My avatar is the SP4449 at Willbridge outbound to Bend. Deschutes River Canyon. 
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I was thinking the same thing as I was reading through these posts. For newer members who have joined since I last answered this, mine is of both Empire Builders, #7 and #8, at the platform in Spokane.
Maglev
Conductor
Mine is the California Zephyr at Glenwood Springs in May, 1994. This was my first trip in a sleeper on Amtrak (I had previously made a cross-country round-trip in coach and had also crossed Canada in the lower of an open section). We had Bedrooms from Oakland, California to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. On this day, I had catfish for lunch and ahi for dinner. The "Genesis" locomotives were fairly new at that time, and I deemed it worthy of a rare film exposure.
December 2021 shot of a southbound early morning Pacific Surfliner between Camarillo and Oxnard. I've got a half dozen other photos form that morning I really like. The fog was perfect for lighting.
Trains in fog are so cool. One of the best weathers, visually speaking, for railroading.
When I finally had a picture worthy of being my AU avatar (my old one was just a professional head-shot), I switched.
I have a love of sleeper trains.
This is the Sunrise Izumo, just after it splits from the Sunrise Seto at Okayama in the south of Honshu in December 2023. A sizable group seems to gather often to watch the split.
I have a love of sleeper trains.
This is the Sunrise Izumo, just after it splits from the Sunrise Seto at Okayama in the south of Honshu in December 2023. A sizable group seems to gather often to watch the split.
Love that photo. I rode an SP&S excursion and a UP excursion on the Oregon Trunk, but never had the opportunity to do it behind steam. What the steam fans have developed in Portland amazes me. As a "juice fan" I have been involved with restoration and operation of streetcars, but the complexity of "modern" steam requires a lot of volunteer hours.
Mine is one of the hubby's favorite Civil War generals, William Rosecrans. He was a convert to Catholicism (as I am), and so seemed an appropriate avatar for the hubby at his blogs, The American Catholic and Almost Chosen People.
What else do I need to say?
jis
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I just noticed that the post that I have about my avatar upthread is about a previous avatar. My avatar has changed since then, so here is some information about my current avatar...
The locomotive depicted in the avatar is that of an Indian Railways (South Eastern Railway, ex-Bengal Nagpur Railway) N Class Garratt. The N class 4-8-0-0-8-4 and its cousin the P Class 4-8-2-2-8-4 were the largest steam locomotives to operate anywhere in Asia. The similarly sized Garratts that went to Russia were never operated in Asia. They were operated in the Donbas region.
The special connection for me to the N and P Class are two. One is that they were operated by the pre-independence railway (BNR) that my Grandfather worked for. and 2. some of these behemoths landed up in the Bhilai area pulling iron ore trains between the Dalli Rajhara Iron Ore Mines and the Bhilai Steel Plant, where my Dad worked back when it was being built with Soviet aid. He was the Chief Commissioning Engineer (Electrical) from the Indian side (there was a corresponding Russian Engineer too, and he participated in the commissioning of the first Blast Furnace, Coke Ovens, Open Hearth Furnace and Rails and Beams Rolling Mill. All this was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away in a manner of speaking.
Anyway, they were finally retired in the early '70s. There are two N Classes preserved one at the National Railway Museum in New Delhi (Chankyapuri), and the other at the Kharagpur Workshop of South Eastern Railway (ex-BNR) closer to its original home which was in Jharsuguda. The latter has been restored to operating condition and operates under its own steam from time to time. See BNR class N - Wikipedia. The photo in the avatar was taken by me at the NRM New Delhi. It is of the same locomotive that appears in the Wikipedia article.
The locomotive depicted in the avatar is that of an Indian Railways (South Eastern Railway, ex-Bengal Nagpur Railway) N Class Garratt. The N class 4-8-0-0-8-4 and its cousin the P Class 4-8-2-2-8-4 were the largest steam locomotives to operate anywhere in Asia. The similarly sized Garratts that went to Russia were never operated in Asia. They were operated in the Donbas region.
The special connection for me to the N and P Class are two. One is that they were operated by the pre-independence railway (BNR) that my Grandfather worked for. and 2. some of these behemoths landed up in the Bhilai area pulling iron ore trains between the Dalli Rajhara Iron Ore Mines and the Bhilai Steel Plant, where my Dad worked back when it was being built with Soviet aid. He was the Chief Commissioning Engineer (Electrical) from the Indian side (there was a corresponding Russian Engineer too, and he participated in the commissioning of the first Blast Furnace, Coke Ovens, Open Hearth Furnace and Rails and Beams Rolling Mill. All this was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away in a manner of speaking.
Anyway, they were finally retired in the early '70s. There are two N Classes preserved one at the National Railway Museum in New Delhi (Chankyapuri), and the other at the Kharagpur Workshop of South Eastern Railway (ex-BNR) closer to its original home which was in Jharsuguda. The latter has been restored to operating condition and operates under its own steam from time to time. See BNR class N - Wikipedia. The photo in the avatar was taken by me at the NRM New Delhi. It is of the same locomotive that appears in the Wikipedia article.
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