About The Webmaster

My name is Matt Hannes, and I obviously enjoy railfanning in the Rocky Mountains. I like trains, photography, and the outdoors, so there's nothing better than doing some rail photography along the Moffat Route. I live in Littleton, Colorado, which puts me about 35 minutes away from the line.

A little history lesson......I ended up arriving in Colorado in 1997 to go to school. I railfanned the line a couple of times during 1997-98, but not a whole lot. In the late spring of 1999 I decided to really take advantage of the awesome scenery that this area has to offer, so I started spending a lot time up in the mountains along the Moffat route. I started hiking further and further along the line (away from wherever I parked my car), and really gained an appreciation for all the great out-of-the way photo spots that few people ever bother to hike to. I've tried to share some of my favorite photos on this web site.

My point of view in terms of photography is that I try to stay away from all the "easy" shots; that is, the images where you park your car next to the tracks, get your picture, then drive away. Granted, there are a lot of great shots you can get this way, and in inclement weather this may be your only option. But bear in mind that every other railfan in the area will have the same kind of pictures. I make it a point of hiking quite a ways away from the typical railfan spots in order to get truly unique pictures. The drawback to this is that I can't really chase trains up the line. But on a good day of railfanning, I'll easily cover a couple miles of trackage. And a couple of miles of trackage in the Rocky Mountains can offer an almost infinite selection of great photo opportunities.

Photography Equipment

The older images on this web page were actually taken with an old little Minolta all-in-one camera. It took decent pictures as long as you didn't try anything tricky. From 1998 to 2006 my primary camera was a Canon Rebel X-S SLR with the stock 35-80mm lens. I also have a 75-300mm telephoto zoom lens available. In the summer of 2006 I purchased a Canon EOS 20D digital SLR and that has since become my primary camera. For the long distance shots I use a Velbon DF-50 tripod.

For film, since late 2000 I generally shot color 35mm slides using Fuji Provia 100F. I really like the color rendition of the Fuji film, plus the fact that it is less susceptible to scratching. Prior to that time I used mostly Kodak Elitechrome 100 because I could get it really cheap at COSTCO (which doesn't stock it anymore). I always ordered my Provia from B&H Photo in New York, as they usually have really good deals on it. If you've never tried Provia, I recommend you give it a shot.

Scanning and Software

The slides were originally scanned on a flatbed scanner with a slide adapter. This isn't necessarily the best way to scan slides, but it's good enough for web posting. In August 2002 I purchased a Minolta Dimage Dual Scan II AF-2820U slide scanner. So all the pictures taken since then were scanned with this piece of equipment.

Images are cropped and optimized using Adobe Photoshop. I do not do any editing to any of the images on this page other than cropping, color adjustment, and editing out any dust specks left from the scanner. I do not dub in headlights or anything like that. What you see is what I shot. This entire web page is laid out with Adobe GoLive software.

intermodal_matt@yahoo.com