Nostalgia & History > Union Pacific's E9 ABBA Set, a Which Do You Like Best and Why

Photo 1 is as Roger Puta shot the Union Pacific's ABBA.  Photo 2 is cropped tighter.  Photo 3 even tighter.

Which do you like best and why?

Photo taken in April (or maybe March) 1980.  [I just received this comment from Brian Jennison. " Wying the train and power separately at Fremont, California on April 1st. Can't wye this stuff in Oakland and they wanted to get set up for their departure a day or two later."]

Marty Bernard



 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/16 16:39 by MartyBernard.

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I like all three, but I think my favorite is number one since it shows more of the local scenery (green hills) that Niles was always known for. I used to love to see the WP CZ and F-units at that location over the years, along with hanging out at the old (wood) WP Niles depot!

Thanks for sharing...

ShastaDaylight

Looks TO ME like exWP somewhere between Newark and Altamont Pass? I too like the first one best for same reason.
​JB

I too vote for #1. I love the scenery that the E's become a part of. Now we need to photo shop the swaztica out of the photo.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

#1 - sets the train in the environment

Sorry to all on TO, but I forgot to identify where these photos were taken in my earlier post. The photographer is standing just east of Niles Tower (which was a fun place to watch trains "back in the day") and the units are crossing Fremont Blvd with Alameda Creek just out of view to the left... Spent a lot of time there over the years before the tower burned (or was torched) in 1986...

ShastaDaylight

Can there ever be a bad photo of a UP Smiling "E"?

All three really nice---I prefer #2 because it shows less track in the foreground, the units are a little larger, but yet the rolling hills terrain is still present.
Brian Stevens

#2. Though all three would be better without the swastika.

- L.F.

I though about taking the swastikas out but decided to leave them.  Maybe on another day I would have taken them out.

Marty



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/16 22:06 by MartyBernard.

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> I though about taking the swastikas out but
> decided to leave them.  Maybe on another day I
> would have taken them out.
>
> Marty

Somewhat prominent and eye-catching.....I'm thinkin' 'dat they need to disappear, Marty.

My eyes went straight to the symbol(s) in Photo #1, & especially so, since that signal is centered in-the-frame.

That said -- As always, a big "Thank You" for sharing Roger's, yours (and Rick Burns') stuff with us.

Pat from Littleton, Colorado

March 28, 1980.

Personally, I would probably 'shopped out the swastika or not offered the photo for public viewing- all the possible misunderstandings are too hot for me!
But as to the rest of the photo, I'd go with #3.  I like the way the long lens makes the usually friendly looking E's seem a bit more dangerous.  But, for my taste, a few telephotos go a long way- fatigue sets in pretty quick and the all begin to look alike.  They're most effective if used sparingly.

All that said:  I like #3
SR

I'll vote for photo 1.  

How about if you go back and Photoshop them out now?
G

There's a guy on Facebook that is a pretty good photographer...but he consistently tweeks the color and the lighting in his own photos and has only confessed to doing it when I called him on it a while back.

Used to be, railfan photogs KNEW the good shots were taken with the sun on the trucks - fully and properly focused - and didn't have to rely upon "photo shop" or any such nonsensical invention to make a good photo better.

What Roger captured in this photo is a part of the photo, just as surely as the glare of the headlight.

Marty didn't paint that symbol of hate on the signal, and it's simply not his responsibility or duty to remove it.

Weeeeeell, not so fast....
Even "Old School" B&W masters (Stein, etc) earned their praise because they could coax the best out of their negs in the darkroom. (The name "Lightroom" is as much a play on words as a product name)
Pulling the best out of your images is surely as valid and honorable as anything Ansel ever did.
SR

Plowhandle Wrote:
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> Used to be, railfan photogs KNEW the good shots
> were taken with the sun on the trucks - fully and
> properly focused - and didn't have to rely upon
> "photo shop" or any such nonsensical invention to
> make a good photo better.

Yes, in the old days of film our ability to take a good photo was quite constrained.  And we took many not so good pictures and some awful ones.  With digital media, both in scanning and in cameras, most of that constraint is lifted.  Our product is many times better.  Photos taken when perfect lighting is not available, which is most of the time, can be made to look quit presentable.  Details lost in shadows can be made visable.  And color, especially from old slides that may have been perfect but with aging the color has shifted can be brought back to what they once looked like.  Digital photography has been a boom to our hobby.

Marty

Plowhandle Wrote:
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> Marty didn't paint that symbol of hate on the
> signal, and it's simply not his responsibility or
> duty to remove it.

I removed it on the archive copies at the suggestion of a few people.

Marty