I had planned to make my next post about the return of my newly repaired Deardorff 8×10 camera, but it was not to be.  I haven’t had the opportunity to use it much.  I did, however, take a trip to Truckee, California in mid-July to hang out with my brother, and maybe take some pictures.  I didn’t take the Deardorff due to space restraints in the car, but I had the D810 along.  

One of the highlights of the trip was the Donner Pass Summit Tunnels.  These tunnels were originally built with Chinese labor in the 1800’s.  Other structures were added later to deal with the constant danger of falling rocks.  

Union Pacific tore up the tracks through the tunnels at some point.  I haven’t researched the timeline, but it looks like it happened many years ago.  The tunnels have since been “decorated” with graffiti.  I’m not a fan of graffiti, but this is out of public view, and makes for some good photography.  

Here are some highlights.  

On the day that we hit the tunnels, the air filled up with smoke from nearby wildfires, so landscape pictures were not possible.  Truckee / Lake Tahoe is a beautiful place.  Someday, I hope to get back there and take some large format cameras.  We’ll see.

Thanks for looking!

–Gary L. Quay