GP15-1 #1612 at the Stelton Road crossing, Piscataway, NJ. The Port Reading branch had alot of industries and this local would switch them at night. Stelton Road and Washington Road merged together at this point. It was not common to see freight during the daytime on the branch and whatever action there occurred after dark. The local did not run every night, only when the cars were needed for delivery. This picture was taken on May 30, 1984. I used the Nikon FM-2 manual film camera with Kodak Ektachrome 400 ASA, the shutter speed is 1/125 sec, the Vivitar flash unit was set on 'manual' discharge to allow the full flash to fill the scene. A manual camera allows the user to choose the settings whereas a camera that is an automatic type will not allow this type of photography...it says the picture is too dark or the settings are incorrect. The manual camera allows the photographer to "violate" the rules for taking a picture! Over the decades, I have had many 'professional' photographers tell me that my picture will not come out. I have made this picture into an 8x10 which hangs in my train room. I always tell railfans to experiment, since that is how you can learn what settings work best.
