How to Take Better Train Travel Photos
For an Internet Rail Travelogue, and for Personal Use.
By Carl Morrison at MoKnowsPhotos.com
- Carl@TrainWeb.com - TrainWeb.org/Carl(The photo examples are best viewed while online, since some references are to photos on other web pages of mine.)
Click any photo to see a double-sized copy, click BACK in your browser to return to this page.
7. Take Close-ups
Take detail shots of engine plates, descriptive signs, equipment, tools, etc.
Rail modelers will
appreciate your
detail shots of couplers, switches, and cars. They also like
full-sized shots, from the side of the car, showing the full length of
the car, with notes as to the length of the cars. An example is
circus train cars that were originally auto haulers, which I have
photos of at circustrains.com, and a reader asked me if they were 86
ft. long. I had a circus train railfan who I e-mailed and he
responded that they were 89 ft. long.
 7.1 Would you know
that the above photo, taken Sept. 29, 2004, is engine No. 3689 built in
1875 by Baldwin in Philadelphia, without the accompanying close-up at
the right?
The 'meta data' stored with the digital image records the date and time. |
 7.2 |
 7.3 Many first-time
riders are curious about the diner and menu, as you are taking the
Dinner menu, turn the menu over and take Lunch and Breakfast, even the
front of the menu is interesting. (Remember to double-click the
photo for a bigger copy.)
|
 7.4 Even menus from Mexico
would be
interesting to those planning a trip on the Expresso Maya. (No
clickable enlargement of this photo)
|
 7.5 |
 7.6 I might have
forgotten where I took this photo of 1237 if I had not also shot the
descriptive plaque nearby (left). I also walked around to the sun
side to make this photo (see point #1) and the Coast Starlight on which
I was travelling became the background.
|
 7.7 |
 7.8 |
 7.9 How to take a
"No Trespassing" sign without trespassing: Be on the train and
look down from the lounge car! The photo to the right, along a
Wyoming Detour, was also taken from a second-level train window, using
a telephoto.
|
 7.10 |
 7.11 On the 2004
"Wyoming Detour," riding with Chris Guenzler, the car attendant
developed this map and accompanying Route Guide and handed it to
passengers. I photographed each page as a close-up and it was an
excellent reference for writing my travelouge.
On the same
'Wyoming Detour,' somewhere in Wyoming (right), we saw
these sturdy mile markers and I thought my reader-viewers might like to
see how railroads deal with high winds and deep snows in this state.
|
|
 7.13 I know this
does not qualify as a 'close-up,' but notice the placque in the picture
left of the bush.
|
 7.14 Without a
telephoto picture of the placque you might not have
noticed it, nor would I have remembered its significance without this
image as a reminder.
|
 7.15 When this much
care is taken with a table setting, how can you resist taking a
picture? Expresso Maya. You will find similar attention on
the American Orient Express. (No larger photo available)
|
 7.16 By riding a
rail system, you'll see these maps. A closeup will inform your
reader-viewers and your story can relate to the stops on the system.
|
 7.17 This web story
was about the private car owner of the Salsbury Beach, so this closeup
of those words was essential for the start of the story.
|
 7.18 Because the
owner of the Salsbury Beach had just finished work on the running gear,
I did a closeup of this area to use in my story and inform readers that
all is not glamour in owning a private rail car.
|
 7.19 The same day as
the Salsbury Beach photos were taken, this photo was taken of another
private car at the Fullerton Station. I was impressed with
Bill's, a local favorite private car owner, self-promotion method
so I took a closeup photo.
|
 7.20 Many towns now
have banners with a reference to their train heritage. Closeups
of these banners will remind viewers of the town's name, this one in
North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains Railway.
|
7.21
Don't feel you have
to photograph the whole car, get close and put the first letter in the
car's name on the side of your frame and photograph it, then crop to
that first letter.
 7.22 |
 7.23 We found a Ft.
Bragg shopping area with 'Daisy' inside near the Skunk Train
Depot.
The closeup (left) explained it all. |
 7.24 My readers knew
this abandoned steam engine was in Los Mochis, Mexico, at an old sugar
mill, but…
|
 7.25 the boilerplate
closeup helped with details like maker, location, and year.
Luckily the
sugar mill crew had painted parts of the engine aluminum
color. |
 7.26 A railfan might
like a shot of the whole locomotive, but a modeler, or artist, might
like this detail shot of the steam engine 3751.
This aging UP crest (right) was on the top level of an auto carrier, but it was eye-level from my second-level Superliner window. |
 7.27 |
 7.28 The first
(generous) pour at wine tasting on the Coast Starlight.
|
 7.29 What train was
I on, snf where does it run? Also, I mentioned Route Guide
earlier, and the blue folder is an example. Some of the materials
provided in my Economy Bedroom.
|
 7.30 Heading to the
front
of the train at the stretch stop, snap a closeup of the engine
nameplate for interested viewers (Click for enlarged copy) It contains
interesting statistics.
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