Now, this seriously has me beaten, suggestions as to what is happening here please?

[Ed Bray]

As others noted, it seems to be a motion issue, in that nothing similar is visible in the background. But we'd need to see other bits of the image at similar enlargement to make sure.

Click on the flickr link and then select full size, it's there in the size scanned 1200dpi

[E. von Hoegh]

I still think the shutter is at fault. The ground and ties are sharp, and the train exhibits a double-image problem. The lamp and the sign are the most obvious examples of that. The train did not bounce, as the photograph shows that the tracks are smooth and normal. This is a steam locomotive, and would turn something like a bolt on the tracks into foil. If the train jumped far enough in "1/250th" of a second to produce that kind of a blur, it would have left the tracks completely.

Therefore, the shutter didn't actually fire at 1/250th of a second, and there's a problem with it. It just needs a CLA, and all's well.

How can you see the tracks that the train is actually on? It's entirely possible that the engine has rocked.

[Peter Mounier]

It's clearly (or not) motion blur as others have suggested.



Peter

[Sevo]

Therefore, the shutter didn't actually fire at 1/250th of a second, and there's a problem with it.

If any, it might be a matter of shutter bounce. 1/250s is not fast enough to fully freeze a moving train at such a close angle - and a shutter speed error minor enough not to affect the exposure to a critical degree won't change that one way or another. The real question is why the motion shows up as a double image rather than a continuous wipe - both a rocking engine and shutter bounce could cause that (plus other odd causes like another photographer's flash triggering right at the end of the exposure).

And after seeing the last enlargements with a triplicate edge, it seems very much like a rocking engine - that pattern is a bit too complex with too much transit between the stages to be shutter bounce.

[Steven Tribe]

A double image showing up in high contrast suggests to me a filter orientation/lens element problem.

[Ed Bray]

Thanks all for your thoughts so far.

I can tell you that there was no one else there, so no additional flash exposure although that would have been my first thought too if I did not know better.

[Peter Mounier]

The train rocks but the motion on the highlights goes by to fast to show a blur during the rocking motion. It shows, and is recorded on the film when the highlights stop rocking for a split second to reverse direction.

Peter

[William Whitaker]

Perhaps you have a tiny pinhole in the bellows that's casting a secondary image slightly out of registration.

[Ed Bray]

A double image showing up in high contrast suggests to me a filter orientation/lens element problem.

No filters and other images taken with this lens on the same day show no similar problems:


6430 Pannier Tank & Auto Coach W225 on 5x7 by Ed Bray, on Flickr


Auto Coach W225 powered by 6430 on 5x7 by Ed Bray, on Flickr

[Sevo]

A double image showing up in high contrast suggests to me a filter orientation/lens element problem.

It would - but it does only show up in moving parts of the subject, not in the equally high contrast of the branches against the sky or the black/white signal in the rear.