Gundagai Rail Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Gundagai Railway Station was restored to its original 1886 glory in the 1990's.

Gundagai is 390 kilometers south-west of Sydney. Although the township of Gundagai would certainly like to see more freight carried by rail instead of road, the reality seems to be that this rail line will never carry trains again. The rail line is destined to sit there and decay with no real value or likely return.

The Cootamundra to Tumut Rail Branch line has been out of Service for over 20 years. The line traverses Gundagai Township where it crosses the Murrumbidgee River and floodplain. It runs right through the middle of Gundagai Shire area.

Following damaging floods in 1984 the branch line was closed and in 1989 the State Rail Authority abandoned the station building. In 1994 Gundagai Historic Bridges Inc. was granted a 25 year lease of the disused and vandalised station and precincts.

History of this Railway Station is that in the late 1880s, following 20 years of community and political representation, the station was officially opened on 21 July 1886. It was designed by John Whitton the Engineer in Chief, State Rail Authority. In 1903 the branch line was extended to Tumut, following the completion of the railway bridge across the Murrumbidgee River flood plain.

The precinct environment is probably unique in railway terms in that it is sited on the side of a hill formation above a flood plain and the rail track access and the goods yard have been built by rock excavation into the hillside. This has resulted in a somewhat restricted site compared to the normal railway yard, particularly in view of the original intention for this station to be the terminus for the line.

For 98 years it was the hub of Gundagai's existence carrying freight, passengers and mail to and from the cities of Sydney and Melbourne (Butcher 1998).

I extracted this information from various www.thingos.

mafegan, alftrek, phwall, jlbrthnn, skippy007, papera has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mafegan (4483) 2009-10-16 0:16

Hello Graham
A nice photo taken from an unusual pov. The eye is led along the out of focus disused rail tracks to the very much in focus restored railway station. I like the effect. There have been a few songs written about Gundagai - I am sure it is worth a visit one day. Tfs, Marlene

alftrek (2913) 2009-10-16 1:17

Hi Graham,
The train station still looks deserted despite money spent to rennovate the building. The low POV composition is good pushing the station and red carriage to the top right of the frame leaving plenty of space for the directional tracks. I imagine it must be pretty safe to take your time standing in the middle of the track. I guess you have forgotten to remove the CPL which explains your high ISO and low f/stop to compensate for the light.

Also, it would be nice to see a sharper FG which is normally achieved with a shortest possible focal length or a wide angle lens. SteveH(TE name) loves to do this sort of photos with good FG details and sense of depth, you may want to take a look. I am also learning from him.

Cheers
Alfred

ifege (1979) 2009-10-16 2:28

Love it Graham,
Not perfectly focused but very effective. Did you miss the train?
cheers
Ian

phwall (5701) 2009-10-16 20:04

Hi Graham,
A couple of things.
Enough said about the focus, other than none of it looks sharp on my monitor.
Your POV is good, using the foreground tracks works well.
For me, you've cropped too tight on the roof of the station, I'm finding the top of frame to be too cramped.
The other point is, I find it to be a little over saturated. Saturation works well with landscapes and sunrises and sunsets but this looks a bit too chocolate boxy.
A great find, the location looks fantastic, I'd love to visit there.
Cheers
Pete

alibasarir (14497) 2009-10-17 0:37

merhaba Graham,
tren raylarının etkisi harika görünüyor.çok güzel bir kompozisyon olmuş tebrikler.
selamlar
Ali

macondo (13271) 2009-10-19 5:09

Hi Graham.
I love this shot for the mood it creates.
Not only well composed to take advantage of the tracks, but also places the station building and red car nicely top right, if a little close to the borders. The weeds suggest the passing of time despite the obvious recent restoration work on the station. There's a real sense of loneliness and desertion about a track with no trains. I would hold the colour back a little, and sharpen it up a little more. Your note is great.
Regards,
Andrew

delpeoples (6750) 2009-10-20 0:41

Hi Graham, I like this shot, and sincerely hope a train wasn't due any time soon. The things we do for our art. I don't think the image is over-saturated. It does however lack definition, particularly in the FG but I think that's because of your point of focus (the train station) and the large aperture of f/4.5. A smaller aperture would have sharpened everything up. Aside from that, the composition is a good one, with a great idea of the train lines leading everywhere. TFS and enjoy your week, we're nearly half-way! Lisa

jlbrthnn (38897) 2009-10-20 6:17

Hello Graham,
The old stations are like the old churches, one restores them, one looks at them, one preserves them, but one does not want to make use of it any more in their original use. it is the same thing in France, where sometimes of short sections of railways are rehabilitated for tourism. Very beautiful image nostalgic, carried out well. Cheer.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

gunbud (28153) 2009-10-20 9:11

G'Day Graham,
The twisting old tracks make an excellent lead-in to this lovely little trains station which still looks much like it did back in the late 19th century.
Regards, Tom

skippy007 (7327) 2009-10-22 17:25

Hello Graham, I like the effect you have achieved here, out of focus,in focus & out of focus again I think it adds to the isolated, disused atmosphere. The station looks as though it has money spent on it but the overgrown grass on the tracks a dead giveaway that it is unused. Will we see the the dog on his tucker box?
Regards
Santo

papera (5667) 2009-10-24 12:24

hi graham,
back again... was out again on a business trip =)
I was reading your note with interest, partly because I am a railway aficionado and partly because I see that almost everywhere in the world politicians continue to invest in road transportation instead of supporting railroads.
I like very much the shift to the right, both tracks and station concentrate the attention on one side of the composition.
I think the photo would also benefit from a b/w conversion - you know me, I can't help myself... I tried a sepia WS, just for fun =)
have a nice weekend,
c.

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Photo Information

Copyright: Graham Maranda (burraburra) (906)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-09-21
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Nikon 60D, Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S 1:4-5.6 G ED DX VR, Cokin 52mm Circular Polarizer
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2009-10-15 20:59