Welcome to the final stops on my Lomochrome Metropolis tour around New Jersey. Today we’re looking at trains and train stations!
Of all of the photos I took with this special film, the train photos are my favorite. It could be that railroad photography is in my blood. (My maternal grandfather may have had more images of trains among his ample slide collection than he did of people 🤔) But even so, I simply think that the colors rendered in Lomochrome Metropolis are well suited to mechanical things.
But wait! Before we get to the film, I want to show you some digital images 😀
Phone Photos
So, because trains run in the family, my mother was my ideal companion on this little outing from Flemington to Ringoes and back, via the Black River and Western Railroad.
This is an old train, and it’s only used for recreational purposes these days. We had a moody day that threatened to rain (have you noticed that is a theme this summer?) and car number 297 mostly to ourselves. I spent a lot of it looking out the open window and snapping the scenery on my phone.
Photo credit for the picture of me sitting on a bench outside Ringoes station goes to mom 📱
It did actually start to rain on the way back to Flemington, but it was dry again by the time the ride was over. Chugging along the tracks in peaceful Hunterdon County is one of the nicer ways to ride out a rain storm.
Film Photos
Most of my out-the-window pictures were taken with my phone, while I used the camera for photos of the train, the stations, and some of the old cars that were hanging around the yard at the Ringoes station.
I am really loving the way these images came out. This film’s vintage vibe pairs so well with these old trains, don’t you think?
New Jersey Transit
I needed to finish off the roll, so the following morning I took myself to the end of the NJ Transit Gladstone line in (you guessed it) Gladstone, NJ.
Notice there are three images of the train station? I was curious to see how it looked with different photographic equipment. So, first was Lomochrome Metropolis with the 35mm SLR. Next was with the phone. And the last one was with the DSLR. I don’t really have anything deep to say about that, to be honest. I just like to see them side by side (by side).
Conclusions
So. Lomochrome Metropolis. Definitely a fun film to use at train stations, both antique and modern. Will I shoot this again? Maybe. In general, for the types of images I like to capture (the swamp, the beach, neighborhood critters), it’s not a great fit. But if I ever wander over the river into New York City again, I will definitely stick a roll of Metropolis in my camera for that!
