Eastern Railroad Discussion > Summerrail '02

how was it?

been looking for reports..

Summerail '02 was very good. Best 2 programs in my opinion: Dale Sanders had a very fine WP show but Charlie Dischinger had a Montana program that had me wanting to go buy a plane ticket right away. Charlie's program had the best color and most spectacular views I think I've ever seen in a sound/slide program.

I'll cast another vote for Charlie's program as Best in Show. Every year there is oen show that I say, "Boy, I wish my wife could have seen that one," and this year "Montana, Me, and U2" was it -- and it doesn't hurt that Vanessa is a big U2 fan. Charlie has been very thorough in covering the former GN main over Marias Pass and west of Whitefish, and the product of his work is very impressive. The only reason I don't "envy" his coverage up there is I know how much time he has had to devote to that particular piece of railroad in order to get what he has gotten.

Dale Sanders's WP program left me wanting more, which I suppose is a good thing. It opened with a sequence of UP-era pictures from the ex-WP, than in a bit Warner Brothers-esque humor it cut off the UP with the sound of a scratching record and introduced the real subject, old-time Western Pacific. However, in that sense, the UP-era material went on too long -- I would rather have seen just a few UP shots before the "interruption," then gotten additional WP coverage. Maybe Dale raced through the eastern end of the railroad with just a handful of pictures because he just didn't get over there that much, but in that case he might have done better to confine his show to the California portion of the railroad.

Scott Snell's "Heavy Metal, An Exercise in Light" program showed some very good examples of non-traditionally lit photography, but I thought it lacked the emotion of his "Tales from the Hot Side: A Farewell to Steel" program of a few years back. Maybe just it's not fair comparing anything -- even another Snell show -- with "Farewell," which is one of the best programs I've ever seen.

I'd add more but I can only devote so much time to this review right now. Overall it was a very good collection of programs, although the first two could have used a little polishing. For example, one of the shows had voice narration where the speaker repeatedly tripped over his words or paused in uncomfortable places; it sounded like he hadn't practiced his script (or wasn't working from one at all).

And unlike the usual habit at EastRail, very few people left early -- even though the show didn't end until 9:30 p.m. What's the big rush, New Jerseyites?

I have to echo the sentiment that this was a very good Summerail. I'd rate every show anywhere from good to great. None blew me away from start to finish, but they all had their finer points, and I *was* blown away by a number of images.

Every show had great photos, so I don't want to go on "the negative" without expressing -- and I can't express it enough -- that I consider many of the presenters to be *outstanding* lensemen. The only thing that I wish some folks would do is not get redundant. I think some shows went a little long, and probably could have been trimmed down by one song if some of the multiple images of same/similar locations or lighting were cut. I found my eyes starting to glaze over a couple times.

I can't complain too much, though -- I know how tough it is to *not* include photos that you have some degree of emotional attachment to, whether it was a difficult shot to get, or whatever the case.

I also wish the human element had been included more -- Steve Smedley did a great job of this, but you didn't see it many other places.

Having said that, much of the music was fresh and well-placed, and the variety of locations and lighting in almost eveey show kept your attention. Good stuff.