Life On A Rail

Life On A Rail Railroad and Railroad Landscape Photography by Rebecca Bender. While out train watching in Kentucky I snapped a slew of photos with my phone. Enjoy!

Life On A Rail began in 2014 on a train watching trip with a friend who is an avid railroad enthusiast and expert model railroader and grew into a passion of mine. I was going through the photos and came across one where the train was really blurry, but everything else was in near perfect focus. I converted it to black and white for fun and it came out amazing. That first photo I framed and gave t

o my friend as a thank you gift. That was as far as it went until June 25, 2015 when I went back out to that same spot by myself and had a blast. In between trains (VERY carefully), I took a few shots of the tracks themselves. When I got home I sifted through the photos and converted two into black and white. When I saw how great they came out the hobby really began. A couple of weeks later I went home to Ohio and took some more shots at three different crossings. When I saw the one I took with the reflection of the track, I was officially hooked. To my friend who introduced me to this, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are amazing and you have given me the most wonderful gift without even knowing it. I will do everything I can to make you and the railroad community proud. To all of you, I hope you enjoy the photos. I'm not a professional photographer so they won't be perfect. To most people they are just photos of trains and railroad tracks, but for me, they bring me such a sense of pride and the deepest happiness.

I'm not saying that I heard the whistle while relaxing outside my hotel and proceeded to run down the sidewalk in my spa...
08/29/2021

I'm not saying that I heard the whistle while relaxing outside my hotel and proceeded to run down the sidewalk in my sparkly sandals to see it pull in, but... 😜 πŸ€“ πŸš‚

May 11, 2021Bailey Yard - North Platte, NEI finally graduated on May 7th! πŸŽ‰ πŸ₯³ πŸŽ“Now Brett and I are on a cross-country ro...
05/14/2021

May 11, 2021
Bailey Yard - North Platte, NE

I finally graduated on May 7th! πŸŽ‰ πŸ₯³ πŸŽ“

Now Brett and I are on a cross-country road trip to the west coast for 2 1/2 weeks. We worked a couple of railroad points of interest into the route along the way. The first one was UP Bailey Yard in North Platte, NE. Bailey Yard is the largest classification yard in the world. I'm so excited I finally got to see it. I look forward to sitting down to see what I captured in camera. In the meantime, here are some candid shots Brett took (and a shameless graduation selfie πŸ˜‰).

August 8th, 2018Guthrie, KYI can't believe it's been so long since I've gotten out and taken pictures. I've been in a f...
08/08/2018

August 8th, 2018
Guthrie, KY
I can't believe it's been so long since I've gotten out and taken pictures. I've been in a funk for a couple of days so I decided to get myself out of the house for a while and go to one of my favorite rail photo spots. I feel like I've gotten some of my best photos out here.
I went a bit further down the road to my bridge spot that I love but discovered some very tall weeds and grass have sprung up in the last few months and rain has washed some deep ruts and culverts into the clay. While my Sportage has all-wheel drive, I wasn't trying to tempt fate because invariably Murphy's Law would have gotten me stuck. Unfortunately parking off to the side and hiking in wasn't an option either as I'm a little redhead mosquito magnet and they were really out biting today. It did feel good to "come home" though so to speak.

I'm so happy the weather was nice that day. Sunny and comfortably warm. I was all about the sky shots.
06/05/2018

I'm so happy the weather was nice that day. Sunny and comfortably warm. I was all about the sky shots.

It still hasn't fully set in that I got to see Vance Creek Bridge. I have seen so many photos and videos of it, but it ...
06/05/2018

It still hasn't fully set in that I got to see Vance Creek Bridge. I have seen so many photos and videos of it, but it always felt far off like I'd never get to be there. I'm so happy I was able to go and spend time with one of my closest Army friends.

I have wanted to photograph this bridge for a couple of years now. I finally got the opportunity to go and take one of ...
06/05/2018

I have wanted to photograph this bridge for a couple of years now. I finally got the opportunity to go and take one of my oldest Army friends along for the ride. We were not able to make it out to the south end of the bridge that is more accessible as far as close up shots. That would have required a hike of several miles that we didn't know about and weren't prepared for that day.

The challenge for me was to photograph it in a different way perhaps others haven't. I'm hoping that I achieved that goal. One of my favorite things is the small unique details that always make me smile.

Listening to: "A Place For Us" by Fitz and the Tantrums

That moment when you're out rail fanning and your friend standing behind you says, "Don't move." It can either be a goo...
05/20/2018

That moment when you're out rail fanning and your friend standing behind you says, "Don't move." It can either be a good thing or a bad thing. In this case, it was a well-framed shot of me shooting the approaching train and not a poisonous snake ready to strike. πŸ˜„

While I was taking photographs of 611 behind the protective plexiglass as it was getting work done, my husband jokingly ...
05/20/2018

While I was taking photographs of 611 behind the protective plexiglass as it was getting work done, my husband jokingly asked if I wanted a boost so I could get some clearer shots above the glass. It didn't really bother me that I was shooting through the glass because I caught the reflection of these two children who were admiring the locomotive.

One of my favorite things are the unexpected details that I sometimes catch on purpose and other times completely by accident.

Taken on April 7, 2018.

05/03/2018

Just a few hours to go! The Big Payback ends at midnight tonight! All of the proceeds from the campaign go directly towards the relocation of No. 576, which will look very similar to the relocation of CNR 6167 pictured below. Even the smallest donation helps put a Nashville landmark back on track. There are extra incentives and awards for most community engagement so please continue to like and share the campaign page and let everyone know that YOU support Nashville Steam!

https://www.thebigpayback.org/NSPS

April 11, 2018 - Adams, TN - I dragged (just kidding...it didn't take much convincing) a railfan friend of mine out trai...
04/12/2018

April 11, 2018 - Adams, TN - I dragged (just kidding...it didn't take much convincing) a railfan friend of mine out train watching with me today to capitalize on the gorgeous weather. We parked the car in one of my usual spots and then hiked about a 1/2 mile or so out to a trestle bridge and this was one of the results. This one I thought would be better in color, but the more I toyed with it, the better I liked it in black and white. The pleasant surprise was that recent work on the bridge left a very accessible dirt and gravel path in from the main road. I know where I'm parking it from now on...

April 7, 2018 - Spencer, NC - The weather turned cold and rainy on Saturday so Brett and I ended up leaving the Charlott...
04/09/2018

April 7, 2018 - Spencer, NC - The weather turned cold and rainy on Saturday so Brett and I ended up leaving the Charlotte Auto Fair a day early to visit the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer before heading home. We had never been there before and it was really nice to see all of the various locomotives despite the cold drizzle. This is the builder's plate for Graham County Railroad Locomotive No. 1925.

It's amazing that Lima Locomotive Works turned out so many well-known locomotives so close to where I grew up. I look forward to seeing some of them such as Pere Marquette No. 1225 and Nickel Plate No. 765 some day.

Just a couple of train gals with the same birthday that met on Instagram. I live vicariously through 's photos since she...
04/06/2018

Just a couple of train gals with the same birthday that met on Instagram. I live vicariously through 's photos since she has that insider access! πŸ˜† It was really cool to meet such an awesome railroad lady. Sorry girl, but I had to use the selfie you took because mine didn't look as good! Keep on representing for women on the railroad, gorgeous. You're going to go far. πŸ’ͺπŸ‘Šβ€
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Just spent some time with this really awesome chick πŸš‚β€οΈπŸ˜β˜ΊοΈ Was so cool talking about TRAINS and meeting a girl I have followed and adored on IG because of her doing mechanical stuff with trains too!!! It was so nice to meet you!!

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