First the Pandemic, Now Soaring Gas Prices. What’s a Railfan to Do?

If you’re like me and enjoy the hunt for new photo locations, you have to be feeling down lately. A jaunt out into the countryside to shoot something different is breaking your budget. So you go to a hot spot now instead.

“I’ll let the trains come to me,” you think.

While this is fine in some regards, you quickly find that the shots you are taking are, quite frankly,
boring. Hot spots are great for watching, not necessarily for getting interesting photos.

How do you go about keeping your interest alive without ending up in the poor house?

Everyone has their own answer to this question. Some will take up residence in their easy chair and watch reruns of Leave it to Beaver for days on end; others will find a way to keep the fires burning, whether it be more shots at sunrise/sunset, more low light, or back lighted shots.

In other words, try something different. Try new techniques, different angles;, get a drone, or do whatever it takes.

Railfanning need not die on our watch because of circumstances beyond our control. We have to believe better days are coming, lest we lose faith.

Commentary by Marty Surdyk

Tags: Marty Surdyk, railfanning