Critique Welcomed NC Transportation Museum (TRAINS!)

[Keith Hollister]

Realized this trip was during one of my hiatus here on the forum, so I thought I would put a few up. I found out about this place from some images Chris Dodkin had posted a couple years ago. It is a fantastic museum of vintage railroad equipment that is the former Southern Railway main shops located in Spencer, NC.

Usually not too crowded and tripod friendly, so an excellent photography destination. The main shop building that normally houses classic cars was under construction when I was there, so I guess I need to go back

Fuji with the 14mm, 18-55 and a little Rok fisheye action thrown in.

N&W #611 J-Class by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Atlantic Coast Line #501 by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Seaboard Air Line #544 by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

1951 EMD E-8 by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Spencer Shops Roundhouse by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Caboose Train by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Shay Locomotive by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

 

[Brian Moore]

Magnificent machines, Keith. Number one is especially imposing. Great set.

 

[Keith Hollister]

Thanks, Brian. A little history on the locomotive in the first photo ...

Norfolk & Western was headquartered in Roanoke, VA, served the coal mining industry in Appalachia and was the last major railroad in the US to run steam locomotives. The J class locomotives were streamlined, and built between 1941 and 1950 for passenger service. The 611 was, I believe the last one built in 1950 and ran until a wreck almost destroyed her in 1956. She was rebuilt and continued in service until 1959. N&W decided to switch over to diesel in 1957, over 20 years after the first diesel locomotives were placed in service by other railroads. 611 is the last surviving J-class, and she was also the last steam locomotive pulling passenger service on a major line in the US.

She is owned by the Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke, but was rebuilt by the Spenser shops at the NC Transportation Museum to the tune of over $1M. She was put back into service last summer and was operating excursions out of the NC museum until the VA museum could take possession of her again. She is now running excursions throughout Virginia and the Carolinas.

She was being refueled the day I took that photograph, and since there are no operating coal tipples in the SE US, they dumped a dump truck of coal on the ground and used an excavator to load the tender. She is a marvelous piece of steam power engineering.

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

I really have to agree to what Brian says here Keith and I have always taken a liking to old locmotives as I grew up with them at my grandpa's place. This takes me back a lot of years How do you like your 14mm?

 

[Keith Hollister]

The 14mm is a great lens - it was one of the reasons I originally bought a Fuji. The 21mm FOV is about as wide as you can go without the obvious UWA perspective. And like most of the Fuji primes, it is exceptionally well corrected optically so you don't loose edge and corner sharpness to software correction.

I have the 16 f/1.4 coming this week, but I will never get rid of the 14

 

[Pete Askew]

Superb set once again, Keith and that PP is just gorgeous. Fabulous machines too.

 

[Keith Hollister]

Thanks, Pete. Next time I visit our friends in Winston-Salem, I'm going to make another run at the place.

 

[Aaron J. Heiner]

Gad to see I am not the only Fuji shooter, nor train guy here. BTW: Is that a shay I spy there?

 

[Keith Hollister]

Yup - a Shay