New Member -- Southern Oregon

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Dec 25, 2022
Messages
13
Greetings all.

I've been riding Amtrak for a while -- mostly while I was living in the DC and NYC areas.

Since retiring to Oregon I've enjoyed more trips -- all of them in roomettes.
  • In September, 2019 I went from Eugene to Eugene via Sacramento, Chicago, and Portland (using Midwest miles migrated to Frontier and then converted to Amtrak).
  • Then the Covid gap. :(
  • In April, 2022 I did a round-trip Los Angeles to Chicago eastbound on the Southwest Chief (using the last of the miles), returning on the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited.
  • This past September I took the Coast Starlight Los Angeles to Seattle.
  • In late April, 2023, I'll be doing a Southeast triangle; Chicago - New Orleans -- Washington, DC -- Chicago (on the Cardinal).
One of my activities on board is taking black and white photos from the train. It is technically challenging dealing with the lighting and with the train moving at speeds up to 90 mph. It is also a bit of work, because you often don't know what to expect until it comes into your viewfinder. Out of thousands of frames you don't get a lot of keepers. You never know which side of the train you'll be on, and you're at the mercy of the weather and how clean Amtrak wants the windows to be. Shooting from a darkened sleeper compartment is the only practical way to shoot.

This is a short proof-of-concept/preview video (on Flickr) of what I'm shooting.

Larry Clark
 
Last edited:
Greetings, always happy to see another Oregonian in the group!
Thanks. Maybe one of these days they'll get train service through eastern Oregon. You hear mumbling about reviving the Pioneer, but that would be at least a decade away -- if ever. It seems like a natural.
 
Greetings all.

I've been riding Amtrak for a while -- mostly while I was living in the DC and NYC areas.

Since retiring to Oregon I've enjoyed more trips -- all of them in roomettes.
  • In September, 2019 I went from Eugene to Eugene via Sacramento, Chicago, and Portland (using Midwest miles migrated to Frontier and then converted to Amtrak).
  • Then the Covid gap. :(
  • In April, 2022 I did a round-trip Los Angeles to Chicago eastbound on the Southwest Chief (using the last of the miles), returning on the Texas Eagle/Sunset Limited.
  • This past September I took the Coast Starlight Los Angeles to Seattle.
  • In late April, 2023, I'll be doing a Southeast triangle; Chicago - New Orleans -- Washington, DC -- Chicago (on the Cardinal).
One of my activities on board is taking black and white photos from the train. It is technically challenging dealing with the lighting and with the train moving at speeds up to 90 mph. It is also a bit of work, because you often don't know what to expect until it comes into your viewfinder. Out of thousands of frames you don't get a lot of keepers. You never know which side of the train you'll be on, and you're at the mercy of the weather and how clean Amtrak wants the windows to be. Shooting from a darkened sleeper compartment is the only practical way to shoot.

This is a short proof-of-concept/preview video (on Flickr) of what I'm shooting.

Larry Clark
Welcome. I am glad to see another Oregonian here and another fan of B&W photography. The easel sign in the linked photo says that one who knows uses B+W.

 
Back
Top