Cass Night Watch. A lone Shay locomotive stands by for late light switching duty on the platform at the old C&O Depot in Cass, WV. Mower Shay #4 is the duty locomotive this evening, and the running dynamo is a clear sign that she's ready to move when the expected C&O Freight arrives within the hour. Her spark arrestor sits askew, only because she drafts better that way, if she's going to be sitting for any length of time.
Of interest to the viewers with a photography habit similar to mine is that this image was shot hand-held. The combination of the powerful lights provided by Charter Organizer Pete Lerro, and the recent availability of new, mirrorless cameras with awesome In-Body Stabilization (IBS) and the ability to handle higher ISOs with relative ease, has allowed me to ditch the tripod on numerous occasions in the last couple of years. This particular image was shot with the Nikon Z6, and the 24-70mm f/2.8G lens (which is not stabilized), at 1/20th, f/4.0 and 3200 ISO. I predict that in the next 2-3 years, the crowded "tripod farms" that have traditionally been the standard operating procedure for night photo sessions will gradually fade into oblivion. At some point, we'll just be leaving the tripods at home.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
For aficianados of geared steam engines, it's "almost heaven." Here are some scenes from the park's annual Railfan Weekends, as well as some private charters.
