Trainwatchers Gather At North Stratford.........

We are visiting the newly renovated North Stratford, NH station (ex-Grand Trunk) tonight. All decked out for Halloween, the building is the new home for the town library. I'm sure the location provides a good reading atmosphere during the daytime hours, as the only trains pass by late at night. I like the replaced semaphore. The priceless stuffed straw figures accent the lines of the station windows while they turn viewers attention toward the power. Plus they are free models! I got away with moving one down to this end, and did'nt push my luck any further! LOL! This location was among legendary photographer Phil Hastings favorite destinations in the late 1940's, a superb Hastings photo of the MEC conductor signing the register book from inside the bay windowed operator's room is in Ron Johnson's "Maine Central Railroad, Mountain Division". Sixty or more years later, the light ten wheelers and their mixed trains that captured Phil's creative mind are long gone, but the railroad remains in a more modernized state as the New Hampshire Central curving away from the SLR main behind the 804 in this scene. Tonight's train 393 is led by road slug 804, with a trio of orange & black brothers trailing. Shot on Oct. 11, 2008 at 02:17 with the 5D, and Nikkor 14-24 lens set at f2.8 and 15mm. I'm ecstatic over the new lens's performance here at f2.8 with sharpness out to the right bottom edge! "Much lighter processing used here also, having learned something (hopefully) from the last attempts at processing the daylight photo from Willsboro. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2008;
Gary