Steam in the Snow 2012

Posted on January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 by Dusty Roads

The “Steam in the Snow” is a special Charter by the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts (Mass Bay RRE). This special train is chartered from the Conway Scenic Railroad. According to the handouts this continues a tradition that was begun in 1934! This is called a Fantrip which is a trip made just to observe and photograph the railroad operations.

The route for this trip was from North Conway to Notchland by diesel and back to North Conway pulled by the steam engine. The return trip includes the photo stops, the main reason I was on this trip.

At a photo stop the passengers who are interested in taking pictures get off the train. A photo line is set up that we aren’t supposed to cross. Then the train is backed up out of sight so that it can be run back by us for photos. After the “run by” everyone climbs back onto the train until the next stop.

There were 300 passengers on this trip which according to the “Car host” was a lot. The photo stops were crowded because a photo club brough 35 members for a class of which photographing the train was the subject. You could spot the class members. Most of them were using tripods. I had been warned not to take a tripod as it would be too crowded.

The organizers tried to split the photographers into 2 groups and do 2 run-bys each stop but it was taking too long to get everyone on and off the train. I was getting a lot of heads in the pictures until about the third stop when I decided to get aggressive. I started asking people to let me get in the front row and then I got on my knees so they could “Shoot” over my head.

My “picture of the day” was actually taken after the train left a tunnel. Everyone was crowded right at the tunnel entrance. I gave up trying to get a position in that mob so I went on down the tracks and knelt down on the berm that sloped down from the tracks. I was pretty close to the tracks but no one yelled at me to move so I stayed. What an adrenaline rush! I could feel the ground shake and the wind as the train rushed by almost knocked me over…but I got the shot! I think If I’d have been standing it would have been instinctive to back away as the train approached. But by being on my knees I was committed! No time to move.

Although I got that picture and few others, none reached the standard I was trying for. That just means that I will have to go back again next year.

We had dinner at Rafferty’s in North Conway before we all piled back into the bus for the ride home. A long but satisfying day was wrapping up. The sun hadn’t cooperated but it had been pretty warm for January. The overcast made for nice even lighting for the pictures.

Having staged “run bys” is an awesome way to get pictures. I just wish it hadn’t been quite so crowded.

First Adventure of 2012

Posted on January 9, 2012January 9, 2012 by Dusty Roads

It seems like 2012 is off to a slow start as far as my exploring goes but that’s partly because the car is limping badly. I have an appointment to get it into the shop on Martin Luther King Day. Until then I am trying to keep driving to a minimum. I don’t want it to quit on me before I can get it fixed. I need to be able to get to work.

Before I knew the car was in dire straights I made arrangements to get the day off on Saturday Jan 7, 2012. This was done so I could go on a “photo shoot” in New Hampshire. I wasn’t going to miss it just because the car needs some work. Instead I arranged to take the bus transportation being offered. Even so I had to drive 50 miles to get to the bus station in Woburn.

The bus was leaving a 7:15 am. It’s at least an hour drive from my house to Woburn so Saturday morning my alarm was going off at 5 am. It’s still very dark and cold at 5 am!

I was on the road by 5:30 and arrived at the bus station in Woburn in time to get breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts.

The bus was a charter from Crystal Tours and arrived right on time. They started at South Station in Boston so there were already other riders on the bus.

Those of us from the Woburn stop were loaded on and we were off. The tour leader said he would let us sleep as it was still so early. Then he proceeded to make announcements and chit-chat over the speakers all the way to North Conway. Every time we went over a railroad track or crossing or even had a track run beside the road, he had to tell everyone what it was and its history. You see I was on a “Rail Fan” tour. Everyone on the bus was a die-hard train buff.

I like trains but I am not a “rail fan” I don’t memorize the history of the rail lines or know how to maintain a steam engine. These friendly folks knew stats and tossed them around the way sports fans toss out batting stats or field goal completions. Mostly I smiled and nodded as everyone around me seemed to be speaking a different language.

We were heading to North Conway, NH for a ride on the Scenic Railroad. This was a special train that is chartered by the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. for a day known as “Steam in the Snow”. Too bad we don’t have the snow! (Ok there’s a little bit in New Hampshire)

The day is set up so that a diesel engine pulls the train the first half of the journey with the stream engine in the role of the caboose. This part of the trip is non stop and is nice and relaxing through some very pretty country. On this leg the box lunches were distributed, along with the route guide.

At the end of the line the diesel is unhitched and the steam train takes over for the trip back to North Conway. This was the part I was waiting for.

Drum Roll Please!

Posted on October 27, 2011October 27, 2011 by Dusty Roads

The winner of the New Hampshire Dream Vacation Photo contest has been announced and I couldn’t agree more with the choice. It’s a beautiful photo.

Grand Prize Winner:

Linda Adamczyk of Simsbury, Conn. won the contest for her photo of her husband and daughter enjoying the view of a sunset over Lake Todd in Bradford, N.H. with Mount Sunapee in the background.

The “I Love it Here” sign was propped up next to two candles overlooking the lake.

Linda Adamczyk

Enjoying a Sunrise/Sunset

View of Mt. Sunapee from Lake Todd

As you know I entered late and this was a contest that definitely weighted with the popular vote. At the time I uploaded my meager offerings the leaders had 6-7 thousand votes. I entered for the experience. It forced me to explore the remote release on the camera and use the tripod. Two things I hadn’t done much of. So even though I wasn’t the lucky winner, I feel it was a great experience.

If they run the contest again next year and if I chose to try that one again, I have a much better understanding of what needs to be done and one of the big things besides having a beautiful picture is to upload early and have a very active social network.

So congratulations to Linda. It’s a wonderful picture and definitely worthy of the Grand Prize!

Interested in the other winners? You can see them all at http://nhdreamvacation.com/

A great job was done by all!

Remember the Cog Railway Photo Contest?

Posted on September 3, 2011September 3, 2011 by Dusty Roads

I am so excited!

If you recall I sent in the #1 photo from my little poll. When I didn’t get any acknowledgement I called to see if they had received the picture. In my conversation I found out that I could submit more than one picture. So of course I had to send in some more. I decided to send in 3 to test the waters and if I didn’t have any luck try the next 3.

I kept checking the web site and they never posted anything new from anyone, not just me. The same pictures from when I first looked into this contest were the only ones on the web page.

Anyway, I got busy and forgot to check for a couple of weeks. Tonight I was just killing some time and I thought , gee I haven’t been to the Cog railway web site lately and to my surprise and absolute delight there were my pictures! Not just one, but all 3!

Here’s the link. Please check it out! www.thecog.com

That takes you to the home page. On the right side of the page under Cog Events is the link to the photo contest. Click on that link and it takes you to the rules and on the right side is a photo of the Mount Washington Hotel. Under that photo is the link to the 2011 entries.

I tried to post a direct link but it didn’t work. So you’ll have to follow the steps to get there.

I read the rules again and all it says it that the winner will be chosen at the end of the season. I’m not sure but it sounds like the contest goes to the end of the year. In any case I guess we wait again. But I am thrilled that they even posted the pictures. I hope that means that I am in the running.

I wonder if I should send the rest? I’ll have to think about that. 🙂