Any of you have done a photo rail trip?

[MFstooges]

I was doing road trip through BC Canada last year and saw tons of beautiful landscape next to railways. I know that Canada has few nice rail tours. There's also a nice scenery rail route between US West and East Coast.
Anyway, I was wondering what kind of photo ops on a rail tour that cannot be taken on a road trip? For sure the train passes beautiful remote scenery but you won't have much freedom and time to frame/compose a picture, will you?

 

[Sirius Glass]

There is a short rail tour in Arizona along the Grand Canyon Railroad.

Grand Canyon Train | Grand Canyon Railway & Hotel

Since 1901, the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel has been taking guests to the Grand Canyon. Enjoy entertaining musicians and the antics of cowboy characters.

www.thetrain.com

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https://www.reservationdesk.com/hot...vi__&msclkid=5451da01ad46109ddad5bd18a555c43c

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Plus several choices in British Colombia and Colorado.

 

[Rick A]

We've considered it but Amtrak won't let me set up my 8x10 inside the car.

 

[Waldo]

We've considered it but Amtrak won't let me set up my 8x10 inside the car.

Ever considered getting a sleeper room? Bet you could smuggle in an 8x10 into one of those! But not sure how easy it would be to focus it when you're moving down the tracks at speed.

 

[4season]

I've ridden aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr and Coast Starlight on a number of occasions, in either an econo or deluxe sleeper cabin. Very much enjoy just sitting back and watching the landscape unfold. As the deluxe sleeper spans nearly the width of the car, you get a pretty good view in both directions.

For photography, just bear in mind that you're photographing through glass, and you're usually in motion, so foregrounds are going to be blurred. But while you may not get the shot of a lifetime while onboard, I think you'll find the scenery most inspiring. Everything looks a bit different from the elevated perspective of a double-decker Superliner car.

 

[BrianShaw]

The first rail trip convinced me that snapshots were about as good as it would get. Subsequent rail trips have focused on enjoying the views while sipping wine and relying on a photographic memory.

 

[loccdor]

I gave up on trying to get good pictures shooting out of windows on ground transportation. It all goes by too fast. On ships, it can be possible.

 

[benveniste]

Does the Cog Railway on Mount Washington count? If so, I just did so last week.

The good news is that the windows opened partway. The bad news is that given the grade and the cramped space, standing up was a challenge. So I resorted to "spray and pray digital."

On a modern train you won't have that luxury, and you'll be moving a lot faster than the 5 mph speed of the cog railway. So you have to adapt both your technique and your choice of subject. This is a pretty good blog post on the subject.

How to Take Photos from Trains: A Photo Guide from the Via Rail - Brendan van Son Photography

For the second time in my life, I had the brilliant opportunity to take the VIA Rail across Canada from Toronto to Edmonton. And well I would have loved to make the journey all the way across to Vancouver, I really can’t complain. This trip always has a way of grounding me and allowing my...

brendansadventures.com

 

[jvo]

I've done various train trips and taken lots of pic's. I usually got a sleeper. They are definitely "train views", sometimes blurred, sometimes unsharp through dirty windows, or because of speed, and sometimes very nice, though not perfect. I mostly used a monopod with 2 1/4 inch format, and had fun. A good number of "missed" shots, and some interesting stuff as well. The dining/cafe car is also a good place to shoot from - the later you can sit in for a long time on a cup of coffee! Also, on some east coast, (US), you could get of the train and there was enough time to wonder and shoot, nearby.

I don't think I would find it useful to attempt a view camera unless I had an artistic vision that made use of the unique features of train travel..

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Shoot video.

 

[Paul Howell]

I've been on the Grand Canyon and Verde Railroad trains here in Arizona. These are short trip tourist trains with open cars and they travel at low speeds so it is possible to get a few good shots. My wife and I had planned on a Amtrak trip from Arizona to the Northwest, but the schedule was such that many scenic areas such as big sur the train was going there after dark.

 

[DWThomas]

I'd say there are differences depending on the specific rail travel. There are a remarkable number of "tourist railroads" scattered across the US. They are mostly recreational as opposed to serious traveling. Such operations often have open cars available and/or passenger coaches with windows that open so that gets around shooting through glass. Their travel speeds are generally modest -- partly to not over-stress the equipment, and partly to make the trip seem like a longer distance than it actually is.

I have indulged in such activities over the years. Those were pretty much the whole purpose of the trip, but I have no shame about shooting from trains, busses, or boats (or even planes) to try to capture the flavor of the traveling. Some of my efforts have been part of larger scale travel and mixed in with off-train breaks. Ref: Swiss Alps

Yes, getting tripod mounted view camera quality results is over-optimistic, but it is worth some modest effort to try.

 

[gordrob]

The White Pass and Yukon Railroad is a great trip in Alaska. The train leaves from Skagway and goes into Whitehorse in the Yukon. It is a steep climb from sea level to the top of the Pass so the trip is slow and some of the trains cars have open windows when the weather is good. It is very beautiful country with lots of places for scenic shots. The rail line follows part of the Chilkoot Pass used by the gold miners of the 1890s. They still operate a steam locomotive 2 days a week.

 

[guangong]

The first rail trip convinced me that snapshots were about as good as it would get. Subsequent rail trips have focused on enjoying the views while sipping wine and relying on a photographic memory.

That’s the way to go!

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have taken the four train circuit loop from Interlakken Switzerland to the Jungfrau three times. The loop require using four trains, some cog wheeled, and travels through the Eiger.