Challenge: Have you photographed moving trains? Here's mine from a Bridge in Texas!

Trains!

First of all I'd like to say hello again as a new member to this great forum. I'm in total awe over some of the wonderful work here and feeling a bit intimidated to say the least. After conversing with Asher a bit however, I feel confident enough, I think, to post a photo here of my own. I hope to get your straight input and constructive criticism because I really do want to learn and progress in my abilities and I can't think of a better way than to put it out there and hear what people who really know, think about it. So please feel free.
I was able to get this image yesterday afternoon while out with my wife looking for some of the famous Texas bluebonnet fields. We were actually leaving and heading home after a great day of shooting when we came upon an old wooden bridge spanning a railroad track. As we were crossing I looked down the track and saw the lights of the engine heading our way. I knew I had to try and get a shot because the light here was right and the view from up there on top looked to have good possibilities. I pulled up ahead and off of the bridge, stopped and hopped out of the truck, and ran back out with my camera to the center of the bridge. That thing was really moving and was gaining on us fast so I knew I had to hurry. Luckily my camera just happened to be set about where I needed it to be because I didn't have much time to think. I fired off 4 shots and by the 5th the train was to the bridge. Right as he got to the bridge he hit his horn and just about blew us out of our socks. It was a fun and exhilerating experience to say the least. I am using a Nikon D40 with a 70-300mm VR lens. This image was ISO 200, f/11 at 180mm. I'm sorry I don't know what shutter speed my camera selected. I shot in Aperture Priority but my file info does not show the shutter speed. I'm not sure yet why that is.
So please, let me know what you think and what I should think next time I'm faced with a situation like this. I look forward to learning more and more and really am willing to put in the time and effort so your advice or insight will not be wasted. Thanks again.
Oh and I almost forgot...please post up your pictures of trains. I would love to see more examples of the beauty in these beasts.
James Newman

Trains are such massive moving bodies and so important to our civilizations.

Great red creature! I like that the orange and red extend the yellow of the dry grasses and the wood brown color pallette of the raiway track.

A good kick off shot! Thanks for sharing!

Asher

You might evaluate a layer with a slight S-curve to gove it a little extra punch perhaps?

JR Yamanote Line...

I took this as the train came into the station.

Trains, preferably using steam...



here's mine, still running from the docks at Port Alberni to an old logging camp a few miles away. The red number plate on the nose of the boiler is its pride.

scott

That train in California!

I believe I recorded that same train as it wended its way through the Cajon Pass in Southern California. Trains are fun and fascinating I agree!http://i.pbase.com/g6/76/651676/2/75089523.46UgaKac.jpg

Hi don,

Your image link comes up as 'forbidden' for me

Best wishes,

Ray

Ray West said:

Hi don,

Your image link comes up as 'forbidden' for me

Best wishes,

Ray

Click to expand...

Same to me, I'm on the way to be quite sarcaslticaly fed-up with all links to i.pbase.com :-(

Well, today it works! we can see the train!

© Don Finch

Don, I believe yours and mine show the same model of engine, but not the same exact engine. Their numbers do not match. It's very interesting to see nonetheless. They seem like newer models just by looking at them. I guess that company is at least doing well enough to replace some of its old, worn out equipment with these nice shiny new beauties. Either that or they just have a very good maintenance and paint department.


Jeff, your image is beautiful to me and interesting as well. I don't see trains such as these here in Houston. What stands out to me is how everyone there seems so caught up in whatever they are doing they don't even notice the train. It has become so common in their daily lives that it seems pratically invisible to them. I've been fascinated by trains as long as I can remember and still get excited like a little kid when I see one. It's probably as common to these people however as cars are to me and just don't draw any attention under our normal, everyday situations. I think we all take things for granted.

Scott, your image shows exactly what I am talking about. The look on that child's face and his intensity and wonder in that magnificent, breathing monster that stands in front of him is how I feel when I am around them. The boy has his fists clenched and is leaning back away from it as though he expects it to spring at any minute. Ah to be a child again.

White Pass and Yukon - Skagway Alaska 2001

This trip is what started me back up in photographic endeavors after almost 30 years of using a P&S. I got a Elan 7e when I came back from this trip. Taken with a Nikon Nuvis APS/Panorama - I was riding in the last car and went out on the platform.

Edited into Black and White:





Original in Color (enhanced):

That's fantastic, what great shot (so thinks this amateur!)

Thank you

Thank you for comment. That was one of my favorites from that trip.

So much so, I did the trip again last year, but, the time of year was different, the car we were given seats in didn't have a platform I was able to go outside and have a good view - because there were other travellers who we're less than courteous when it came to sharing the view!

train keep a-rollin'...

here's one i shot back in February... it's a BSNF freight coming into Everett, WA. it was late afternoon on a dreary day, and the train was in deep shade. i shot it with a 400mm lens, which produced the foreshortening effect and exaggerated curvature of the tracks. i also liked the way the light reflects off the rails...

Here's a shot from the only time I have photographed trains. It doesn't really show movement but I assure you it wasn't parked up http://picasaweb.google.com/freddspencer/MoreViewsAroundEskdale/photo#5038964637218559506

I was only kidding about the same train just for conversation sake. Same color is about as close as I could get.

Hi Fred,

I think I'll have to get to Eskdale. Hope I don't meet Nigel.

Best wishes,
Ray

Ray,

Thanks very much for your help. I've just been setting up my own website using Bravenet (surprisingly easy, even for me). I'm just waiting for the domain name registration to go through (a few days) then I should, hopefully, have no problems posting in future. Bravenet provide a small (50 MB) free site, so you only have to pay for the domain name ($8.95 a year). You can, of course, pay for a much bigger site, but for the moment I'll just use it for hosting odd pictures.

Once again, thanks for your help.

Last year i posted the "ultimate" moving train here. This was taken at the same time as Fred's.

Here are two more photos of the River Esk at Dalegarth Station, taken a week earlier than Fred's.





The railway is 15" gauge, built in 1915 to carry passengers and iron ore, and replacing the original 3' track. The loco is the River Esk (2-8-2) built in 1923.

Regards,

Stuart

Fred's loco is the River Irt (0-8-2), It was built as in 1894 by Sir Arthur Heywood of Duffield Bank near Derby and originally named 'Muriel'. The locomotive was sent to work at the Eaton Hall Railway in 1900. Later 'Muriel' is believed to have been located at Gretna Munitions Factory. She arrived at Ravenglass in 1917.
The original launch type boiler was replaced by a locomotive type boiler in 1927. At the same time the frame was extended to accommodate a pair of trailing wheels and she was re-named River Irt.
In the 1970s River Irt's appearance was altered once more by a taller chimney, cab and dome. To improve performance, a larger boiler was added in 1977.
Once the mainstay of passenger operations, River Irt is recognised to be the oldest working 15" gauge locomotive in the world, celebrating her 112th birthday in 2006. The loco is currently painted mid-green with black and yellow lining.

Here it is at Eskdale Green Station, taken at the same time as Fred's photos.

Stuart,

I love the way the steam curls back over in the top shot. And I wonder what the little lad in the foreground is thinking about as he strides away from the train so purposefully.

The second one is a different slant on a moving train

The last shot is a great example of the beauty of mechanical engineering in its workplace.

one from Germany - Black forest.



Taken with a Nikon D70 Nikkor 300/4

Regards
Reinhard

Hopefully I've now found somewhere to show a picture from.



Yes indeed, this seems to work. It is through Webshots at http://www.webshots.com/ in case anyone else needs somewhere to host pictures to show on a forum.....and it's free

Clicking the picture takes you to view more at Webshots (if anyone is interested). You can also view at full size when there (1024x768 in this case).

These are some very fine images and good examples of the beauty that can be found in things so big and powerful. I, like a lot of people, have loved everything about trains since I can remember. I just don't get to see enough of them anymore. Reinhard, I really enjoy your B&W. It looks like something right out of history. Come to think of it, I suppose it is. It looks like a very old engine.
I had my engine photo printed and received it yesterday. I had it made into a 16 x 24 on metallic paper and I am extremely happy with the results. It is the first image that I have ever had printed. Now I want more.

reinhard that is one excellent image. I would be very pleased with it if I were you. Conratulations.

Moving Trains....

I follow the 'Moving Train' thread with interest. There is an annual 'Real Steam Meeting' in Sinsheim, Germany to which I went a couple of times. Friends of steam engines meet to show their hand made reproductions. Photography is difficult, because the exhibition halls get very hazy when filled up with all that steam. It's fun anyway and the small scale engines are truly amazing.



Angela

Asher,

I do have other train photos, but they are mostly spur of the moment type subjects. My lack of good stuff is probably a result of this haphazard approach. However, I waited a couple hours on top of a Mississippi River bluff for a southbound train to pass by about a year ago -



High overcast provided very soft afternoon light. Most of the leaves had fallen, so the subtle color in the trees came from those few leaves that hadn't yet understood one of Jack Frost's early messages.

Tom

Marian,

Checking with the local authorities is a great idea when photographing in sensitive areas - excellent suggestion. Things get a little tricky in low-traffic areas where opportunities are rare, however. I guess the only thing to do in such situations is to work quickly and hope for the best.



That was my m.o. for the above photo taken in Utica, Illinois last week. This section of line has little traffic, and you can see some evidence of lack of maintenance.

Tom

The last two magnificent moving trains are copied from Tom Robbin's wonderful thread, "Plowden Inspired", here. The images are all remarkable. The two shown here are chosen because they are admirable and bring this moving train thread current.

We look forward to more pictures in this collection. Thanks,

Asher

Here are mine!

Shot on location in Paris!









More to come!

Excellent progression in the sequence! Will, do you know the kind of locomotive they use?

Asher