Here is an 18mm view of a train through the tunnel approaching the East portal of Big Bend Tunnel in Talcott, West Virginia on March 22nd, 2009. Equipment - Canon Rebel XS Body with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f3.5 - 5.6 lens . Exposure - 388 seconds @ f4.0, ISO 100. The scene was painted using a 1mcp spot light. Loyd Lowery

The last F40Cs in service rest between trips at Elgin, Illinois. The 614 and 611 had been in storage for years at Western Avenue coach yard in Chicago following the retirement of the rest of the fleet. They were pulled from storage in May of 2009 and were placed into regular service. Many people say that they are Metra’s most reliable locomotives. Equipment - Canon 50D. Exposure - 13 seconds at f14. ISO 100. Fill light on noses painted with Light Force spotlight. Copyright 2009 Chris Guss

Snow flurries swirl around the Wisconsin Great Northern dinner train at Spooner, Wisconsin at 7:50pm on October 10, 2009. To get this shot I used my high powered flash and the bright headlights of my car to light up more of the locomotive and cars. The locomotive was moving at about 5 MPH. Equipment - Canon Reble XTi Exposure - 1/20 sec at f3.5. ISO 800. Robert J Della-Pietra

Old and not-so-new await tomorrow’s call at the Milwaukee Road’s commuter layover yard in Fox Lake, Illinois. On this March 1980 night, E9 38C is enjoying a brief return to service. This unit was one of only 6 E-units built without steam generators. MILW E9AMs 36AC-38AC, built with parts from MILW’s E6s and E7s, came from the factory in 1961 with Cummins gensets to provide HEP for gallery coaches. The first F40C ever built, NWSTD 40, is almost as rare; only 15 of these units were ever built. Two of them, Metra 611 and 614, are still in service in 2010; at age 36 they are among Metra’s most reliable power. Bill Christopher

It is December 4, 2009 at Mapleton, Illinois. Peoria and Western FP9 #1752 and GP20 #2045 are the subjects of a night photo session. It was a frigid night in early December. The next day, the F units would operate on a Santa Clause special. Equipment – Nikon D200 Exposure – Various shutter speeds at f/5.6, ISO 800 R.R. Conway

GN 441 has arrived at the Izaak Walton resort in Essex Montana. She is right at home amidst the pine trees and is a beautiful addition to the many highlights the Izaak Walton has to offer. The date is October 3, 2009. Equipment – Nikon D200. Exposure – 5 seconds at f5.6. ISO 800. R.R. Conway

Milwaukee Road #261 simmers quietly at the Amtrak station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The date is May 20, 2008. Rob Schreiner

Amtrak train #382, the Carl Sandburg arrives Naperville, Illinois at 9:10pm on September 12, 2009. Equipment - Canon Rebel XTi Exposure - 1/13 sec at f/5.6. 1600 ISO. External flash is a Quantaray QDC 900WA. Robert J Della-Pietra

NYS&W 2-8-2  #142 seen in Carpentersville, NJ in September, 2007 during a Lerro Productions charter. Lighting provided by several halogen lights placed around the scene.  Temperature adjusted digitally to eliminate reddish /orange cast - this adjustment can be corrected with a filter as well. Equipment - Canon 40D with noise reduction on. Exposure – ISO  1600. 1/20 sec. f 4.0. Short shutter, high ISO in hopes of capturing detail in the plume of the engine. Mitch Goldman

Iowa Interstate GP38 #713 sleeps at Bureau, IL on June 6, 2007 at 23:07 pm. Rob Schreiner

A Great Northern "Big Sky Blue" F45 in 2009? Well, not really. GN 441 is a former Santa Fe F45 that has been converted to a locomotive "Cabin". The 441 is on her way to Essex Montana and the Izaak Walton Inn. GN 441 is equipped with living quarters, a bedroom, a bar and numerous other features including a cab with all the controls still in place! GN 441 was at the BNSF yard in Burlington, Iowa on August 28, 2009. Visit the Izaak Walton Inn website for more information. R.R. Conway

After arriving late on the eastbound leg from Golden, BC, the CPR "Royal Canadian Pacific" is seen laying over for the night at Summit Lake, Alberta in the Crow’s-nest Pass. Arrangements were made ahead of time with the CPR to allow me to take night shots of the train. As there were clients on board, lighting of the rest of the train was not allowed.  Exposure Info: Nikon D300 with 28-70mm at 35mm. 2min, 23seconds at f8. Light painted with a Lightforce driving light. Jeff Robertson

CSXT GP38-2 #2711 is at Tullahoma, Tennessee on May 23, 2009. The photo was taken with a Canon 40D and illuminated with a Canon Speedlite 580 EX II. Doyle Massey

By the early 1990's, Potomac Yard was merely a shell of its former self.  Only a few trains tied up in the mostly abandoned yard, but a yardmaster was still on duty at PY.  I had become friends with one of the yardmasters, and with his permission was able to capture some unique images of the RF&P engines which would tie up in the yard after leading northbound freights from Richmond.  As luck would have it, on this June evening in 1992, a full moon shone brightly above GP35 #136.  The RF&P had already been merged into CSX, but the former RF&P engines still looked exactly as they did when the railroad was still independent. Today, the valuable property once occupied by the yard has been thoroughly redeveloped, but the memories and photos of Potomac Yard's final days still remain. Photo made with a Canon EOS 630, a time exposure, and flashbulb lighting. Wade H. Massie

SP 4449 is at the Milwaukee Road 261 shop at Minneapolis Junction on July 18, 2009. This is a 30 second exposure at f13. Four Metz 402 strobes were used. The camera is a Nikon D200. R.R. Conway

WSOR train T002 on May 20, 2009 waits at Kuhn Road in Solon Mills, Illinois for the Metra traffic at Fox Lake to clear . Equipment... Canon EOS 5D. Exposure... ISO 200, 85 seconds at F7. Copyright 2009 - Chris Guss

New Hope and Ivyland 2-8-0 #40 in New Hope, PA taken in the yard near the Holidays on 12-21-2008. Short shutter speed and higher ISO used to capture detail in the plume.  Lighting via a Lumidyne unit. Canon 40D with noise reduction on, ISO 400  1.3 seconds at f 2.8. Mitch Goldman

One of only three night photo sessions of Colorado and Southern #890 took place on March 7, 2009. It is 11:10pm and the 890 shows off in front of her admirers somewhere near Kansas City, Missouri. Equipment - Nikon D200, ISO 800, f7.1, 2.5 seconds. Four Metz 402 strobes. R.R. Conway

L&N C420 #1315 sits at Wheat Station during the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum's "ALCO Photo Freight Weekend" on March 20, 2009. Photo was taken at Oak Ridge, TN. Railfan & Railroad editor Steve Barry was on hand to help with the lighting for the photo shoot. Equipment - Canon 40D. Exposure - ISO 100, f 8, 14 seconds. Bradley Frank

This is one of the finest night shots I've ever seen. Mitch Goldman took the photo and here are the specifics behind the shot... 

Canon 40D with noise reduction, ISO 200 10 seconds at f 7.1. Taken during a photo shoot set up by Lerro Productions. Pere Marquette #1225 in Owosso, Michigan on February 16, 2008. Lighting provided via 7 custom made housings containing 2ea fluorescent bulbs. Black curtains were placed behind the lights to prevent light seeping through though there were some bright spots in front which were removed via highlight recovery methods. Mitch Goldman

An A-B set of Via Rail FPA4s are serviced at Windsor, Ontario in the summer of 1978. The city of Detroit, Michigan is visible across the river in the distance. In the days before Head End Power, passenger trains were heated and powered by steam. Diesel passenger locomotives carried on-board steam generators which occasionally needed to be "Blown Down" to keep the system working properly. The B unit in this shot is in the process of being blown down as steam shoots skyward. R.R. Conway

A gathering of C&NW Alcos at Escanaba, Michigan. May 19, 1984. Ken Caflisch

Milwaukee Road Fairmont MT19 motor car #8003 at Sheridan, Illinois on the Illinois Railnet mainline between Ottawa and Montgomery, Illinois. July 4, 2003. Ken Caflisch