Looking Back - Your best of 2014

[jnohallman]

It's a new year, so time once again for everyone's favorite year in review thread. Post your 10 (or 5, or 7, or whatever number you prefer) best shots from 2014.

Here are mine:

10)

PhotoID: 488867 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

9)

PhotoID: 505889 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

8]

PhotoID: 490629 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

I thought this one would do a little better.

7)

PhotoID: 492920 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

6)

PhotoID: 488741 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

I didn't get as many rail photos out of my trip to Canada as I would have liked, but this one didn't turn out too bad.

5)

PhotoID: 488736 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

I remember as a kid being able to ride behind this engine in steam. It's a pity to see her sitting there cold now.

4)

PhotoID: 490668 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

This was an interesting catch from my Canada trip as it was literally in the middle of nowhere along the highway.

3)

PhotoID: 505892 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

The newest engine in my collection of photos by far, I caught this one from the parking deck at 30th Street just before boarding Amtrak's Autumn Express.

2)

PhotoID: 492825 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

A massive jump in views from my other pics this past year to the top 2. Apparently people really miss Conrail (or is it that they miss GP30s?).

1)

PhotoID: 490050 Photograph © Jonathan Hallman

My top photo for 2014 is also my favorite among those added to my RP portfolio this year, perhaps as much for the location as for the photo itself. Ever since I stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn for the first time, it has been one of my favorite spots, even if I don't get there very often. I didn't get to stay there this trip - I was just passing through on my way back to the Whitefish Amtrak station after a trip to Calgary - but I enjoyed the chance to drop by and see the place.

Jon

[coborn35]

No particular order:

PhotoID: 509659 Photograph © Max Medlin

This was a picture for our company magazine. Due to lack of snow and it being a last minute thing, we settled for this. I should settle more often! Became my first POTW!

PhotoID: 481115 Photograph © Max Medlin

This was a neat even I was able to put together.

PhotoID: 502922 Photograph © Max Medlin

Probably my favorite picture of 2014.

PhotoID: 468858 Photograph © Max Medlin

I liked the human element.

PhotoID: 468853 Photograph © Max Medlin

Due to mechanical issues I had to press my FP7 into service and it sure looked good!

PhotoID: 501326 Photograph © Max Medlin

Jungle in the middle of the city!

PhotoID: 508134 Photograph © Max Medlin

I really liked this with the boat going through the bridge in the background.

PhotoID: 473145 Photograph © Max Medlin

Hard to beat that sag!

PhotoID: 483624 Photograph © Max Medlin

This is a location no one shoots anymore because of how hard it is to access. I haven't seen a shot here since the late 90's at the earliest.

PhotoID: 504164 Photograph © Max Medlin

My trip to the Black Hills was amazing. I believe I am the first person to ever shoot a matched set of RCP&E engines together, and the weather was simply amazing.

[JRMDC]

It was, as usual, a quiet year for me. So out of my 23 uploads, a number of which were not shot in 2014, I will only feature a few.

A rare venture into the night, working on passenger car blurred window stuff.

PhotoID: 469900 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Another venture into the night, lucking into the foreign power that has been prevalent around here this year; I am not one to chase those but got this one unplanned.

PhotoID: 489243 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Went out into an 8 degree day. Frankly, this one looked a lot better while being taken than upon review at home later. Enthusiasm met reality.

PhotoID: 490814 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

I profess to like detail shot but I take them very seldom in practice. Stumbled into this opportunity while driving the family home from Dutch Wonderland - thanks for your patience, family!

PhotoID: 493921 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Made something out of nothing, at a spot with changes in the past few years mucked up the customary shot.

PhotoID: 503189 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

[Mberry]

In no particular order, here are some of my photos from this year that I quite liked.

A busy image and something I'd been wanting to do for awhile.

PhotoID: 494365 Photograph © Michael Berry

A very productive trip to northern Quebec netted these two colourful images.

PhotoID: 500504 Photograph © Michael Berry

PhotoID: 500500 Photograph © Michael Berry

Who knew NS could be interesting? Two repainted standard cabs made a nice lashup

PhotoID: 486583 Photograph © Michael Berry

New power on CP's holiday train was a nice surprise.

PhotoID: 508210 Photograph © Michael Berry

A brief period of sunshine allowed me to capture this quintessentially New England image at St. Albans, Vermont.

PhotoID: 491274 Photograph © Michael Berry

Winter can be a pain, but it allows for some great shots.

PhotoID: 468805 Photograph © Michael Berry

PhotoID: 475066 Photograph © Michael Berry

An overpass that may not last long and that allows for great shots of unit trains.

PhotoID: 493181 Photograph © Michael Berry

PhotoID: 489580 Photograph © Michael Berry

[Noct Foamer]

In no particular order:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/14935952320/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/14084997627/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/13936987951/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/13460191843/

[Flowing]

I'm just going to post this one, definitely my favorite shot from my trip to Ohio to see 765 and possibly my fav of the year. The misty weather helped me out here as the scheduling of the train and sun angle/shadows weren't going to line up. I was pleased to come home with a photo of this popular engine at a unique location.

PhotoID: 497183 Photograph © John Higginson

[bigbassloyd]

Knocked out a bunch of bucket list items in 2014. Many of which I haven't gotten around to uploading.

PhotoID: 477736 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

Only photo of Bells Tunnel on RP.

PhotoID: 482112 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

Only two photos of Upper Submarine Bridge on the Beech Mtn. RR and both are mine. I'll upload the Lower Submarine some day...

PhotoID: 511279 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

Not very many photos of the A&O geeps dragging coal on RP.

PhotoID: 507813 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

4th time was the charm to catch a train at Natural Tunnel

PhotoID: 498317 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

Sunrise and Sunset are the main reason I go to NW Ohio twice a year.

PhotoID: 492672 Photograph © Loyd Lowry

Fellow RP contributor Ray Lewis and I sat on a rock for nine and a half hours waiting on this train.

[Kyle Korienek]

No particular order here:

PhotoID: 503005 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

This one was my most viewed for the year, and probably my favorite fall photo I've ever taken, and the best I can say about this photo is that it was better to be lucky than good, especially since it got cloudy about 20 minutes before the train showed up. If it had stayed sunny, no shot.

PhotoID: 470602 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

Nearly didn't get set up in time, the snow was coming down so hard that it made it very hard to chase.

PhotoID: 489812 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

The first of my 2 People's Choice winners for the year, definite winner from my trip to Pennsylvania this summer. I also had the privilege to shoot this next to fellow RP'er and regular forum contributor Carl Massart, it was a great morning cruising along the NS Pittsburgh line with him leading the way!

PhotoID: 491168 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

The second of my People's Choices for 2014. Never underestimate a cloudy day, if the clouds break near sunset, the sunsets are usually the best you will ever see.

PhotoID: 510139 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

With the acquisition of some flashes, night flash has become a new aspect I am still learning. While I am nowhere near the level of skill of such RP'ers Gary Knapp and Kevin Burkholder, their work keeps me motivated to work harder and possibly reach their level someday.

PhotoID: 490544 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

One of those shots you don't know how well it will look until you post process, but this one just turned out real well, and was a favorite from the Pennsylvania trip with fellow RP'er Michael Nowakowski, even if it was a simple shot of helpers.

PhotoID: 512311 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

The last photo I took of 2014. While it is simple, I really like it, and that is the most important thing in this hobby, and a lot of people who get overly frustrated with RP tend to forget.

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by Kyle Korienek

Nearly didn't get set up in time, the snow was coming down so hard...



The last photo I took of 2014. While it is simple, I really like it, and that is the most important thing in this hobby, and a lot of people who get overly frustrated with RP tend to forget.

I love heavy snow shots (much more so than others, I guess).
The night shot seems under-appreciated as well!

[miningcamper1]

Most viewed:

PhotoID: 497577 Photograph © miningcamper

PhotoID: 507293 Photograph © miningcamper

PhotoID: 510634 Photograph © miningcamper

E44 electrics surprise me with their popularity!

My favorite that got in:

PhotoID: 509865 Photograph © miningcamper

Favorite rejected and favorite not submitted:

[Mr. Pick]

I didn't post too many in2014.. My favorites were the two I took recently of the Walking Horse and Eastern's now defunct E8(A)

PhotoID: 511440 Photograph © Mr. Pick

PhotoID: 511357 Photograph © Mr. Pick

[Dennis A. Livesey]

Of those I uploaded, these are my personal favs.

The first one, the one of GCT in the snow, was one of three photos that helped me get the highest photo contest award of my life.

http://www.railphoto-art.org/2014-awards/third-prize/

PhotoID: 467256 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 472657 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 472658 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 479749 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 480142 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 482761 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 489759 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 497166 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 500900 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 502934 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 506053 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 506190 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 508226 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

PhotoID: 508564 Photograph © Dennis A. Livesey

[MassArt Images]

This was the first year since 2011 that I didn't take a week to go railfanning yet I still managed to get some nice shots.

Once again the Strasburg, PA area yielded some nice shots

PhotoID: 490930 Photograph © Carl Massart

I got lucky at Thurmond,WV when we stopped here on our last day of a two week vacation to the Outer Banks.

PhotoID: 502977 Photograph © Carl Massart

Got a nice shot of Strasburg RR's L.O.S. motor car when we went to Reading to attend the Berks Jazzfest.

PhotoID: 477734 Photograph © Carl Massart

I liked how this Strasburg RR shot turned out also during a steady drizzle the same day.

PhotoID: 476063 Photograph © Carl Massart

On the trip home we swung down to Meyersdale for the Maple Festival and to get some syrup. The snow picked up so much that I was afraid to go Mance's Curve and had to settle for Sand Patch instead. Got lucky and only had to wait ten minutes before this showed up

PhotoID: 475941 Photograph © Carl Massart

Got the Pennsy heritage in my viewfinder on my home rails, NS's Conemaugh Line, thanks to a Heritage Units.com email alert.

PhotoID: 474446 Photograph © Carl Massart

The most viewed image of all I took at the Lerro Productions photo shoot in Owosso, MI with PM 1225 and NKP 765.

PhotoID: 487043 Photograph © Carl Massart

I got to meet several RP.net contributors near the rails this year. I waited with J.Alex Lang to capture the Lehigh Valley heritage unit less than five miles from home.

PhotoID: 507026 Photograph © Carl Massart

I met up with Kyle Korienek and Mike Nowakowski to guide them around the West Slope of NS's Pittsburgh Line to capture this with my 10-24 wide angle.

PhotoID: 489241 Photograph © Carl Massart

This was my last shot of 2014 and my first accepted shot with my Christmas present, a 150-500mm Sigma telephoto zoom lens. Shot at 440mm. I also got to meet Robert A. (Freddy) Shook.

PhotoID: 512133 Photograph © Carl Massart

[railfanzone]

I didn't upload much to RP this year - actually only a dozen hit the database from my camera in 2014. And of those twelve, 10 were taken after dark... Here's my 8 favs from the year in no particular order...

PhotoID: 510909 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 488918 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 479326 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 494889 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 506907 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 509275 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 491370 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

PhotoID: 507304 Photograph © Thomas J. Nanos - www.nanosphoto.com

[BUFFIE]

A few of my faves over this last year in no particular order.

This one for finding something totally unique in basically my back yard:

PhotoID: 510884 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for finally going to the Colorado Railroad Museum (shame on me for waiting so long)

PhotoID: 505705 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one as a reminder to take the back roads - you might find a veteran working a small industrial yard

PhotoID: 493619 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for remembering that its OK to take a pic with something other than just the engine in the shot

PhotoID: 493231 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for all the Warbonnets out there still working the rails

PhotoID: 485408 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for realizing that just because its snowing does not mean you cant have fun chasing trains

PhotoID: 481258 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for trying something new

PhotoID: 479166 Photograph © BUFFIE

This one for always having a camera in the car to catch that 'chance' encounter

PhotoID: 470077 Photograph © BUFFIE

And finally for this one as a reminder to document the fallen flags and paint schemes that are so quickly disappearing. Note the write up that I included at the time:

"Every now and then you can find a special paint scheme in the rail yards, such as this UP veteran box car which still carries the 1960's slogan Automated Railway. Although a bit faded, it is amazing that this box car has remained otherwise untouched for over 50 years."

PhotoID: 483018 Photograph © BUFFIE

This is that same car today:



Lastly - thanks to all the screeners and the photogs that take the time to help those of us learning how to be creative with our pics.

[BobE]

deleted post

[BobE]

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphot...=488087&nseq=2
This got more views than any of my others. Probably the clever caption did it.

http://http://www.railpictures.net/v...=470799&nseq=5

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphot...=505960&nseq=0

[RobJor]

I chose this one because Bellevue is such a nice place with great memories going back. I waited with a handful of people and it is nice seeing the small towns turn out(the stop area was jammed). I also like the existing night night shots and they are not too easy to get accepted. On another note I later found out my wife's niece was waiting only a block away as she worked a semester at Rockwell so it was a good new memory.


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphot...=509871&nseq=8

[bnsf7562]

Uploaded quite a bit in 2014, more so than any other year and have quite a few I'm happy with. Here are a few in no particular order:

First day shooting this location. Didn't know how the lighting would be until I showed up. Worked really well.

PhotoID: 467529 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

We had quite a bit of snow earlier this year. Enough to screw up my student teaching schedule to allow me some interesting shots. Here's two stack trains by the college on days I should have been teaching.

PhotoID: 472886 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 473115 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

Contracted some sort of bug in March, but already had a trip planned to WV/MD on CSX and NS. Shepherdstown is one of my favorite locations in that area and while I like this shot, I barely had any effort to get out of the car.

PhotoID: 477962 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

Did not know this was sitting here initially. NS has three of these on lease and they seem to stick around the Harrisburg area. The tunnel motor was a nice surprise too.

PhotoID: 481462 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

Week long trip to Ohio/Indiana/Illinois in June. Here's a few from that trip.

PhotoID: 486768 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 487097 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 487699 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 488209 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 490741 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 492095 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 492351 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

Thurmond, WV was awesome. Not many trains though. I did manage the classic shot.

PhotoID: 489060 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

And then there's Montana:

PhotoID: 496607 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 497089 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 498020 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 498672 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 499661 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 500066 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

PhotoID: 500084 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

And then there was this!

PhotoID: 504975 Photograph © Jacob Kempf

Happy New Year everyone!

[mersenne6]

For a number of reasons 2014 was a very slow year for me with respect to rail photography. Most of the pictures that made it on this year were from previous years. However, I did get one that I thought was pretty good.

PhotoID: 466132 Photograph © Robert Butler

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by BUFFIE

And finally for this one as a reminder to document the fallen flags and paint schemes that are so quickly disappearing. Note the write up that I included at the time:

"Every now and then you can find a special paint scheme in the rail yards, such as this UP veteran box car which still carries the 1960's slogan Automated Railway. Although a bit faded, it is amazing that this box car has remained otherwise untouched for over 50 years."



This is that same car today:

.

Well done, Buffie!

[JRMDC]

This is always my favorite RP forum thread of the year.

[JimThias]

Here are my best of 2014.

PhotoID: 474964 Photograph © Jim Thias

PhotoID: 502394 Photograph © Jim Thias

[WMHeilman]

Haven't been uploading much lately. But I didn't really do much of value in the second half of the year. So here ya go.

PhotoID: 481377 Photograph © WMHeilman

PhotoID: 481783 Photograph © WMHeilman

PhotoID: 486619 Photograph © WMHeilman

PhotoID: 496964 Photograph © WMHeilman

PhotoID: 504036 Photograph © WMHeilman

[Mgoldman]

A reminder and heads up for those new to posting pics from the database into the Forums; to post a photo vs a link:

[photoid=xxxxxx] substitute xxxxxx with your photo's ID number.

I wasn't going to post but then I read this is Janusz favorite gallery, so:

Finally got to see the Red Arrow in action - and catch it on a sunny day!

PhotoID: 506638 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

Liked the banked angle on this one:

PhotoID: 509402 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

Great location - read Tom Gorton's comment:

PhotoID: 510425 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

Getting mass appeal on RP with a shot from the Black River and Western is
quite an accomplishment.

PhotoID: 510730 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

You can never have too many shots with Santa:

PhotoID: 510980 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

A little nostalgia - seemingly overlooked. A good pic is a good pic and I think this is one despite posting a similar vertical from a different location earlier in the week:

PhotoID: 511442 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

A good shot on a lousy day:

PhotoID: 511554 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

One of my favorite shots from the BR&W - bet it would've had more "success" on RP had it been posted first in a series vs last. Love all the snow in the shot which made the photo more unique then others simply
taken either before or after the storm.

PhotoID: 512214 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

One of my favorite shots from Strasburg and one that made Trains Gallery.

PhotoID: 512735 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

Static and sitting, but I like this shot from Strasburg:

PhotoID: 512851 Photograph © Mitch Goldman

/Mitch