Twin City Photos

Inside Locomotive 227

snapshutter — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:00:45 +0000

This is the engine room from which the engineers operated Locomotive 227. In the center you can see the coal shut leading underneath the boiler.

Locomotive 227 is located at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Weighing in over 1 million pounds and capable of pulling a load of 36 million pounds, it has two separate ‘engines’, i.e. sets of powered wheels. Because of the locomotive’s length, the wheel sets are articulated, meaning they can ‘turn’ underneath the main body of the locomotive. This was necessary so the locomotive could handle the curves in the railroad tracks.

Looking at all the controls in the cab, one could almost imagine that the train engineers running this machine could probably have a go at running the space shuttle, aero issues excepted.

For other Monochrome Monday photos check here.

Split Rock Lighthouse

snapshutter — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:00:34 +0000

Spending a week at our camper in northern Minnesota, I took a a few hours and headed up to the Split Rock Lighthouse, located about 50 miles north of Duluth on the western shore of Lake Superior. Built in 1910 after a series of shipwrecks in the area, it served it’s purpose for over half a century, before being decommissioned in 1969. It is now part of the State Park system, with the lighthouse itself being accessible from spring to fall.

The walk from the lighthouse to this spot wasn’t as far as it seems. The stairs down the cliff though looked a little daunting, and had several resting areas along the way. I’ve only taken one set of stairs longer than these, those being at the 12 Apostles in Southern Australia.

Graffiti Across The Mississippi

snapshutter — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:00:53 +0000

Another graffiti photo. Wonder about the implications of having multiple posts with the same title. Maybe I should number them, like Xavier? BTW, Xavier will be at the Uptown Art Festival this year again. Stop by at his booth if you happen to be there.

This shot was taken underneath a bridge across the Mississippi. That whole area was fairly tricky to walk around on, mini valleys and canyons, unstable soil. That’s one of the reasons I like to wear solid leather boats on photo shoots like this. They protect your feet and ankles, and give good ankle support. Unfortunately that doesn’t work during summer. Leather boots and shorts, now that would be a sight.

While I was taking photos, I heard this odd rumble behind me. Turned around a watched a section of the hill about the size of a refrigerator break loose and tumble down. Glad I wasn’t standing there :)

Reverse Gear

snapshutter — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:00:58 +0000

Another shot of engine 225. I’d love to understand how that mechanism functions as a ‘reverse gear’. Actually, locomotives don’t use gears in their drive line, but we’ll let them get away with description. Reversing gears has to be a big deal with a steam locomotive. Growing up in Germany, I saw quite a few coal fired locomotives. One of the more amazing sights is to see on of those locomotives spin their wheels, their version of a burnout. Hard to believe but they can do that.

Fair amount of processing done on this photo. Wanted it to look like a vintage photo. For other Monochrome Monday photos check here.

Loading Docks Along Shepard Road

snapshutter — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:00:56 +0000

These loading docks obviously are no longer in use. I found these riding around on my bike looking for a good view of the Cirque du Soleil which was performing this weekend. Couldn’t find one. I did go up to the front gate and walked into the fenced in area, and being a good citizen photographer asked an employee/guard if it was OK to take photos, just of the tents. He told me I needed a press pass because I had a ‘big camera’, which I could pick up at the main (employee) gate. I did point out to him there where other people with ‘big cameras’ but for some reason he couldn’t see them. On a whim I biked over to the employee gate, knowing that wasn’t going anywhere, and was met by a couple of Asia Security guards. Lets just say they looked like they hadn’t slept for a while, and weren’t in a friendly mood. I told them ‘good job’ and moved on :)

Surfboarding Into The Sun

snapshutter — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:35 +0000

Out on photo shoots, Mitch has reminded me several times that shooting into the sun isn’t necessarily the best thing to do. A bad habit of mine. The camera simply can’t make the adjustments our minds make when looking from dark areas to light areas. For example my eyes saw plenty of detail in the shady areas of the trees across the lake, while at the same time seeing the details in the sky. With the camera you have to sacrifice one or the other, in this case the shade in the trees. Sometimes though it does work out. No one probably cares about what’s going on in the distance.

This shot is from Lake Calhoun. It was very windy that day, and these sailboarders were zipping back and forth at amazingly high speeds.

For other skywatch photos go here

Graffiti Under University

snapshutter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:00:15 +0000

Riding around on my bicycle I continue to discover hidden graffiti areas. This one was taken under University Avenue near St. Anthony Blvd. Quite a bit of train traffic at this spot.

Camping Queen

snapshutter — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:00:07 +0000

Really roughing it here, aren’t we? Just sitting around at our campground, I mounted the much maligned kit telephoto on my Canon Xti and pointed it in Rissi’s direction. Got some other shots too that surprised me. Maybe it actually is worth the $200 or so it’s reported to cost, not the $29.95 I thought one might be willing to fork out for a paper weight that looks like a telephoto lens.

Engine 225

snapshutter — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:00:26 +0000

Overnighted at the camper up north, and got a chance to visit this steam locomotive in the Duluth area. One of the few things that wasn’t swaying given the very gusty winds all day long. These machines are a mechanical engineer’s dream. Covered with mechanisms and steam powered actuators. I would love to drive along side one of these as it goes down the track and watch the operation of all those parts.

For other Monochrome Monday photos check here.

Guthrie Theater Outlook

snapshutter — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:38:21 +0000

Our photo meetup on Saturday as usual was a ton of fun. Met a couple of new people, Alison, and Dan J. It was pretty toasty out there, around 90, but at least the humidity was down. We ended up at the Guthrie Theater, where a couple of nice cold Blue Moon beers really hit the spot. This photo looks out of a mirror lined window from the top floor at the Guthrie Theater, capturing St. Anthony Falls and the Stone Arch Bridge.