Best of 2016

[Mberry]

Yep, it's gallery time... Share your 5 favorite shots of 2016.

Here are some of mine in no particular order.

A very endangered tourist railway during peak foliage season.

PhotoID: 591986 Photograph © Michael Berry

Another tourist railway that returned after a 2-year hiatus

PhotoID: 587180 Photograph © Michael Berry

My first trip to The Prairies.

PhotoID: 588887 Photograph © Michael Berry

An angle only available during the summer.

PhotoID: 578455 Photograph © Michael Berry

A matching unit train that doesn't quite match on the rear (with stacks added to a grain train).

PhotoID: 599742 Photograph © Michael Berry

[Coloradorailfan]

Here are my five favorites:

Coal Creek Canyon-

PhotoID: 573831 Photograph © John Crisanti

Rainbow over Pinecliffe-

PhotoID: 579875 Photograph © John Crisanti

The Return of 844-

PhotoID: 583687 Photograph © John Crisanti

Finger Rock Along the DRGW-

PhotoID: 591540 Photograph © John Crisanti

Sunset at Rock River-

PhotoID: 596752 Photograph © John Crisanti

[Decapod401]

Nice stuff, Michael. John, and Ken.

Although most of my stuff is historical I do post a few contemporary images, still on film. Most of my efforts last year centered around the N&W 611 excursions close to my current home in NC, and here is my favorite from those forays-

PhotoID: 574898 Photograph © Doug Lilly

I honed my photography skills on the Lehigh Valley in its final year, now over 40 years ago-

PhotoID: 560842 Photograph © Doug Lilly

During my college years, I shot a lot of early Conrail, while witnessing the beginning of the end for Bethlehem Steel-

PhotoID: 572088 Photograph © Doug Lilly

Many of my favorite image in 2016 were of the Rio Grande Zephyr, including an SC and a POTW. For this gallery, I picked one from a different vantage point-

PhotoID: 577946 Photograph © Doug Lilly

One of my all-time favorite roads was shortline Pittsburg & Shawmut. Using EMD switchers to haul coal through rugged terrain, the fall colors on the P&S couldn't be beat-

PhotoID: 580994 Photograph © Doug Lilly

Happy New Year to all!

Doug

[tbelton]

Most of my favorite shots ended up being photos of the DC to AC conversions. NS ran them repeatedly on the Winston-Salem District to Belews Creek Steam Station (where I work) for testing. So several shots of them near the first of the year ended up being some of my higher viewed shots. By the end of the year everyone was sick of them!

Thanks for looking,

Trey

PhotoID: 563513 Photograph © Trey Belton

PhotoID: 562316 Photograph © Trey Belton

PhotoID: 569421 Photograph © Trey Belton

PhotoID: 588825 Photograph © Trey Belton

PhotoID: 564953 Photograph © Trey Belton

[RobJor]

Departing Chicago 2016:

PhotoID: 589728 Photograph © Robert Jordan

Arriving Chicago 45 years ago:

PhotoID: 574703 Photograph © Robert Jordan

Departing Michigan City 2016:

PhotoID: 575893 Photograph © Robert Jordan

Arriving Michigan City 44 years ago:

PhotoID: 575338 Photograph © Robert Jordan

Parked my Maverick, with my Collie waiting in the car just walked in on a beautiful afternoon 43 years ago

PhotoID: 574811 Photograph © Robert Jordan

[Kyle Korienek]

I certainly did not submit here to levels of previous years as I am somewhat loathing people who find it necessary to pimp their photos on Facebook for views, I tend to follow the philosophy of "if they are good, they will get their due," but whatever, to each their own, I like Flickr more and more everyday.

PhotoID: 563856 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

This was my winning photo for the CN calendar this year, 2 years in a row! Plus, being able to climb the signals gives me the advantage of being the only person with this shot without resorting to a damn drone.

PhotoID: 575855 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

Had a wonderful day chasing GLC with fellow photog Mark Mautner, real nice cap on great spring day. 35's with 10,000 tons of grain.

PhotoID: 578459 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

I made the 32 hour drive from Michigan to Montana on Memorial Day weekend with co-worker, fellow photog, and good friend Michael Nowakowski to shoot MRL and Marias Pass, almost didn't get the shot thanks to clouds, but this shot made the trip worth it.

PhotoID: 587301 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

What was the 2nd trip in 3 weekends to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to document ore traffic just after the closure of Empire Mine, it was definitely worth the 6 hour drive, anyone who wants to bash Michigan as boring needs to go to the U.P. Maybe this will be in the 2018 CN Calendar...

PhotoID: 594205 Photograph © Kyle Korienek

How could I not post a "best of" without a GLC peak fall color shot?

[kszok]

I only managed to get 10 photos added to the RP data base in 2016, so choosing five is not too difficult.

I caught this one on the way home from an afternoon trip in February:

PhotoID: 566661 Photograph © Ken Szok

Late afternoon between Ludlow and Ash Hill:

PhotoID: 571891 Photograph © Ken Szok

A couple for a great weekend trip to Arizona in August:

PhotoID: 585336 Photograph © Ken Szok

PhotoID: 585520 Photograph © Ken Szok

Last photo from a rainy day in the desert:

PhotoID: 600495 Photograph © Ken Szok

[Joe the Photog]

I only had 17 accepted. I didn't take my first photograph until May 9th and all of them were of the L&C. Here is my favorite

PhotoID: Photograph ©

And the most viewed

PhotoID: Photograph ©

[JimThias]

I still need to get caught up with submissions for photos from previous years, so at this time I've got nothing in my gallery from 2016.

[JRMDC]

My favorite thread of the year!

Most of my decent shots were from events as opposed to routine railfanning. For me I think that is always true.

First, WMSR photo charter:

PhotoID: 568693 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

PhotoID: 568707 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

PhotoID: 570337 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

PhotoID: 567255 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Next, 611:

This one isn't gorgeous but i think I captured a bit of a bleak day

PhotoID: 580442 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Not really my favorite but a classic wedgie, reasonably well lit, and lots of people seem to care that the rods are down

PhotoID: 579098 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

Finally, from the general pool of shots, a composition I am particularly pleased with

PhotoID: 585338 Photograph © Janusz Mrozek

[mersenne6]

I guess my top two would be a couple of pictures taken at the Rockville Bridge in Marysville, Pa.

PhotoID: 597066 Photograph © Robert Butler

and

PhotoID: 593737 Photograph © Robert Butler

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by JimThias

I still need to get caught up with submissions for photos from previous years, so at this time I've got nothing in my gallery from 2016.

I'm making an effort to increase my uploads, you should too. I've already came close to matching my 2016 effort in 3 days..

Loyd L.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

I'm making an effort to increase my uploads, you should too. I've already came close to matching my 2016 effort in 3 days..

Loyd L.

I had quite a few submissions in 2016, but all the shots are from 2015 and earlier. This thread is calling for photos taken in 2016, but I probably won't get around to submitting those until the end of 2017.

[Ween]

I uploaded just one shot to RP taken in 2016, a photo taken on the last day of the year:

PhotoID: 601696 Photograph © Chris Paulhamus

[Daniel SIMON]

I would like to add an "international touch" to this best of 2016 thread.

I had the chance to visit three different countries last year. Here are a few photos of my trips:

It all started in February in Sri Lanka:

PhotoID: 566217 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 566118 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 565357 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

Second trip was to Bulgaria:

PhotoID: 574275 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 573701 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 573233 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

and the last travel in 2016 was again to Switzerland to take pictures of the last trains running over the famous Gotthard mountain line:

PhotoID: 589347 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 588881 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

PhotoID: 589136 Photograph © Daniel SIMON

Happy New Year again to all RP.net members and friends!
Daniel

[coborn35]

Originally Posted by Mberry

Yep, it's gallery time... Share your 5 favorite shots of 2016.

Did you decide the normal ten shots was too much?

Mine in no particular order.

My last day shooting my favorite railroad before a move to Montana...everything lined up that day.

PhotoID: 597041 Photograph © duluthtrains

A impromptu Michigan trip yielded the best of the spoils- Green U-Boats in perfect light. If I was still in MN I would be making this trip more frequently, its a very beautiful area.

PhotoID: 586334 Photograph © Max Medlin

A shot of one of my crews pulling empty's back to the BNSF with many Duluth icons pictured. I am forever thankful for the opportunities I had working for this company.

PhotoID: 565690 Photograph © Max Medlin

Also on the Michigan trip, some personal contacts were able to secure some behind the scenes shots, which were a wonderful look inside this neat little railroad.

PhotoID: 596795 Photograph © duluthtrains

PhotoID: 596796 Photograph © duluthtrains

I have always loved this hill, and it requires a pickup truck with a toolbox in the bed to stand on in order to get this shot. Haven't had many chances to shoot here, but lucked out with a good leader and nice steaming pellets

PhotoID: 587493 Photograph © duluthtrains

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Also on the Michigan trip, some personal contacts were able to secure some behind the scenes shots, which were a wonderful look inside this neat little railroad.

Perhaps we would think more kindly regarding Mr. Larkin and his E&LS if he would release the Baldwin Sharks from his private vault for proper preservation and display.

[coborn35]

Originally Posted by miningcamper1

Perhaps we would think more kindly regarding Mr. Larkin and his E&LS if he would release the Baldwin Sharks from his private vault for proper preservation and display.

Perhaps he should just scrap them then? There is a long and complicated backstory here that I assure you most people do not know. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth as they say.

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Perhaps he should just scrap them then?

How did you jump to that from what I posted?
There is a long sad history of privately held engines going off to the scrappers. Some examples: The Louisiana Eastern collection and the Jensen CB&Q engines.
I don't get the disconnect there. The sharks' owner is clearly some sort of railfan, yet runs a very railfan-unfriendly outfit.

[coborn35]

Originally Posted by miningcamper1

How did you jump to that from what I posted?
There is a long sad history of privately held engines going off to the scrappers. Some examples: The Louisiana Eastern collection and the Jensen CB&Q engines.
I don't get the disconnect there. The sharks' owner is clearly some sort of railfan, yet runs a very railfan-unfriendly outfit.

There are many incorrect ideas floating around out there, including the idea that they are a railfan unfriendly railroad. That is simply not true. They have very nice people working for them. I jumped to the scrapping because it seemed you were insinuating that if they weren't in the public eye then what is the point? I assure you they will not be scrapped, and along with everything else hidden away, will go to a good home. The expression "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" applies here. If you had cool toys everyone wanted to see, but people kept breaking in and stealing things from your garage, what would you do?

[Mberry]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Did you decide the normal ten shots was too much?

Mine in no particular order.

Haha, I did not remember ten was the previous norm!

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by coborn35

Did you decide the normal ten shots was too much?

I think Michael's suggestion of posting only 5 is an excellent one. I might even limit it more. When everyone posts 10, the thread rapidly gets so long that people lose interest in looking at it. Short and sweet.

Like many others, I have a back-log of 2016 shots that I will get around to posting at some point. Many times, I think there is a tendency on the part of the viewers to believe that when a frequent poster suddenly stops posting, they must be having some issue with the site, the screeners, etc. Often, I think the real issue is TIME. Life sometimes gets in the way of fun stuff.

Anyway, here are my 5....mostly shots that would be difficult to re-create without the sun and moon aligning....and the expenditure of lots of $$$:

Reading & Northern 425 in the snow at night:

PhotoID: 567899 Photograph © Kevin Madore

The re-creation of the Bob Richardson Flanger Train photo...minus the spreader and the code lines:

PhotoID: 570635 Photograph © Kevin Madore

The DRGW 315 crew working on their engine at Cumbres in the clouds:

PhotoID: 589296 Photograph © Kevin Madore

Georgetown Loop's #111. Not nearly as many views as the SC with the train on the Devil's Gate bridge, but I just like this shot...fall colors, snow, pretty sky, back-lit plume, etc.:

PhotoID: 596891 Photograph © Kevin Madore

The Christmas Card from the WW&F. Photographing steam in falling snow is rarer than you might think. You can pay someone a lot of money and never re-create this:

PhotoID: 601575 Photograph © Kevin Madore

[spacetrain1983]

I only got 3 shots in last year, and only two of those were actually taken last year.

PhotoID: 593211 Photograph © spacetrain1983

PhotoID: 600949 Photograph © spacetrain1983

[StL-rail]

Well since I didn't get out a whole lot last year, I'll include some that I uploaded that were oldies but goodies.

Taken last year:

PhotoID: 593266 Photograph © John Witthaus

PhotoID: 593297 Photograph © John Witthaus

Uploaded last year:

PhotoID: 598662 Photograph © John Witthaus

PhotoID: 584689 Photograph © John Witthaus

PhotoID: 565094 Photograph © John Witthaus

PhotoID: 565119 Photograph © John Witthaus

My aim is to get out a little more this year, but we'll see if that happens...

[Pkwlsn]

Four of my favorites from this year. I didn't get out to shoot as much as I would have hoped, but I still ended up with a few that I'm pretty happy with.

PhotoID: 587411 Photograph © Parker Wilson

PhotoID: 589458 Photograph © Parker Wilson

PhotoID: 592331 Photograph © Parker Wilson

PhotoID: 592761 Photograph © Parker Wilson