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Please tell us more about the people in the shoot and what it was like for Strasburg while it was in progress. Looks like a fun time was had by all...

The shoot was run by Lerro Productions, which typically does several photo charters every year. Charter Host Pete Lerro is a professional photographer and most of his clients are "enthusiast" photographers, but some are professionals also. In this case, Pete recruited the assistance of 10 actresses for this event. Six of them were from a WWII re-enactment group, 2 of them were professional models, and 2 more were actual employees of the Strasburg Rail Road Mechanical Shops....people who work with Kelly. The Strasburg Railroad provided its facilities (engine house, shops, locomotives and some staff) and Pete worked with the RR folks to design the scenes....and there were many set-ups during the 5-hour session. About 17 photographers paid to participate, and Pete had half a dozen staff people working with him as well as taking photos.

The shoot was conducted on a Sunday evening from 5-10PM, so disruption to the railroad operations appeared to be relatively minimal. The only train running during that time was the 7PM evening train, which was not part of the shoot.

I personally had a great time, and from talking to the other participants, I think the event was universally well-received. Photographing people is a little outside my comfort zone, so it was great experience for me. If folks are interested in future charters/photo shoots with Lerro Productions, they can always go to Pete's site:

http://www.lerroproductions.com/

Pete not only does railroad shoots, but he has a popular series of lighthouse shoots as well.

/Kevin Madore

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Great set-up, love the photos.
I'm just wondering why he chose a Canadian locomotive? It looks like N&W 475 was in the shops as well at the time...

Hi Lee,

Actually, the "Rosie" phenomenon wasn't unique to the US. During WWII, the Canadians had them also. In our case, we used the CN 89 for the daylight shots because she was the only locomotive that was "off duty" at the time. The 89 typically runs the half-hour trains during the summer months, and she's done by about 2:15.....so she was available and the crew brought her out for us. The NW 475 was the only other engine running. She was handling the hourly trains and was tied up until the 7PM "Evening Breeze" got back. She became the prop for the night shots. We did shots with the Strasburg Crew as well. GW 90 was inside the shop building getting some major running gear work done. She was up on jacks, so she wasn't going anywhere that day! :o)

Thx,

/Kevin Madore

I'm very aware of that (I've written extensively on the 1940s for various publications over the years).

I was just wondering in terms of 'marketability' as a US locomotive would probably do better in a general audience if one was available.

The general public can't tell the difference. They will appreciate the subject matter and artistry in the composition and lighting.