Be it in Ghent or Antwerp, you can’t escape Railtraxx and their class 66 locomotives. In recent years the company has their fleet with a lot of these engines. On December 7th I got to photograph two of them. The day was shorter than expected: the Combinant shuttle was still partially hidden by the shadow. The container shuttle from Kalishoek to Antwerpen-Noord was running completely … Continue reading Railtraxx in the ports
We expected a lot of this day of railfanning. With beautiful weather announced, all that was needed were a few trains. Both elements didn’t work out as expected. But a short dusk photo session in the port of Antwerp turned out interesting. We expected a container train from the Krommenhoek terminal and wanted to make a low light photo of it. Right when the train … Continue reading Class around the container
Starting January 1st 2000, the coal-fired power plant of Ruien was supplied by ship only. 3 days before the end of the coal trains to the power plant, and before the end of all rail traffic on rail line 85, a friend an I still wanted to try our luck. My dad would be driving us, as we didn’t have our license yet. It were … Continue reading Coal to Ruien: last days
Unforeseen circumstances made this photo happen. I had to work from home to take care of a sick child, and the daily coal train to France was delayed by several hours. Result: during lunch break I could quickly run off to the tracks and make a photo of this train in fall colors. Continue reading Seize the day
Another possible title of this post would have been “I’m blue, tadadie” for reasons that will become clear when reading the full post. The selected title does apply too, though, and maybe fits even a bit better as it was a really good day, with lots of class 66 diesel power. After dropping off my daughter at school I headed east. Rush hour lead me … Continue reading A classy day
Autumn season is there: time to get into the night again. I started the new season with a warming up session in Wetteren. Testing a new addition to the gear, and learning more about which spots are suitable for this type of photography. This was a very ice photo to make. Getting the gear set up using feeling only, tweaking location and gear until things … Continue reading A new season has started
Yesterday afternoon I spent some time with my son and daughter along the tracks. On a quiet, safe, dirt road, perfect for playing while daddy waits for a train. We had to wait a long time, so got to play a lot, until finally the train came. The sun was also present, casting a beautiful autumn light on the train. Leading my daughter to describe … Continue reading All the colors of the rainbow
The last action zone of the SNCB class 80 was the Brussels region. From the depot of Schaarbeek, they were sent all around the region for shunting duties. There were always a few to see at the Scaarbeek shunting yard, and if you were lucky you could even catch them posing next to each other. Continue reading Posing in the sun together
Last Friday and Saturday, wife and daughter were out of the house. With the son sleeping at 7pm already, the men’s night was rather lonely. Never mind, we got to spend some quality time together on Saturday. I took him out to watch some freight trains. Good education can’t start soon enough. The young man didn’t care one bit, as he was or sleeping, or … Continue reading An attempt to education
Yesterday I made an old-school – non-battery powered – bicyce trip chasing trains. Oldschool in modern times, meaning I first had to bring my daughter to school before jumping on a train. Paperless tickets are good, but can cause stress when you forgot your password. And the backpack didn’t only contain a camera and lenses, but also a heavy tripod and an e-reader. What didn’t … Continue reading Living the day as it comes
Railscapes 