RDKPhotography

07/26/2024

07/24/2024

I normally wouldn’t do this but I’m asking you to consider voting for my image “Gate City Dreams” by dropping a like on the O. Winston Link museum’s FB page for their “Link at 20 Photo Contest”.

Inspired by O. Winston Link, photographers submitted their works, and now we are asking you to vote for your favorite! Voting is open from July 24 to August 7, 2024.

Voting is as simple as 1-2-3...
1. Click on the photos to take a closer look.
2. Give a "like" to the photo (or photos) you love.
3. The photos with the most likes will move on to our final round.

The top five vote getters will be printed and displayed in the lobby of Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge for in-person voting on August 17 at Celebration at the Station. Help me and my friends get to the Top 5!

Click the link below to get to the voting page:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/jDnrNYJk86boQCGm/?mibextid=WC7FNe

10/09/2023

"Words which dissolve in the rain over eons"
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Spotty cloud cover dots the landscape as Norfolk & Western No. 611 thunders through the autumn foliage of the Shenandoah Valley.

Here, the crew works the mighty the J-Class engine as they pound the grade near Shillings Trail on her way to Staunton, Virginia.

October 8, 2023
© RDKPhotography All Rights Reserved
No printing, publishing, private or commercial use of any kind without expressed written permission.

03/31/2023

"Where Memories of What Never Was, Become the Good Ol' Days"
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The song of EBT #16's whistle carries through the hillside and farms of Shirleysburg as it emerges out of the S-curve near Runk Road on a return trip to Rockhill.

The title is a snipit of a lyric of a song titled "Daddy Played The Banjo" as done by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. It evokes the story of a grown man recalling his childhood as his father taught him to play and how the resonance of the banjo strings echo through his memories. Seeing generations old and young returning to and enjoying the resurrected East Broad Top recalls stories of old and anticipates stories yet untold. You could say railroads have a habit of doing that.

Highly recommend listening if you enjoy bluegrass and storytelling.

Large Format 12x36 Panorama

© 2023 RDKPhotography. No copying, sharing, printing, downloading, advertising use or distribution of any kind without written permission.

03/31/2023

"Sprinting Through Shirleysburg"
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EBT #16 working its way up the hill out of Runk Road on a return trip to Rockhill on the first weekend steam trips of 2023. Due to the slow speeds of the railroad, a tripod is a must for pans of any kind along the route.

F/22, 1/15th Sec, ISO 50
Tripod-Mounted Pan
Sony A7RIII

© 2023 RDKPhotography. No copying, sharing, printing, downloading, advertising use or distribution of any kind without written permission.

03/31/2023

"The Ghosts Have Returned"
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EBT #16 Pauses on the turntable in Rockhill between yard maneuvers during a night photo charter to celebrate the return to steam.

© 2023 RDKPhotography. No copying, sharing, printing, downloading, advertising use or distribution of any kind without written permission.

01/18/2023

Hello railfans. Due to work conflicts I will be unable to attend Lerro Photography’s single-day 1309 C&O Charter on Feb 7th. Therefore I am offering to sell the ticket at sticker price (no processing fee) to whomever would want to go. Message me or email me at [email protected] for payment details. Price is $395.00 USD and I’ll take cash or PayPal (no checks or Venmo). Below is a screen shot of the digital receipt and I have permission from Pete Lerro to resell the ticket.

Thanks

12/17/2022

Selling off some canvas photo work for the holidays. Prices and descriptions in the captions and comments. Thank you for looking.

12/22/2021

"Next Stop, Cumberland"
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Yes, it finally happened. Like a listing, creaking, heaving, lumbering ship approaching harbor - former C&O H6, "Mallet" style locomotive 1309 slowly arrives at Cumberland Station.

1309 is seen here crossing the former Western Maryland bridge from Ridgeley, WV - the mammoth engine looms over a small group of photographers just outside Cumberland Station on a break-in test run in November 2021.

© 2021 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved
No copying, printing, sharing, reposting, downloading, personal, private or commercial use of any kind without written permission.

For prints please message or email [email protected]

11/21/2021

"The Last of the Baldwins"
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With the strike of a match, a belly full of water turns to steam and the seemingly tectonic plate-shifting sheer thud of four sets of drivers begin to crawl. Railfans and historians gather on a frosty, West Virginia morning for there is thunder in the Allegheny Mountains once more.

A feat most historic, the restoration of former C&O H-6 Mallet No. 1309 is complete and break-in runs were off and running the weekend of November 20th, 2021.

Sporting a Norfolk & Western, single-chime "ho**er" whistle, the sleepy town of Cumberland, Maryland awoke with a resounding song of steam not heard in these parts for quite some time.

Formerly Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309, it was the last engine built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949 and was retired from service only a few short years later.

In 1975, it was moved to the B&O Railroad Museum for static display. In 2014, it was purchased by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, was restored and recently signed off by the FRA in 2021.

© 2021 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved
No copying, printing, sharing, posting, downloading, private or commercial use of any kind without expressed written permission.

09/25/2021

Getting some work in. It’s been a while. 🔥

07/07/2021

"Guardian Of The Gorge"
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A retired telegraph pole stands like sentinel as it guards the Lehigh Gorge and a passing RBMN 425.

© RDKPhotography All Rights Reserved.
No Printing, Editing, Downloading, Posting, Sharing, Copying, Personal or Commercial use of any kind without written permission.

07/07/2021

"Hometown Slow-Crawl"
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RBMN 425 reverses over the 168 ft tall Hometown High Bridge on its way back to Tamaqua on the first trip of Father's Day , 2021.

© RDKPhotography All Rights Reserved.
No Printing, Editing, Downloading, Posting, Sharing, Copying, Personal or Commercial use of any kind without written permission.

06/27/2021

Photos from a variety of break-in and special runs of Reading & Northern’s new F units in 2020.

06/26/2021

"Passing on the right"
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CNJ 113 reverses past RBMN F-Unit No. 270 as it switches the consist in Port Clinton for the return trip to Minersville. June, 2021.

1/4 Sec Shutter @ F22.
Carefully Balanced on the buffer behind an RBMN passenger car.

© 2021 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved
No Printing, Editing, Downloading, Posting, Sharing, Copying, Personal or Commercial use of any kind without written permission.

06/14/2021

"My grandfather used to say that the land was alive, that, if you knew how to listen, you could hear its voice." (John-Boy Walton reading from his journal)
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The Old Post office of Rockfish, Virginia watches N&W 611 pass by on her way to Manassas. The building was built in 1910 and Rockfish was frequently referenced in the CBS television series The Waltons as being the closest town to Waltons Mountain, the fictional version of the nearby community of Schuyler.

The community is also known as "Rockfish Depot" even though the railroad depot building has been gone for decades.

© 2021 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved
No printing, editing, downloading, posting, sharing, cropping, personal or commercial use of any kind without written permission.

05/10/2021

"The Old Guard"
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N&W 611 splits the now fallen CPL's in Villamont on an excursion weekend out of Roanoke in 2016.

© 2016 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved

03/29/2021

Reading & Northern 425 making several trips up the Lehigh Gorge as well as some night scenes done with special permission in Jim Thorpe, PA.
August & September, 2020

03/26/2021

"Glenn Miller's Tune"
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The 1941 song made popular by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra fits right at home in Chattanooga. TVRM 4501 idles at Grand Junction on a sultry, humid summer afternoon.

© RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved. No copying, editing, downloading, re-posting, sharing, printing, commercial or private use of any kind without written permission.

03/26/2021

© 2021 RDKPhotography
All Rights Reserved. No copying, editing, downloading, re-posting, sharing, printing, commercial or private use of any kind without written permission.