one of the more colorful paint schemes in Western Washington. Evidence is in this photo of their Red & White GP20 against dull grey rail cars. Some sources say that TMBL 2006 is a GP10 while others say GP20. Generally speaking, it's older than 1963 and it has four axles - which at the very least makes is an EMD GP series locomotive. Look around North America and you'll find Short Lines, Regionals, Rail Museums, and the like still running these soldiers of steel. The GP series locomotives were built between 1953 and 1994, with the GP60 being the most recent (and possibly final) version.

Look at the photo and you'll see a beautiful excursion train. But don't look at the graininess of the photo. Yep I said grain, as opposed to "noise." Noise would indicate that I am using a digital camera. Grain? That means I shot this photo old school, with a 35mm camera! Say hello to my trusty 1970s era Vivitar 220SL. This shot was taken through a 175mm lens. The camera kit includes elements of my late grandfather's photo kit; his camera body wore out about 8 years ago - my Dad said he took thousands of photos with it - so I replaced body with an identical one off eBay for a whopping $45. It even has an internal light meter. I have lenses ranging from 28mm to the 175, plus some kind of "2x converter" lens that apparently turns my 175 into a 350. Haven't tried that one yet but I'm told it degrades the image somewhat and also doesn't allow the same amount of light through. We'll see what it can do on a nice day sometime.

By taking this and some other photos with the 35mm SLR camera, I've rediscovered the interactive nature of photography in this old school kit that I don't feel with my digital. Maybe I'm sentimental because it was my Grandfather's, or maybe I just remember the enjoyment of taking pictures with a hand-me-down 35mm (now deceased) that served me well for about 8 years when I was younger. My Olympus C4040 is a 4 megapixel model that has been truck-strong and versatile, but as I have become more experienced with it I've discovered it's not as flexible as I would like. Not the fault of any camera, the big enemy in the Pacific Northwest is poor lighting. Finding any sort of situation with the right amount of light around here is difficult. At least with a film camera I can work more with the shutter speed than I can with my digital. That's why suddenly my old Vivitar has made it back into my kit. I'll probably try slide film, tripod, and remote shutter release the next time I head out; this would allow me to try even slower shutter speeds, at least on static subjects.

Posting railroading photos on the Internet has nurtured my desire to experiment with the equipment I have, since I really don't have the budget to replace any of it. Think about all the "off-brand" SLR cameras that may be languishing on shelves or garage sales; they may not be a Pentax, Nikon, or Olympus, but they are cheap and can take good photos with some practice.