In October 2023, Lerro Photography sponsored four days of photo charters at the East Broad Top Railroad using 2-8-2 #16. For this event, we ran two 2-day charters with 40 photographers participating in each group. On the first day of the charter, we started things off with runbys in the yard and a number of human-interest shots with our reenactors while the crew fixed a malfunctioning dynamo on #16. To fill the downtime, we had our fantastic group of reenactors pose in various places around the station, both with the train and antique vehicles. Once the dynamo was fixed, we… [Read More]
East Broad Top Railroad Charter
In April 2023, Lerro Photography sponsored a two-day photo charter at the East Broad Top Railroad. After decades as a freight railroad and then as a tourist line, the railroad ceased operations in 2011. It got a third chance at life in 2020 with the formation of the EBT Foundation. We ran our last photo charter with a live engine at the EBT in 2010 and held photo shoots with dead posed engines in 2020 and 2021. It was nice to be back with live steam running through the hills of central Pennsylvania. In preparation for our charter, the railroad pulled… [Read More]
Southern Pacific #18 Photo Charter
Southern Pacific #18 in LawsMarch 2023 Southern Pacific #18, also known as the “Slim Princess”, is an oil-fired 4-6-0 “Ten-Wheeler” narrow gauge locomotive built by Baldwin in 1911. In 2017, the SP 18 was restored to operating condition and has traveled to several railroads and museums. In the spring of 2023, the SP 18 was moved to Laws Railroad Museum in CA for maintenance and public events. The Laws Railroad Museum Historic Site features several a number of structures including a depot, water tower, turntable, and other buildings. Many of the buildings are authentic Southern Pacific narrow gauge buildings. Sister… [Read More]
Chesapeake & Ohio 1309
Chesapeake & Ohio #1309February 2023 Western Maryland Scenic Railroad #1309, originally Chesapeake & Ohio #1309, is a compound articulated class H-6 “Mallet” 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949 for the C&O, where it pulled coal trains until its retirement in 1956. It has the distinction of being the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for a North American railroad. In 2014, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad acquired C&O #1309 from the B&O Railroad Museum and after a 7-year restoration, the locomotive was finally ready for service. During the restoration, the railroad painted #1309… [Read More]
Strasburg Railroad 611 Charter 2022
Norfolk & Western 611 Charter at the Strasburg RailroadNovember 2022 The 4-8-4 Norfolk & Western #611 was brought to the Strasburg Railroad in 2019 and has been pulling passenger trains on select weekends. Lerro Photography helped run a photo charter with the 611 in October 2019. In November 2022, Lerro Photography was again asked to help the SRR with a photo charter to help raise money for both the railroad and the locomotive. The two-day photoshoot consisted of the 611 pulling an all-red passenger train and featured photo sessions at sunrise, sunset, and a night session. Each of the photo… [Read More]
Oregon Steam Charters 2022
Oregon Steam Charters The 2022 Oregon Steam Charters featured two separate railroads: The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad and the Albany & Eastern Railroad. For our first photo charter, we spent two days at the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad with the Polson Logging Co. 2-8-2 #2 and the Heisler Craig Mountain Lumber #3 as our motive power. Both days were planned to feature both locomotives, but due to mechanical issues, the Heisler didn’t join us until toward the end of the first day. The railroad fired up a third engine, McCloud Railway 2-6-2 #25, but unfortunately, that engine had mechanical issues… [Read More]
Age of Steam Roundhouse 2020 Review
Age of Steam 2020 Review In 2019, Lerro Photography started discussions with the Age of Steam Roundhouse in Ohio on doing a photo shoot and had tentatively planned on running a public shoot in mid-2020. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to those plans. After some discussion during the summer of 2020, it was decided to do a smaller scale “test shoot” to see how a socially distanced photo shoot could work inside the roundhouse. For the photo shoot, we had to acquire two large fog machines because we cannot use our usual smoke bombs inside the museum. The… [Read More]
Virginia & Truckee Railway 2020
For the third photo shoot in our February 2020 program we visited the Virginia & Truckee Railway. We’ve been to the Virginia & Truckee before, but this time around we had an operating boxcar and real caboose to go along with the small fleet of freight cars from the V&T collection. The V&T has plenty of photo props, including two tunnels and deep rock cuts. One original V&T depot survives along the route, and there are many remnants of structures used when the region was busy with gold and silver mining. We were able to use trackside locations, as well… [Read More]
Nevada State Railroad Museum 2020
In February 2020, Lerro Photography sponsored a photo shoot at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, NV. For our photo shoot, the museum fired up the 4-4-0 Inyo, the 4-6-0 Glenbrook, the Virginia & Truckee #25, and the McKeen Car. We also had the 4-4-0 Dayton pulled out cold for a few photos. Throughout the day, we featured different locomotives with their trains at different spots around the museum property. Leading up to the photo shoot, the museum contacted a reenactment group in Virginia City and asked if a couple of people could take part in the night… [Read More]
Niles Canyon Photo Shoot 2020
In February 2020, Lerro Photography sponsored a photo shoot on the Niles Canyon Railway in Sunol, CA. The photo shoot featured a full day with 2-6-6-2T Clover Valley Lumber Co. #4 with a mixed freight train, as well as most of the day with 2-4-4-2 Skookum with a log train. Photographers came from as far away as Europe and Asia for the event and rode in a third train powered by a Southern Pacific switcher. At the end of the day, a night session was held at the Sunol depot. The crew and volunteers at the Niles Canyon Railway were… [Read More]
