along the Old Main - No. 1

along the Old Main - No. 1

Nature was providing an appealing soundtrack on this late
summer afternoon in the Patapsco Valley of central Maryland.

The rushing sounds of the river…a couple of birds making music in the trees…

But I was hoping to hear another sort of “music” while the sun remained
high enough to bathe the far side of this craggy valley rising from the Patapsco.

Well, you can’t be a rail fan (or a train photographer) without deep reserves of patience,
so it’s nice when the setting is as lovely as this one when one needs to draw on such reserves.

That patience was rewarded as the sound of heavy diesels at work
began to intensify and enter the mix of rushing water and conversational birds.

CSX 5345, a GE ES44DC diesel electric locomotive and its partner are on the point of this eastbound freight on the
historic B&O Old Main Line. Minutes earlier, they passed Sykesville on a long sweeping curve along the Patapsco.
They’ll continue following the river through the forest toward Woodstock, Ellicott City, and on toward Baltimore.

The moment was captured on Kodak Tri-X 400 film in my Nikon FE,
through the Nikkor 80-200 mm lens, set at the short end of its range.

It is part of a new series of photographs, color and black and white,
taken along the “Old Main” at points between Relay and Point of Rocks.

Photo + Design ©2014 Steve Ember