The Best Camera is...

BNSF action: a transfer move overtakes a unit train near Denver Union Station.

...the camera you have with you, which applies to railfan photography as much as it does 'normal' photography. My trusty iPhone is the camera I have with me most often, and I've managed some remarkably good catches over the past year or so during travel and around my home area here in suburban Washington.

Admittedly, the iPhone camera is limited in functionality compared to a fully-featured camera. But it also has some intriguing low light features, including High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities that allow quality photography under a variety of adverse lighting conditions. This capability--in combination with the the fact that it is usually immediately accessible and available--make for exciting photo opportunities. I have found that those limited features force a focus (see what I did there?) on fundamentals of composition and planning.

A CSX unit train idles, awaiting orders to move out of Nashville's 'Gulch' at Kane Avenue tower on a rainy Saturday in early September 2018.

Denver's RTD Light Rail at Union Staion

RTD Heavy Rail Service, which serves Denver's distant and sprawling airport as well the northwest 'burbs.

Another view of BNSF action in downtown Denver near Union Station.

Closer to home, a brand new Siemens Charger diesel pushes a commuter train into Washington DC at Garrett Park, MD

Cab of an inbound MARC train, also in Garrett Park.

A more 'normal' MARC MP36PH-3C pulling a train into Garrett Park.

We travel frequently to Connecticut and ride Metro North from New York City to Danbury area. Here are Metro North M9 electric MUs in Stamford, Connecticut. 

This bit of Metro North is the former New Haven line into Danbury, which was once electrified (holla!) and still has many of the old catenary towers in place. Nowadays diesels do the work, like this rebuilt diesel sporting the modern take on classic McGinness New Haven paint scheme.