Zooming in on eight babies

A cool May day in 1985 sees me at the isolated siding of Boco on the Emu Bay Railway. I'd been following the ore train northwards as much as the roads allowed me, but I knew that I'd be in for a long wait here. And such was the case - with the best part of an hour required for the train to work its way up the long 1 in 40 grade from the Pieman River. The sound of the eight Caterpillar and Paxman engines rose and fell as the train rounded the myriad curves until at last they came into sight. The shot itself had been planned in advance, with the zoom racked out to its maximum and the shed on the right intended to add balance. The shutter is released - the only disappointment being the driver's decision to switch off the headlights, robbing the image of that possible dynamic touch. Never mind.

Let's keep things in perspective. There may well be eight locos on this train, but they are babies amongst the giants in the other photos in this gallery. At most they generate about 750hp, transmitted to the rails through their hydraulic transmission. But such comparisons mean little - just enjoy!

Camera: Minolta XG-M
Lens: Minolta 75-150mm at 150mm
Aperture: f4
Exposure: 125
Film: Ilford FP4