The above image isn't beautiful in a sense of specularity - but has in my opinion a documentary, silent beauty in it. A (technical?) aesthetic that I remember from a time, when we took images with big mediumformat camera (like Mamiya RZ67 Pro for example), with crispy details and beautiful colorscale.

Sharp despite slow shutter speed

Now, what i like about this photo is the fact, that it was HANDHELD at a mere 1/7 second ƒ4.5 - and still came out crispy sharp !

Also note: that the lens itself - Fujinon 30mm f 3.5 - doesn't really look like a (corresponding) 24mm wide angle lens. Yes it is wide - but not in the typical "stretched" way you know from fullframe cameras when using a 24mm lens. It is almost as if wide angle lenses with mediumformat has a lesser "distortive" effect. An intriguing phenomena...

It may explain why I absolutely love the Fujinon 30mm f 3.5 lens on the Fuji GFX camera. I is the only lens I am using (mostly) since i bought it. Combined with the 4:3 format from the GFX sensors - which is taller than the traditional fullframe camera sensors; the imagery has a certain "touch" to it combined with the fine details the high resolution sensor provides.

Högdalen Industrial Area

The Högdalen Industrial area, which includes the large Högdalen Metro depot - is a quite ugly surrounding. Bordered by the powerplant, and wires everywhere - it looks... well, industrial, often gray and not really inviting.

Huge changes at the Högdalen depot

Many changes are being made to the Metro depot - and have been done for several years, due to the changes to the Subway Network in Stockholm. In the future, the Högdalen depot will serve not just the Green Line in Stockholm, but also the Blue Line. In fact, the whole "Hagsätra" branch, will become the blue line. The "Farsta" branch (as well Skarpnäck branch) then is what remains of the Green Line.

However, a tunnel is being created between the Farsta Line near Hökarängen station, and the Högdalen Metro depot in order to be able to storage trains at night coming from the Green Line (as well inside the tunnel). New halls have already been erected, and the main storage hall for trains is about to get enlarged. An additional hall will be made, to store even more trains. So, most new service facilities / halls have already been built. That's why the Högdalen depot looked like total chaos (for many years).

Me having night jobs, will of course be affected by the future changes, that transfers the Hagsätra branch to the Blue line. I don't know yet, which Line i will belong to. Also the location where I do the final technical control of trains early morning, will likely shift. For example the storage room for Green Line trains, will be located in a tunnel between Högdalen and Hökarängen, which is much further away from the depot, with a small separate entrance into the underworld *LOL* something like 2 km away.

It will be interesting times, when the new as well changed Subway lines will shift into its final places. Somewhere around 2030 i believe.

Documentations

While I am not a subway nerd, but I do make some photos of the changes that happen at the Högdalen depot. Simply because I work there at night - and love the twilight sky, the clouds, the colors - and the ugly Högdalen depot is part of the scenery, which then of course show the changes over time that have been made there.

Like in the main photo above, for example.

No 41

The slim hall to the left in the photo, numbered with "41" - is the new facility where you re-grind wheels, which have been compromised with "flats". Small areas that are flat on the wheel itself, which leads into that a wagon makes clunky noises. When those are heavy, the wheels need to be re-grinded - otherwise they can destroy the rail leading into breakage. Especially during winter, where the metal of the rails is more frail.