My wife’s birthday is December 23 and in 2017 I indulged her (and me) with a train trip on The Canadian from Vancouver to Toronto. It was the Christmas train as the journey takes four days. This was taken somewhere west of Jasper from one of the dome cars. It was a wonderful trip until we woke up Christmas morning stopped at a little spot on the map named Spy Hill, Saskatchewan. We had over twenty cars when we left Vancouver but the vast majority of the passengers got off at Jasper. The remaining active cars were toward the rear of the train with many dead heads between the engines and our car. The water lines froze up. It was -12 degrees F and blowing about 20mph. We had to disembark from the train and took shelter in a small community center where we were cared for by the local volunteer fire department. Buses from Winnipeg rescued us and we flew on to Toronto the next day. It was quite an adventure and even made the nightly news. Doing the entire trip is still on my bucket list but will definitely do it in more temperate times. >=))>
Feedback Requests
This is not B&W but clearly there’s little color. Should I just go B&W?
Pertinent Technical Details
Sony A77II
Sony DT 55-200 @ 85mm
ISO 800, 1/125 @ f8
I love how the train and the tracks fading into the distance lead the eye into this image Bill. No need to convert to black and white, as the lack of color is enough to set the mood. Really nice.
Bill, I like it very much as presented but you could try entire B&W for another look see. Good name too. It’s my nieces son’s favorite book and movie also. The trip sounds like MANY of my outings traveling throughout the state of Alaska back in the 60’s. We always packed our Arctic gear clothes as we never knew what to expect. One night while sleeping in a remote facility on Shemya we had to burn wood furniture in a 55 gallon drum for heat.
A very fine image overall… BTW: on NPN #1 there was a person in the Midwest that his specialty was train images throughout those states around him. Any recall of that person?..
Oh wow, Bill, what a train trip. Beautiful “winter wonderland”. I’m sure you could have done without the way it ended, but the scenery was gorgeous. The way the train and the tracks lead the eye through the image is very nice. Either way for me too, B&W or as is. Well done!
Gorgeous image, Bill. I love the geometry and textures. The tonality is just perfect.
Train travel is interesting. I did Anchorage to Denali and back. That time commitment was plenty. I got bored on the return trip, seats were not great, food was okay. My parents did DC to Portland and had to disembark and take a bus a couple of times. Most of the scenic sections (Glacier NP) were at night, so it was a bit disappointing for them, considering the commitment and their mid-century impressions of train travel. They were glad to fly home.
Of course, your trip sounds kind of exciting and you got some good photography out of it, clearly.
Marylynne: When I was a boy I went from Chicago to Portland on the trains almost every summer. I’ve loved them ever since. The old Great Northern route through Glacier Park was one of my favorites and in the summer we went through in late afternoon/early evening. I do remember though those looooong stretches in North Dakota and eastern Montana. At least we went fast. The Northern Pacific went further south in Montana through Livingston and Bozeman and was actually more scenic overall. The Union Pacific through southern Wyoming and Idaho was pretty special as well. Currently the trip from Chicago to San Francisco is the scenery champ. Leaving Denver early in the morning you’re in the mountains all day and then end up in the Sierras the next day. The cool thing about The Canadian is that they use refurbished cars from that golden era of the streamliners to give it a real nostalgic touch. Unfortunately they’re not as reliable as the new cars which we found out. So it goes; still one of our best memories. >=))>
Glenys: On the western railroads most had domed observation cars like the last one in this image. They allowed passengers to see the surrounding scenery. Low tunnel clearances east of the Mississippi River prevented domes from being used there very much.>=))>
What a cool picture! (No pun. Well, OK, maybe…) A very dynamic composition, and the hint of color conveys the weather very nicely. The hint of cooler (as in COLOR temp) could work well, though. Sounds like it was cold enough.
Maybe split-toning with cooler whites and warmer darks?
could work well, though. Sounds like it was cold enough.