Expanding our Community

[troy12n]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Screeners post on forums, acting as if they really want members input and change. Members give opinions of what could improve the site. Screeners disappear and are never heard from again. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

Come on now, I can think of at least 3 times last year that one of them posted

Oh, and you forgot the part about asking for input, then ignoring suggestions

[Ron Flanary]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

This is the heart of viewing photography in general. It's art, so it's inherently subjective. You are asking for objectivity, but since there are no hard measurements, it can't be done. This is further complicated by having two "schools" of thought regarding foamer photography. The first is a railfan who has a camera. To him, a shot of a "rare" engine is cool. The second is a photographer who happens to like trains. He would never understand why someone took a mundane shot of a "rare" engine, just as the other guy would never understand why the 2nd guy would take a photo of the train deliberately blurry. Levelness you can check, "good" composition not so much.


Kent in SD

This has been stated before, but never quite so succinctly. I agree, and can cite examples ad infinitum. That's one reason I decided to stop talking about it (rejections). I was either barely hearing my own voice in a cacophony, or I was alone in the room at other times. Either way, I finally concluded my opinion only mattered to me and few, if any, cared. But, I'm satisfied I have a good sense of how things are supposed to work, and how photos are supposed to look. If others don't agree, it really doesn't matter at all. And, if RP rejects my shots (which is admittedly rare, I must admit), I think I've bitched my last time. Also---I grudgingly admit I've actually learned a few things from other photographers who comment on this forum. I found out my feces actually had a terrible odor.

As Alfred E. Newman so sagely noted: "What me worry?"

[CSX1702]

Suggestion: start screening comments again.

PhotoID: 514753 Photograph © MissyG

You know what, never mind, these are hilarious.

[coborn35]

Yeah I agree. Why do they even pretend to screen comments when they consistently let absolutely unprofessional comments through.

[Ron Flanary]

I personally have had a problem with those trying to tell us to turn railroad photography into an "art form." It's fine for them to do so, I welcome it in fact, but what I do have a problem with is that the practitioners of the more "arty" shots, I have found, tend to look down their nose's at others who are shooting more "mundane" shots.
Railroad photography is what you make of it, but one way is not "better" than another, IMHO. Unless you have a pole right thought the nose of the engine! -SG

....I've never commented on this tag line, but I love it! Yes, I do see railroad photography as an art form, but I don't demean anyone else if they see it as a way to document the railroad for other purposes. And, I create far more "mundane" shots than I do anything that would excite an art critic.

Indeed....railroad photography is what you make of it. There are some very broad and basic guidelines I think we could all agree on---but after that: do whatever turns you on!

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Yeah I agree. Why do they even pretend to screen comments when they consistently let absolutely unprofessional comments through.

Actually very tame compared to Youtube and some Flickr comments.

[CSX1702]

Originally Posted by Ron Flanary

Indeed....railroad photography is what you make of it. There are some very broad and basic guidelines I think we could all agree on---but after that: do whatever turns you on!

Ditto. ...

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by CSX1702

Suggestion: start screening comments again.



You know what, never mind, these are hilarious.

A perfect reason on top of many to never go railfanning up there.

Loyd L.

[CSX1702]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

A perfect reason on top of many to never go railfanning up there.

Loyd L.

I always liked it over there, personally. Mountain railroading at its best with only a few derailments per day.

[Tgranville]

Loyd,

Not ALL of us are bad up here. We just have more than our fair share of wackjobs.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by CSX1702

Mountain railroading at its best

You need to get out more

Loyd L.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Tgranville

Loyd,

Not ALL of us are bad up here. We just have more than our fair share of wackjobs.

I would never suggest the whole crew is bad Tom. Just a lot of them.

I would hang out with you and several others in a heartbeat... if you come down here.

Loyd L.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by CSX1702

I always liked it over there, personally. Mountain railroading at its best with only a few derailments per day.

Hmmm. Don't park next to the tracks, I guess.


Kent in SD

[CSX1702]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

You need to get out more

Loyd L.

I live in Ohio, so that's a given..

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

Hmmm. Don't park next to the tracks, I guess.


Kent in SD

Are there wreck videos posted on Railvideos.net, lol? Are there?

Would this even be accepted - some of the worse video I've ever seen and I'm not talking about subject.

/Mitch

[Noct Foamer]

There was a railroad here, the DME, that took over some very bad C&NW tracks that were totally shot. They had derailments almost weekly. The most famous one happened when a train was sitting in a siding for a meet. A rail under the lead engine snapped, putting it on the ground. With that, the DME got the dubious distinction of being the only railroad to derail a non-moving train. The rails have since been fixed and even upgraded to 140 CWR in many places.


Kent in SD

[JRMDC]

I find it hard to believe that the DME is the only RR to ever have a train derail while standing still. I suspect, for example, this happened to the Penn Central many times.

[CSX1702]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

I suspect, for example, this happened to the Penn Central many times.

Wouldn't a "derailment" require rail in the first place? They way I understand it, the Penn Central was more or less riding on the ground in later years.

[hoydie17]

Originally Posted by CSX1702

Wouldn't a "derailment" require rail in the first place? They way I understand it, the Penn Central was more or less riding on the ground in later years.

Penn Central definitely had trains "derail" while sitting still. In their later years, I remember stories by friends and family who worked for the PC talking about trains sitting on sidings and rails sinking into the ground because the track had become so poorly maintained.

My Grandfather told me once before that he went to a "derailment" where a train whose motive power was out of fuel had sit on a siding for more than 2 weeks and the rail had gradually slipped several inches under the ground as a result from several days of rain. The train was ultimately unloaded and the cars scrapped on site, engines craned onto flatcars and hauled back to a shop where they were auctioned off after the startup of Conrail. He believes the rail is quite likely, STILL in the ground at that location.

[Mark Gayman]

I have thought that if RP could issue "press" credentials to US contributors, we might have some legal edge to make some authorities think twice about interfering with 1st Amendment rights during the safe and legal practice of our hobby from public property.

The credentials here are an example:

http://www.ia-pp.com/iapp-press-pass...FQ4waQodtUwAtQ

There should be some criteria for obtaining the credentials, like a certain number of accepted photos in a certain period of time, or a certain number of photos in the database, and there should be an expiration date. Being an Elite member should not be a criteria, IMHO, but it also should not be free.

[Ween]

Cindy Lauren Scott has a little Jessica Simpson thing going on...and now everybody knows where she lives.

[Firefighter1019]

Originally Posted by KevinM

Just my two cents, but I wouldn't want to post higher-resolution images here or anywhere else....and I suspect that I am not alone.

Why? Well, because unfortunately, people regularly steal images off RP and other similar photography sites. The copyright law is a joke, because there are no copyright police that you can call when you see a violation. Instead you've got to hire a lawyer and go after the culprits yourself....at great personal expense. That's an option if you're a wealthy, famous photographer. Not so much for those of us who are just serious hobbyists.

The great thing about a 1024 x 683 image is that looks reasonable on a PC screen, but it doesn't meet the standards for most commercial applications.

Never thought of it that way, but even when people post images on sites like Flickr and such you can still steal someones full size image. Nothings fully safe on the net. And watermarks are easily removed with some paintshop work. Sad that people steal and try to profit off of others work though.

[jdirelan87]

Originally Posted by PLEzero

BINGO!!!

Status quo. There is already plenty of commentary on the forums from the past several years out there. No sense in replying to this topic if it's a 'one and done' post for the admins. RPN became stale about three years ago. I prefer the Flickr community, layout, and options much more.

Surprised nobody acknowledge this dead on assessment of the site. The admins here have clearly decided they have no interest of keeping this site relevant. The site will continue to decline in patronage until it can no longer ride off its past popularity. I nothing to convince me otherwise. Too bad too, because for a while there it was almost a really great site, but the interest just wasn't there from the powers at be.

I use to check this site several times a day, seven days a week. Now a check a couple times during the work day to kill time and rarely on the weekends. The quality is dropping, the production is outdated and stale and the lack of interest is really off putting.

[xBNSFer]

Originally Posted by Dennis A. Livesey

Gee, Bob on this one I would have to side with Jim and Loyd on the level issue.



The water line is WAY off; not just a .0001.

In Aperture it would took me 2 seconds to fix.

Attachment 8839

LOL yeah there's gonna be one heck of a flood off to the right somewhere if that shot is level!

[xBNSFer]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

There was a railroad here, the DME, that took over some very bad C&NW tracks that were totally shot. They had derailments almost weekly. The most famous one happened when a train was sitting in a siding for a meet. A rail under the lead engine snapped, putting it on the ground. With that, the DME got the dubious distinction of being the only railroad to derail a non-moving train. The rails have since been fixed and even upgraded to 140 CWR in many places.


Kent in SD

Oh, somehow I doubt they were the first to do that! I can't remember where but I'm sure I read an account in my travels of some sub-100lb per yard rail collapsing beneath modern 100-ton covered hoppers on some god-forsaken branchline trackage somewhere, and long before DME existed!