B&W Steam in Motion

We live close to the Nene Valley Railway and last month went along to our nearest station, Orton Mere, to see a Black 5 loco on its way back to the East Lancashire Railway having been on loan to the Nene Valley.

I have found from experience that when these locos pull away they can produce a huge amount of steam that swallows everything up particularly any photographer who is too close. So having shot the stationary loco I rushed to the very end of the platform to hopefully capture it emerging from a cloud of steam.

In colour the results did not look particularly impressive so I decided to convert them to black and white using Google Nik in PSE14. I did some experimentation in Google Nik and although I have possibly overcooked them here are my favourite of the results:










And finally, with only a single support coach to pull, it managed to get up to some speed:




These were all using a Pentax K-1 with a HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm F2.8ED SDM WR.

Glyn

well shot loving the b&w

A fine set of mono images Glyn, my favourite among these is the last one in the set.
Steam locomotives let off clouds of steam on starting, especially if they have been standing for some time. The footplate crew open the cylinder drain cocks to blow out any residual water from condensed steam which could damage the pistons or cylinders.
David

Superb set, #1 and #4 for me in that order

Thanks GuYs.

David - Many thanks for the info about the steam on setting off. The loco had indeed been standing for a while. Our station is the last before the junction that gives access to the main line at Peterborough and the train crew was changing over to the one taking it onto the main line. While I have previously photographed trains before they have ususally been running at speed. It is only in the last yaer that we mave moved to Peterborough and have been so close to a very active preserved railway. I got caught out by a cloud of steam in October by the Flying Scotsman doing a similar crew change.

Glyn

These look great in b+w, very nostalgic.

Great little steamy set - you've done a great job on the processing, it really works well - particularly on the last shot

Good set, I like those first three shots, with the loco bathing in the steam - makes for a great bit of atmosphere.