2008 was a pretty big year for myself, and for my photography. Late in 2007 I found myself getting more inspired to take pictures, go to new places, and try new technigues. So in 2008 this started to come full circle. I upgraded my gear about midway through the year, and strated shooting more after the sun goes down behind the hills. The following pictures (which might not be my best work) all have a link to certian pleace, experience, or trip that I took...Thanks so much for looking, and a happy new year to all.

Best

Kevin Sheridan

In October of 1989 the San Francisco Bay Area was hit with a 7.0 earthquake. This quake forever changed the Bay Area, and many of its neighborhoods. Some of these neighborhoods have yet to recover. One of the casualties was the historic Southern Pacific Railroad Station located in West Oakland. The Loma Prieta Earthquake damaged the station to the point where it was no longer safe to use. With the way politics are in California the money to repair the station was approximately twenty years down the road. During February a friend and I paid a visit to the place...Time had stood still for almost nineteen years.

Built for The San Fanscisco Municipal Railway by the Jewett Car Company in 1914, 162 was used in regular service on virtually every Muni streetcar line. Painted in all three Muni liveries used during its service life, including the green and cream “Wings” in the 1950s. In 1958 it was retired from daily service, and sold to Orange Empire Railway Museum in Southern California. Come 2002 162 was repurchased by Market Street Railway and Muni and returned to San Francisco, where Market Street Railway volunteers began cosmetic restoration of the car. 162 was later moved to the MUNI metro maintance facility for compleation of it restoration. These images are of 162's first fantrip following completion of it's restoration. The interesting thing that came with uploading images to The Information Super Street Car Line, is the right person saw this image, and a few months later it appered on the cover of Market Street Railway's quaterly publication. More about 162 and the Market Street Railway can be found at http://www.streetcar.org

In June the kid from California traveled to Montana, and spent almost two weeks riding a special passenger train over the Montana Rail Link. The train consisted of privately owned luxury. My time in Montana was spent photographing, and riding this one of a kind train. Much can be said about driving a car across country, but I believe that the country is best viewed out the window of a train. But thats just my opinion.

Vintage 1945 build Alco S2s still perform daily switching duties at San Francisco's Pier 90. The two remaining Alcos #23, and #25 spent a number of years stored and inactive. But now the table has turned, and the future for these two vintage work horses looks bright. On any given afternoon one or both of these machines can be found shuffling cuts of cars around San Francisco's Port. The sounds they make are music to any railfans ears.

As much as I tried to stay away, the more I got interested. Finally I gave into the whole HDR revolution. Whether I contiue to persue it or not is up in the air, but right now I'm just having fun playing with something new.