Brian, that's a good question. Why is a Warbonnet more interesting rounding Horseshoe Curve than it is crawling over Tehachapi? I'm sure there are many answers to that (I'd love to see the response to that question over at that other popular forum that we both participate at...they love their foreign power too).
For me, it's simple. If I'm a lifelong resident of, say, Ashtabula or Western Pennsylvania, and a railfan, I probably have 1-200 photos of a B&LE train crossing the Allegheny and another 1-200 photos of one entering a coal facility on lake Erie, and another 1000 or so photos from yards and signals and tunnels and curves, wherever I can get trackside on the B&LE, I have that photo.
I don't have a photo of a B&LE unit crossing the Mississippi at Davenport, IA, or passing the camera at Dunsmuir. If seeing either of these would not excite you, your draw to this hobby is different from mine, but every bit as valid (your photos are great).
This discussion reminds me of the age-old argument among railfans. Which is better, 5 or 6 trains a day thru some of the finest scenery this country has to offer (Shasta Route, Donner Pass), or 100 trains per day in front of a brick wall (Fostoria). I choose the latter but many would choose the former.
It's great that this hobby has so much to offer people of different tastes and for me, it's not knowing what's around the bend that keeps me going trackside.
