Steam Locomotive Train Photo

Speeding Train Locomotive

A train locomotive belches thick grey smoke as it speeds over a mountain trestle that has partially collapsed. This train is headed for disaster on an otherwise beautiful, crisp mountain day. It is a bucolic scene betrayed only by the danger that lurks ahead. The steam engine is emerging from behind the rock mountain side that still hides the attached tender and train cars. We don''t know if this is a freight train or a passenger train. The smoke from the train''s furnace spews from the stack in billowing grey clouds that stand out against the lighter clouds that hang in the late afternoon mountain sky. In the background blue mountain peaks hide the horizon. Just the tips of pine trees hide at the base of the damaged trestle.

Train Locomotive Headed For Disaster

Trains make great symbols for the trappings of life and for business in particular. We all seem to have a fond place in our hearts, and our psyches, for trains and in particular old steam locomotives. Trains represent power, speed and connections. This image of a train wreck about to happen speaks to such concepts as vision, awareness and preparation. Such an image can be used by a wide variety of businesses world-wide including but not limited to insurance companies, software developers, and purveyors of business communications. Any business that can help other avoid mistakes and accidents can utilize this train wreck photo to add visual interest and impact to their messages.

Train Wreck Details

It is the details that make this train wreck picture, or impending train wreck photo, convincing. The big drive wheels of the locomotive are spinning, there is a slight motion blur on the highlight showing the speed of the train, and steam hisses from the forward cylinders along with the puff of smoke from the stack. Interestingly enough, this train photo was composited, with Photoshop, from nine other images. The mountain side on the left foreground was photographed in India. The distant mountain range and pine trees on the bottom of the frame were captured in Mongolia. The sky was shot in Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles. The trestle was created from several shots of an actual train trestle, though much smaller in size, in Larkspur Landing, California. The steam and smoke came from images captured in Berkeley, California. The steam locomotive itself is a small model photographed in my Sausalito, California studio. Truly an international image!