The Railroad Station

Randog · Sep 25, 2005

The Menlo Park Railroad Station, constructed in 1867 by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad Company, is the oldest railroad passenger station in California. The Victorian ornamentation was added in the 1890s when the station was remodeled to serve the newly-opened Stanford University. The extension on the northwest was added to accommodate increased traffic generated by the establishment of Camp Fremont nearby during World War I.

M @ k o · Sep 25, 2005

Cool shots ... love the tone in them. Nice !

aprilraven · Sep 25, 2005

randog...these are really cool in the black and white... i love the train and clouds in the first..but the second showing the people greeting each other, well, that just makes it...!!

JonMikal · Sep 25, 2005

great shots...love the b&w treatment. it's always great seeing old train depots. regarding the last shot, i see we don't pay much attention to signs

woodsac · Sep 25, 2005

Nice shots

TxFirefighter4305 · Sep 26, 2005

As an avid raifan myself, a word of advice. Try to stay off the tracks, railroads dont like it very much, especially in busy areas. If you want down the track shots, you need to have someone watching the other direction and get the permission of the station master. You might try trains.com or trainboard.com if youre looking for more places to shoot from.

Trains are a great subject! and your pictures are great, I loved the one of the girl waiting then hugging the guy, just a good human feeling to it. That is a beautiful station!

As a side note, have you tried cropping the guy on the far left out? Might out more emphasis on the girl and the train.

Peanuts · Sep 26, 2005

Wonderful series. I almost wish the third was also black and white just for the 'flow' of the series. (Not saying there is anything wrong with the colour, but with all of them together, I like all black and white

) Wonderful! Especially the second!

(About standing on the tracks, I like the irony of you standing there and the sign on the fence not 20 feet away

)

Knopka · Sep 26, 2005

Cool perspective shots! Love the hugging couple in #2, it adds so much to the train station theme

.
The last picture was definately worth taking a risk of being hit by the train

! The tracks, the warning sign, the station clock - they all work very well together.

Meysha · Sep 26, 2005

regarding the last shot, i see we don't pay much attention to signs

HAhaha! I saw that too! naughty boy!

I love the first two together as a series. I wouldn't mind having either of those hung up on my wall. I know that feeling oh too well for my liking, of rejoining a loved one. I'm always flying down to see my boyfriend whenever I can, and that moment where I step out of the gate and see him waiting for me is just amazing. Like these pikkies!

Randog · Sep 26, 2005

Thank-you everyone - regarding the last shot it looks more dangerous than it really is. This railroad line has separate tracks for north and south and at this station the train arrives on the hour and no other trains use these tracks. I took the shot 5 minutes after the train had left. And yes sometimes I do have problems reading signs I guess that the rebel in me. Thanks again for your kind words.

Chiller · Sep 26, 2005

Very cool shots Randog. The black and whites are really nice. Glad to see your a rebel too. :thumbup: Gheesh.. I got escorted out of a cemetery for taking pictures. :lmao: :lmao:
Well done on the pics. !!!

deveel · Sep 26, 2005

The first three really make a great series (convert the third in b/w!!!) and even tell a short story where you see the time passing with the train arriving, waiting and leaving and the people there in different situations. It's strange how quickly train stations get empty again if a train has left ... Great shots!

LaFoto · Sep 26, 2005

I agree with deveel here and think you should convert the third in black and white, too, and put the three photos together in a series. They are a series after all. And I like your conversions very much!
Of course, it is interesting to see what the station looks like in colour, but you should show that separately, not in connection with the first two.

And I do love your perspectives here.
And the greeting-hugging scene in the second photo!!!!