In May of 2015, I spent a morning in the middle of a dry Rio Grande Riverbed waiting for a BNSF train to pass, but was lucky enough to take a photo of a Ferromex train, one more time before I left El Paso. I have certainly come to enjoy Railroad Photography. I love the challenge of it, I love the unpredictability of it, and I love the opportunity to spend time outside with the hobby. Since, I enjoy taking some of these photos, it is nice to spend time viewing what different photographers have captured.
As with other forms of photography, probably the best ways to learn to shoot better photos is to take time to look at other photos. In my research to try to do that, I have come across two main databases of railroad photography on the web.
RRPicturesArchives.net is a site with over 4 million photos of railroads across the United States. This site tries collect as many railroad photos as possible. Their quality control occurs as the editors select the best to feature in a “Contributor” link. This is a great place to find photos and information about different trains around the country.
Railpictures.net is another with, but with only a little over 500,000 photos. Their quality control is determined at the point of upload. Each photo is screened before being uploaded onto the site. The result is a very good collection of railroad photography. This is really a premier site to examine. From these photos, there is much to be learned about composition and lighting.
Both of these sites are great places to become motivated about Railroad Photography, each with a different purpose. I hope you have a great time looking through both of them.