I often wonder whether the Phraudo trips are ruining the experiences for the regular railfan. You know, the guy or gal that enjoys being on a different sort of train than what normal tourists get, but isn't into the hobby to fly around the world to see exotic stuff. He can barely tell the difference between a K36 and a K37. This person doesn't post his photos and doesn't care if anyone else likes them. He does, and he remembers the trip with a special smile. He had fun and met some neat people on the train. They might have shared some photographic hints, but basically, they knew they wanted photos of the train as it was, not how it was made up to be. And didn't care if the ballast was too perfect for 1957, or the tender wasn't lettered Rio Grande.
Don't get me wrong. The Phraudo-Frieghts are great to have and they provide the incentive to restore more equipment. And to do the work perfectly. But I just think there's a market for those that are just getting into the hobby and don't want to be put down because they don't have the latest high-end DSLR. I'm sure there are very few of us who would have jumped into a $600 trip the first time. So if I wanted to introduce a newbie to railfan photography, which C&TS trip would I recommend this summer?
Bill Kepner