Today’s artifact is from 1889 – a special Harlem Division brochure advertising railroad specials for the fair, including fare and admission. Held in White Plains at that time, eventually the land on which the fair was held was sold and led to several years of dormancy.

While the horse racing is, of course, to be expected, don’t forget the big event – the BABY SHOW! All the handsome babies of Westchester county are competing, after all!

The fair also featured a dog show and sale…

The main event – horse racing at the fair.

Midway at the Westchester County Fair, circa 1900. Photos from the Library of Congress.

After several years of dormancy, the fair was revived in the ’40s before going defunct again, only to be revived in the ’80s, and again later cancelled.

Dedication of the “New York Central System” bomber, attended by railroad president Frederick Williamson (left). Photo from the October 1942 issue of the Central Headlight.

The first New York Central-sponsored plane. Photo courtesy b26.com.

The New York Central’s first twin-engine bomber, named simply “The New York Central System” was purchased with the funds raised by the railroad and its employees – $170,062.06 in total, money delivered on April 2, 1942 to the US Treasury. The idea was conceived by the employees of the Electric Locomotive shop in Collinwood, Ohio, who proposed small paycheck deductions from willing participants in order to fund the purchase. Nearly 90% of the Central’s workforce donated to this and other wartime fundraisers. Sadly, the bomber was shot down in February 1943 over North Africa after only 13 missions. However, determined railroad employees decided to raise further funds and purchased a replacement bomber, which was named the “New York Central II.” Though it was not unheard of for a group to sponsor a plane, this was the first time a group had come together a second time to purchase a replacement after the first’s loss.

The “New York Central II” – ground crew member and furloughed New York Central employee Anthony Gibbs is at left.

New York Central II crew briefing. Photo courtesy b26.com.

The replacement bomber had a far longer history, running 103 missions before being shot down. Updates on its status were frequently sent and published in the railroad’s magazine by Anthony Gibbs, furloughed NYC employee and member of the ground crew that serviced the bomber (he was also the son of John Gibbs, an electrician at Harmon). The New York Central II’s first mission was over Italy as part of the Battle of Monte Cassino, and her last was over Winnweiler, Germany on January 1st, 1945 after being shot down by anti-aircraft fire. In total, the New York Central II flew 410 operational combat hours, and dropped 322,000 pounds of bombs on Axis targets across Italy, France, and Germany.

Illustration of the “New York Central II” by Mark Styling. The runaway train is an embellishment by the artist.

Witnesses that saw the shoot-down of the plane also saw at least four crew members bail out, and thus it was hoped that at least some of the crew had survived.

I first observed plane no. 68 when fire broke out on the left side of the ship, while the plane was still in the formation. It broke away to the left of the formation in a gradual glide. I saw two men leave the rear of the plane in rapid succession while the plane was at 10,000 feet just after it broke formation. Then seconds later a third man left the rear of the ship at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. Five seconds later a 4th man left the ship. I observed flame in front of this man when he bailed out but I cannot say if his chute was afire or not, or just what was burning. The flame lasted for 3 or 4 seconds and went out, after which time I lost sight of the ship and the 4 men who bailed out. I only observed the chutes of the first two men who bailed out to open. The last two I did not observe.

The plane stayed in a dive until it reached an altitude of about 3000 feet. At this altitude the plane went into a steep dive and spiraled to the ground. At 1300 hours the plane crashed at Fischbach near Pirmasens.

–Statement from 2nd Lt Joseph H. Herbert, Air Corps, 37th Bomb Squadron

 

Pilot Joseph Thomas Schoeps and Co-Pilot Hugh S. Teitsworth, Jr. were both killed, along with bombardier Camillo W. Tensi, and navigators Edward J. Purdy and Thomas F. Rawson. Schoeps was eventually laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, Teitsworth, Purdy, and Rawson were buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in France. Engineer Gunner Arlyn L. Lones survived the crash, but was immediately executed by the Nazis upon landing. He was buried in Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, in Greeneville, TN. Radio Gunner Jimmie A. Reesha and Armorer Gunner Gerald R. Draper both survived and were brought to POW camps.

Draper was held for over a year, originally at Stalag Luft 3 but was later marched west after that camp’s impending liberation. Reesha was held for several months at Stalag XIII-D, until it was liberated by the US Army. Both men lived long lives after their service, passing away in 2006 and 1997, respectively. Whether they rode the New York Central’s trains after their return remains unknown.

Missing Air Crew Report for the New York Central II

Special thanks to CanadaSouthern.com, whose archive of New York Central Headlight magazines was integral to the research on this subject.

In terms of transportation systems, the Northstar is relatively young, with passenger service starting at the end of 2009. Operating on an already-existing BNSF freight line, money was invested to purchase equipment, build stations, and to construct a maintenance facility near Big Lake. The line stretches from Target Field in Minneapolis, where it connects with the light rail, to Big Lake in the north. Although hopes were for the line to continue all the way to the city of St. Cloud, just north of Big Lake there is a several mile stretch of only single track, and it would be a significant expenditure to add another track so the line can continue to accommodate both freight and commuter traffic. Instead, bus service called the Northstar Link carries passengers from Big Lake to St. Cloud.

There are a lot of comparisons one could make with Metro-North – the most obvious being the overpasses used on the line. Along the Hudson Line there are severe limitations on the height of freight trains due to low bridges and overpasses. The line on which Northstar runs, being mostly freight, in contrast has very high overpasses to allow the plentiful freights to pass underneath. Another leg up the Northstar has over Metro-North is the fact that each passenger coach is equipped with wi-fi, something customers here have been wanting for years. On the other hand, service on the Northstar is very limited, focused around commuting hours with an occasional extra train for baseball games and concerts at Target Field. Much of this limitation is due to the frequent freight on the line, which can often delay trains (especially Amtrak’s Empire Builder).

All in all it was an interesting trip to see another one of the country’s commuter rail systems. Enjoy a collection of photos from Northstar:

  
 
  
 
  
   
 
 
  
 
   
  
   
  
   
  
 
 

At this time the New York Central was a mere double track railroad, but it boasts that it is, “regarded in both this country and in Europe, as one of the most important, best managed, and safest lines of iron roads now in existence,” where “so few casualties occur.” Well, that’s one way to market your railroad…

Enjoy this little bit of history, nearly 150 years old.

If this is a technique you’ve always been interested in trying out, or you’re just curious to see how exactly one makes a panorama (especially one featuring a train) – from camera to computer – read on.

Making a panorama

Taking the shots

The first part of any panorama is getting the shots that you need to blend later on. As a beginner looking to do a railroad panorama, I would suggest you try to capture a train that is not moving. Whether it is tied up for the night or just stopped at a station, having everything stationary is best – moving objects can cause issues and anomalies in the stitching process.

These days, programs are usually good enough to accommodate photos not taken on a tripod. But you’ll want to remain in the same spot, and most importantly, keep the camera at the same angle within each shot. Rotate your body to get a wide field of view across multiple shots. Make sure to overlap – 40% overlap is usually the rule of thumb – so the stitching program will have room to blend the images together. It doesn’t matter if you shoot horizontally or vertically, but if you want to get the highest resolution image, shoot vertically (it will likely require more shots to capture the full field of view, however).

   
   
Here’s an example of seven shots I took of an M7 making a station stop at Harlem-125th Street. Note how I’ve rotated along the field of view, while allowing some overlap between the photos. Since the train was not moving, I was able to capture it across multiple shots.

Things that move

If you’ve tried the stationary panoramas out, or your feeling a bit bold, you can go for a moving object. If you’d like to capture a moving train, for example, what you need to do is capture the ENTIRE train in one photograph (unless you want the train extending off the side of the image). For this reason, it is better to capture your photos in a horizontal format, so you can better capture the entire train. If you capture the train using multiple shots, because it was moving it will appear in different places each time, and thus impossible to stitch properly.

If you’re shooting a passenger train, after the train has passed, then capture the rest of the shots of your field of view. If you’re capturing a long freight (where in this case you probably would have the train extending off the edge of the image) it is probably best to get your other shots before the train arrives, since it may take so long for the train to fully pass that the sunlight has changed, making it very hard to stitch those images together.

 
  
  

Here’s an example of five shots I took of a P32AC-DM on the Hudson Line, passing West Point. Note how in the first shot I capture the moving train, and then in the subsequent shots capture the field of view after the train has passed.

This is what those photos look like stitched together in a final panorama.

What program to use?

In order to make a panorama from multiple shots, you’ll need some program to stitch the images together. There are various free options out there, like AutoStitch, which I used regularly years ago (and was what I used for all of the original panoramas for the entire Harlem Line in the Metro-North Panorama Project), but these days I use Photoshop’s Photomerge tool. If you’re serious about photography, Photoshop and Lightroom really are the best programs for you to be using to make your images better. They’re the industry standards.

Using Photoshop’s Photomerge tool

Photomerge is relatively basic, from the File menu, go to Automate and choose Photomerge. In the window that pops up, select the images you’d like to stitch together using browse. For almost all instances you don’t need to change any of the default preferences. Auto layout usually does the trick, and you want to keep Blend Images Together on, as it blends any color discrepancies between the images, to make it look like one complete image in the end. Depending on your lens and camera, your photos may have some Vignetting, or a darker ring around the edge of your photo. If that is the case, you can check off Vignette Removal (I prefer to remove any vignetting in Lightroom prior, and if you use both programs that is what I’d suggest).

The menu showing where Photomerge is, and the Photomerge window.

Now you have a stitched image…

Your photos may now be blended together, but it isn’t quite yet perfect or how you imagined it. You’ll need to crop unwanted jagged edges, and make minor adjustments with the warp tool in order to get that perfect panorama.

The stitched image that Photoshop spits out from the seven Harlem-125th photos. Note that each individual photo is a layer, which allows you to fix errors in stitching if there are any. Provided that everything looks good, you should merge all your layers before proceeding.

Working on the image – cropping and minor edits with the warp tool make the final image.

The completed panorama.

Questions about the process

Why make a panorama out of multiple pictures using stitching, when many new cameras and phones have a dedicated panorama feature?
The panorama feature you’ll find in newer cameras or phones requires you to pan the camera across the field of view, and it will automatically assemble the panorama for you. While this is, of course, easier, it doesn’t necessarily yield the highest quality result. If you’ve ever wanted to print out your photos, you’ll find that the resolution of an in-camera panorama job is low. In contrast, the West Point panorama above has a final pixel size of 14329×4000 – sufficient resolution to print the final image at a width of nearly six FEET. Now I’m not saying you’ll ever have to do such a thing, but you’ll get a higher quality, more detailed image that is croppable if you desire by stitching.

What are some fun things you can do with panoramas?
Once you get the whole “moving train” thing down, you can try this funky technique, which I’ve always liked. Capture the train entering your field of view on the left side, and then capture it yet again as it leaves your field of view on the right side. It looks something like this:

What other methods can you use to capture wide fields of view?
Besides panoramas and stitching, you can capture wide fields of view with very wide angle lenses, and fish-eye lenses. A wide angle does capture a wider field than a normal lens, but it can never capture as much of the field of view as a stitched image could. Fish-eyes are nice (and I enjoy them very much!) but the distortion they cause is a little too much for most people.

But sometimes there is distortion in panoramic images. How do you minimize that?
From an artistic perspective, I tend to enjoy the distortion you can get in a fish-eye or panoramic shot. It is almost like a visual cue that what you’re seeing is something beyond the capability of your own two eyes. In terms of railroad photography, it also introduces a break in the abundance of long, straight lines from railroad tracks and platforms. However, it isn’t for everyone. In a stitched image, you’ll get more distortion the closer you are to the subject you’re photographing. If you’re capturing a train that is on a platform (like the Harlem-125th panorama above), it is very difficult to achieve no distortion. In the Hudson Line panorama, however, there is no noticeable distortion, as I was far away from my subject.

What is your favorite panorama from the Panorama Project?
Although I definitely consider the photos I initially took of the Harlem Line to be subpar considered to my work today, I’ve always liked this photo of Harlem-125th Street for some reason. I have a printed version hanging on my cubicle wall at work.

That just about wraps up today’s post – have more questions about panoramas? Have a panorama you’d like to share? Want to make a suggestion for a future Trains & Modern Photography post? Drop a line in the comments!

A daguerrotype considered one of the earliest known railroad photographs, circa 1850. Via the Center for Railroad Photography and Art.

I consider my upbringing to be on the very bridge of old-school photography and the “modern” technology world. I grew up shooting film, and in art school was expected to develop my own negatives and prints (admittedly, I hated it). Likewise, I remember getting my hands on my very first digital camera as a freshman in high school – it was a clunky beast, taking a 3.5″ floppy disk to save just a few photos. It wasn’t until I was in college that I got my very own digital camera (a simple point-and-shoot), and I didn’t get a digital DSLR until after I had graduated. I never fully enjoyed photography much until I had gone full digital, and since then I’ve attempted to embrace all the newest tech that I can get my hands on.

Image from a glass plate negative of Grand Central Terminal’s construction. From the Library of Congress.

Because of my love of photographic technology, and a suggestion by a reader, I’m going to be starting a new feature project on this blog – namely a column entitled “Trains and Modern Photography.” The column will feature both modern photographic technology, like the aforementioned drones, to GoPros, as well as modern techniques, like panoramic, high dynamic range, and timelapses – all from the perspective of a railfan. Though it will be of most interest to the photographer, I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy it, essentially seeing the “behind the scenes” of how great photos are made.

Modern tech in a classic setting at Grand Central Terminal

So that is about it for this introduction… look for the first “Trains and Modern Photography” post tomorrow, represented by a light green dot, which you’ll see now added to the category list on the right bar of the site. If you happen to have any suggestions or ideas of technology or topics we should cover, shoot me a message or just comment below!

Grade crossing incidents have been at the forefront of railroad safety recently, after three high-profile incidents caused major derailments, many injuries, and seven deaths. The three incidents occurred in New York, California, and North Carolina, proving that this is not merely a local problem, but a national problem.

Describing the new pilot program, Metro-North president Joseph Giulietti explained:

Although our program comes up with a solution that is light-hearted, the goal is not to trivialize the problem, or the incidents that have happened at grade crossings. People’s eyes are drawn to things like this – which is the same reason why a fast food place might have a guy dancing around in a hot-dog costume, or a tax prep place might have a lady liberty standing around outside. Sadly, we need to get people’s attention. It seems in our world full of the distractions of loud music, cell phones and other electronic devices, ringing bells, flashing lights, moving gates, pavement markings, and plenty of signage simply does not get anyone’s attention. Even several high-profile grade crossing incidents, and increased police presence at crossings has not stopped drivers from waiting on the tracks, or driving around lowered gates to beat the train.

I find myself agreeing the concept of distracted driving – some have mentioned that Ellen Brody, the woman who caused the Valhalla crash that killed six people, may not have been familiar with the crossing and intersection because of a crash on the Taconic and a detour that evening. Meanwhile, Deborah Molodofsky, who has mentioned she was familiar with the grade crossing in Chappaqua where she had a “close call,” still waited on the railroad tracks and was surprised when the gates came down around her car. Even afterward, she was quoted as saying “I did everything right and I still got caught” – completely oblivious to the fact that she did nothing right – one should never stop on railroad tracks – apparently Ms. Molodofsky never noticed the signs that say as much on the many times she passed that crossing.

Adding to Mr. Giulietti’s comments, Metro-North spokesperson Marjorie Anders said:

On our New Haven main Line, where there are no grade crossings, there are still many incidents with overheight vehicles striking the bridges that carry the tracks. On the Hudson Line, one of our 100+ year-old historical stations had a gorgeous pedestrian walkway into the station – it was completely destroyed by a dump truck striking it. This is clearly a complex problem that will not just have one solution. But if we only look at the grade crossings themselves, we’re missing an important part of the equation – driver distraction.

Anders’ point is a good one – even the NTSB has spent a good amount of time talking about driver distraction in transportation recently, holding a round-table discussion called “Disconnect from Deadly Distractions,” which was live-tweeted by the NTSB’s twitter account.

Note: The Hudson Line station Ms. Anders mentioned where the pedestrian crossing was destroyed was Ardsley-on-Hudson.

President Giulietti made sure to add one more note on the subject:

If for some reason you do happen to get stuck on the railroad tracks, each crossing has a sign with a telephone number and a description of the location. If you call that number and report a vehicle stuck, we can halt trains on the line and prevent a dangerous incident from occurring.

We were lucky enough to capture a video of one of the new hirees working on the Harlem Line, at the Cleveland Street crossing in Valhalla. The town of Mount Pleasant has recently revealed that they would like to close this crossing, to the detriment of the people that live in the neighborhood just over the tracks.

Hopefully such measures will capture the attention of the many drivers that make poor decisions around railroad tracks every day.

My article in the April issue of Railfan & Railroad

If you haven’t heard already, I have a pretty big article in April’s Railfan & Railroad Magazine, featuring my explorations of the railway in Chornobyl’s Exclusion Zone. On April 26th, the 29th anniversary of the Chornobyl Disaster, I’ll be showing my photos from that adventure at Whippany, along with some copies of the magazine. So be sure to check out the April edition of Railfan & Railroad (which if you’re a subscriber, started mailing last week), and come out and visit Whippany for their 50th anniversary, and my showing of photos on Sunday, April 26th!

       
Photos from Saturday’s Easter Bunny Trains at Whippany

Much of Daniels’ promoting came down to a persistent tagline – “Send a stamp to George H. Daniels.” Any soul that would send off a letter to the man in Grand Central, and enclosing a two-cent stamp – of any country, in fact – would be returned travel-related literature pertaining to their specific interests. Perhaps a businessman would get a map of global trade lines, undoubtedly featuring the fine rails of the New York Central and its connections stretching across the United States. A science-minded fellow would find descriptions and diagrams of mighty steam locomotives in use by the railroad, or the newest technology found in use on the road. And a sportsman might find a guide to fishing in upstate New York, complete with photos of the varied fish found within each body of water. Daniels and his team created a litany of brochures for just about any interest, railroad or not. For the more philosophical, there was the reprint of Elbert Hubbard’s “A Message to Garcia” – of no relation to the railroad, yet complete with a map of the line as a reference point. Certainly one of his most prolific publications, it can only be argued that after being printed by the railroad the story went “viral” – and Daniels promised to print as many copies of it as were desired, even if it took a century to do so. The story was subsequently made into two different motion pictures, sold over 40 million copies, and was translated into 37 languages, largely due to Daniels’ influence.

One of the early publications by Daniels for the Chicago & Pacific, and his photo from 1889

Born in 1842, George Henry Daniels grew up on the farms of Hampshire, Illinois, not far from the border with the territories of Wisconsin and Iowa. Daniels landed his first railroad job at the age of fifteen for the Northern Missouri Railroad, one year before that road completed its main line from St. Louis to Coatsville. Fifteen years later when that road fell into financial difficulty, Daniels made the jump to the Chicago & Pacific Railroad, as a general freight and passenger agent, landing an office in Chicago. In between those years, however, Daniels’ labor of love was contributing local news to a newspaper in Chicago. He continued his writing while in the employ of the Chicago & Pacific, using it to promote the railroad. He published a historical account of the road in 1873. He spent eight years at the Chicago & Pacific, before returning his previous railroad company, which had by then been absorbed into the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific.

Daniels later moved on to hold positions as the commissioner of the Iowa Trunk Line Association, and further out on the frontier as the commissioner of the Colorado Traffic Association not long after that territory was granted statehood, and the Utah Traffic Association when it was still a mere territory. By 1886 hw had become the commissioner of the Central Passenger Committee, which later became the Central Traffic Association, of which he was elected vice-chairman. He then rose to the chairmanship of the Chicago Eastbound Passenger Committee, which attracted the interest of the New York Central, who offered him a position as the General Passenger Agent of the railroad in New York City.

Brochures published by Daniels during his tenure as General Passenger Agent, and the special stamp featuring the Empire State Express

Though one could hardly imagine that a single man out of an office in New York could effect the prunes of California, the apples of Oregon, or the mail from Australia, Daniels’ influence was both far and wide. Commanding both the trains of the Central and the power to spread a news story, Daniels served up prunes and apples – carrying them by freight to the east coast in conjunction with the Southern Pacific, having them served in all train dining cars, and promoting their superiority in the news. As for Australia’s mail, how exactly did a letter mailed from Australia, bound for London actually arrive in the year 1899? Using the Central’s trains to set a record, mail traveled by ship to the west coast, was transported by train to the east coast, and then sent yet again by boat to its final destination – a grand total of 32 days. In instances like these Daniels felt he was not only a promoter of the railroad, but of the entire country of the United States – showing the world the mighty steam trains and other products of American ingenuity.

Harlem Division timetables that bear the name George H. Daniels

Pull any timetable from the era printed for the New York Central, and on the bottom you’ll likely find Daniels’ name. In addition to the brochures he printed touting travel destinations, Daniels launched a full blown travel magazines from Grand Central Station, naming it the “Four-Track News” (the Central’s moniker at the time, the “Four Track System,” was coined by Daniels, highlighting its history as the world’s first four tracked railroad). That magazine operated in some capacity until 2003, under the names Travel and Travel Holiday. He also coined the name “Empire State Express” in 1890, and was tasked with promoting the Central’s newest train that made the trip from New York to Buffalo in just over six hours, making it the fastest scheduled passenger train in North America. Later on, he further promoted the Empire State Express with the locomotive 999’s 112.5 MPH speed test, specifically targeted to get people’s interest on the Central in time for The Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, where the record-breaking locomotive was placed on display. Daniels even managed to get the US Postal Service to print a commemorative stamp featuring the locomotive, one the first stamps printed in the 20th century. Arguably, however, Daniels’ most notable achievement was the concept and launch of the “20th Century Limited” – the New York Central’s most famous train.

Retiring from his position as General Passenger Agent in 1905, Daniels became the director of the New York Central’s new advertising department. He served in that capacity until 1907, when he retired permanently, living his final year split between Buffalo and Lake Placid, before passing away in 1908.

Note: Wikipedia and other sources claim that Daniels was at one time a patent medicine salesman, or that he once worked on steam boats, however his contemporary biographies, and various obituaries make no mention of this. The only sources I can find for this claim were newspaper articles written more than 50 years after Daniels’ death, of which I am interpreting as erroneous.

A collection of brochures published by Daniels during his tenure as General Passenger Agent

The MBTA is suffering through the onslaught of snow – but just barely. With several full shutdowns, and running on reduced schedules, the transit agency is paying just about anybody 30 dollars an hour to help shovel snow, in addition to the fifty prison inmates they’ve recruited to do the same. Provided the city is not hit with yet another storm, they estimate an entire month before things get back to normal.

I happened to be in Boston last Saturday right as the city’s most recent blizzard was just beginning, and only hours before the system’s full Sunday shutdown. Capturing the snowy scene at West Concord, I checked out the snow-covered trains, and the restored depot on the MBTA’s Fitchburg Line. Though there are two tracks running through here (greatly reduced from when this town was once called Concord Junction and featured three railroads running through), although one is currently out of service and piled with snow as high as the station’s high-level platform.

The depot before restoration. Not as bad as some stations I’ve visited, but hardly the gem it is today. Town of Concord Community Preservation Committee.

West Concord station during the construction. Photo via the Town of Concord Community Preservation Committee.

Despite all the snow and the issues plaguing the MBTA, West Concord station is a great example of the transit agency working together with a local community to do something really good. As old stations are wont to do – the building having been completed in 1894 – West Concord was in disrepair. Altered from its original appearance with faux brick, the old depot was severely needing an update. A local community group approached the MBTA with a little money, and together they brought the depot back to its original look, with the MBTA matching the town’s money and contributing 50% of the cost to repair it. Special attention was paid to the details – stained glass windows were lovingly restored, and a local supplier matched original surviving paint chips to make the depot as historically accurate as possible. Completed in 2008, the restoration made this station quite attractive, and an asset to the community.