Archive for the 'relevant links' Category

My recent family vacation led me nowhere near an active railroad, so instead I’ll throw something up that I found online. It’s an interesting video montage of the life of a conductor, set to, appropriately, a song titled “You Are A Conductor” by The Constantines. From the early-morning on-duty call to a bunch of cab ride footage, you’ll enjoy this:

Technorati Tags: railroad, conductor, youareaconductor, theconstantines, cabrides, videos

I haven’t posted any good railroad links around here lately, but I definitely want to share one with you.  I recently discovered FL9, a blog and photo site from Texas which features some great photos along with good writing.  Check it out!

Technorati Tags: railroad, railfanning, fl9, trains, photos

Lots of folks love to bash Railpictures.net.  Sure, the site’s claims of being “The best railroad photos on the ‘net” are perhaps a bit ego-centric, but the reality is that they host a lot of photos, and like most other photo repositories on the internet, some of the photos are pretty good.  If you check out the most popular photos and the People’s Choice winners, you probably won’t be disappointed.

A lot of photographers won’t submit work to their site because they don’t feel the accept/reject judging is done correctly.  My attitude: who cares?  Do I agree with all of their decisions?  Of course not. I know whether or not I like a photo.  If I post it to their site, and they like it as well, then I get more exposure for my work.  If they reject the photo (for whatever reason), then I haven’t lost anything, and perhaps their reason for rejection could spur some thought.

I’ve sold a few photos to magazines based on exposure on their site.  And now they have twice chosen one of my pictures as their “Photo of the Week” featured on the site homepage.

So while some folks sit back and complain, I’ll take the free publicity.

Technorati Tags: photos, pictures, photography, railpictures.net, railroad

As some of you know who have followed my photography, I have been branching out into more general photography and not just trains over the last year or so. I’m still taking railroad photos but have also started a new web project to share some of the things I’ve learned as I’ve grown as a photographer.

I call it Photoschooled.

The topics include general photography information, ideas on how to improve your photos, and digital image management including organization and online photo websites. Bookmark the site, subscribe to the RSS feed, and comment on what you see.

Technorati Tags: photography, photoschooled

Everyone does their own thing with the railfanning hobby.  I recently learned of someone with an interesting website offering downloadable train jigsaw puzzles.  The creator is now featuring one of my photos as one of the puzzles.

If you’re looking to kill some time with an online railroad game, check it out; it might be a good way to share the hobby with children.

Technorati Tags: trains, railroad, railfanning, puzzles, games, onlinegames

I’m not able to make it to Winterail this year, but one of the presenters, Steve Sloan, has posted a couple clips of his show on his blog.  You can view the first clip here, or view the second clip which he posted here.

If you can’t make the show, viewing some of the material online is the next best thing.  Thanks Steve!

Technorati Tags: winterail, stevesloan, trains, railroad

I don’t really hide that fact that I’m a geek. I work with computer software for a living and enjoy checking out random tech gadgets. I’m quite into blogging. I write at a few other blogs. And I read blogs. 258 of them is the current count.

It’s interesting to watch the railfan world overlap with tech. Last year I discovered Steve Sloan’s blog. He’s helped Vic with Winterail for quite a few years. Like many others, I also read Robert Scoble’s blog. He’s a former Microsoft employee who’s now involved with a podcasting startup. As one of the most-read voices in the blogosphere, he has some interesting things to say.

Like today, when Robert posted I Like Trains Too, admitting he’s a railfan. He specifically mentions the new version of MS Train Simulator being created and points to one of the developers’ blogs.

It’s great to see my various interests collide. We’ll have to see about getting Robert up to GorgeRail at some point…

As we begin the new year I thought I’d take a look back at the highlights of 2006 on Dogcaught.com:

• Steve and I spent a day at the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad’s Winter Railfan event in January, resulting in some amazing photos.
• February brought some photos of a rail grinder in action, as well as a relatively rare CN leader on a manifest doing some switching.
• March was my first Winterail trip… I posted my thoughts and a couple different photos.
• I enjoy post-work trips east, such as an April trip to the Columbia River Gorge.
• May of course brings GorgeRail, but also some April leftovers from Eastern Oregon.
• The SP 4449 was active in June, heading for Crusin’ Sherwood.
• Steve joined me as a contributor in July, posting some photos from the Tucson area.
• August brought some photos from Alaska, as well as Steve’s remembrance of his first time.
• In September we did an all-day jaunt to the Gorge, resulting in two photo posts – here and here
• The Dogcaught Railroad Search Engine launched in October, with a bunch of photos from some trips. I went to the Powder River Basin and Crawford Hill, and Steve posted a couple more from eastern Washington.
• It wouldn’t be a wet Northwest November without some photos showing evidence of flooding.
• We wrapped up the year in December with ZooLights, a group outing on Pengra Pass, and Steve looking back at some early photos from Providence Hill

I look forward to another 12 months of railroad photography discussion and am excited about a few new things in the pipeline to hopefully grow the site.

Technorati Tags: 2006, trains, railroad, railfanning, railfan, photos, photography

Last weekend was the first runs of the ORHF’s Holiday Express train. I wasn’t able to attend since I was out of town railfanning in Southern Oregon (photos to be posted soon) but I understand it was a lot of fun for a lot of people. Last weekend featured the SP&S 700; this weekend it will be the SP 4449 leading the trains. Here’s some links to folks who have been posting pictures of the event:

• Brian McCamish (who put together a very nice layout for his photos as always)
• Greg Brown posted a couple on TrainFoamers (free registration required)
• Nickatnight on Trainorders
• RailroadForums.com thread (photos near the end)
• This Space for Rent has several photos in recent posts

Technorati Tags: orhf, holidayexpress, sp&s700, steam, trains, railroad

Today I learned of a website focused on photography that I hadn’t previously looked it. Check out PhotographyCorner.com – they have an interesting variety of content on their site. There’s a forums section which contains most of the typical topics you’d expect, from gear to technique as well as a “Feedback Corner” if you’re specifically looking for critique. There’s also a gallery section, they highlight a “photo of the month”, and they also have the “Contest Corner Challenge” where members submit photos for a themed contest. They have a directory of links, although at first glance it appears that it is a paid listing of advertisers.

When you have a few minutes to spare check it out.

Technorati Tags: photography, websites, photographycorner

I should have some images from the weekend to post shortly.  In the meantime, enjoy something I found while reading my favorite local photoblog, Portland Ground:

Amtrak Train pulls into Union Station from Seattle

Technorati Tags: amtrak, railroad, trains, photos, pictures, portland, pdx

Google is great for finding assorted railroad and railfan-related things online, but sometimes the number of results can be overwhelming, including spam sites or things not really related to our hobby. Using some new tools Google has created, I’ve put together a search engine focusing only on hand-selected railroad and railfan related websites.

Sites included are discussion forums, railroad sites, railfan sites, member websites from services such as Trainorders and Trainweb, and more, all hand-chosen to avoid any spam or such.

The Dogcaught Railroad Search Engine can be found on this site at http://www.dogcaught.com/search

Check it out. If you maintain a railroad/railfan website and you can’t find your content, drop me an email (ahockley@gmail.com) so I can be sure your site is included.

Lots of folks like to “armchair quarterback” and dream of improved rail service.  Looks like Adron Hall has done a bit of math and come up with an interesting proposal for using DMUs to improve service along and around the Cascades Corridor between Eugene, OR and Vancouver, BC.

Go check out his blog entry where he offers a “first draft” of a plan for increased service, including some initial numbers.

Technorati Tags: amtrak, amtrakcascades, oregon, washington, portland, eugene, seattle, transportation, transit, rail, railroad

Someone at the UP had some fun with chalk.

Technorati Tags: unionpacific, up, railroad, trains, humor

Interesting blog with a few photos: My Transportation Obsession

The blog author has been a reader here for several months… it’s always interesting to see a new blog on related topics.

Technorati Tags: transportation, blogs

As I mentioned a few days ago, lately I have been expanding my photography interests beyond the world of railroading.  In order to showcase a wider selection of my photography I have started a photoblog.  There are several posts up now, and it will be updated several times a week with new photos and photo-related material.

Dogcaught will still be the home to my railroad photograpy, writing, and trip reports.  Things aren’t changing here, but if you’re looking to keep up with a wider selection of my photography, check out the new site.

Technorati Tags: aaronhockley, photoblog, photography

Grumpy’s gone blog.

Essentially he’s been blogging for several years, just without blog software.

Technorati Tags: grumpysworld, railfan, blog, railfanning

For those of you who love desert railroading, Trainfoamers.com has added a “Arizona and the Southwest” forum.

Technorati Tags: trains, railroad, railfanning, arizona, desert, southwest, railfan, trainfoamers

Several months ago I was one of the founding members of RailroadPhotoEssays.com and I had high hopes for the site. The URL only tells part of the story. Sure, there’s photo essays, and that’s where ideally the “meat” of the site lies, but there’s also a lot of darn good single-shot photography that is posted for critique, and lately I am happy to report that the site has become much more active, with lots of interesting discussion about photo technique and the philosophy of photography.

If you haven’t yet checked out the site, head on over there and take a look around. Even if you don’t want to submit an essay, we’d love to have even more folks jump in on the photography conversations and critique.

Technorati Tags: photo, photography, photo technique

I don’t often post links to other blog posts of train photos, but today Pubsub brought me this post from The Lope. Go check out the photos of UP 844 on her current trip throughout the midwest. Gawking at steam photos is fun, but I was quite amused by photo #2, the one showing the traffic that was chasing. Been there, done that. I hate driving during a steam chase. But go check out the photos… they’re great.