2011 TRFN top 50 deviations and deviants list.

Happy New Year and welcome to the 2011 edition of the TRFN top 50 deviations of the year. This will be the 3rd edition of this feature.

As a new year begins, The-Railfan-Nation has grown rapidly in the past year by 511 members. This means that out of the 976 current listed members each deviant has a 5% mathematical chance of making this feature. Thus if you have made this feature earning any spot from 1 to 50 is a very difficult accomplishment that you have accomplished. Just anything will not make it in this feature all images in this feature made it in because of impressive stats. These deviations all collected these stats for a reason. Many of them reached outside the railfan community and drew interest from non-railfans as well. My standards for this list as always will be listed below.

The process was hard fought as I started on the 17th with work on this list. This time I was alone so I personally scouted out all 976 galleries. Due to obvious time constraints I have also announced several times through blogs that anybody with a recently popular 2011 deviation needed to alert me. I acknowledge the fact that scanning the galleries is a long process. Thus, this means because I started on the 17th there were some deviations that could have got popular after I scouted. This is my reason for making the blogs so recently popular deviations have a better chance at being counted since it is humanly impossible for me by myself catch them all if they are recently popular. So if you have one that could have made this feature that falls under this criterion and failed to inform me too bad. I wrote about 3 or 4 blogs addressing this exact issue so there was plenty of warning about it. Our blogs often have important info because they are the admin's best way of communicating with the group. Thus, it is the consequence of not reading them. So I do not want to get any nasty responses or hatemail if I've missed anybody in this manner. Stats may not necessarily be accurate.

In the process several well deserving deviations did not make it in so please do not feel bad if you did not make it into this feature. However, if you have in mind the goal of making this feature next year it is a good idea to look at and inspire yourself. I want you to look at this feature and say, "hey I could do something epic to."

No matter what medium of art you produce, attitude can often be a factor in your success or failure. This actually applies in all forms of art. Attitude in how you see other artist and take critique from them is just two things that can be a factor. I've seen a lot of people who like to classify fellow railfans with labels such as "ignorant foamer" and often times it was only because the person they labeled "foamer" was more successful than them. These rage fits I've seen on many sites are rooted by jealously. Folks I want to emphasize that going on a jealous tirade is no way to help yourself. For example it is possible for one to have a lot of experience and still have lackluster results. Experience is only useful if you apply it and learn from it. Just because one has been a form of art longer than someone else does not necessarily mean that he is more skilled than the newer guy. If you look at the featured artist closely you will find that their attitudes are very positive. I myself am a photographer and have won several awards for my photography in real life. I'm also known for much more than my railfanning.

I am at the belief that anybody could produce something epic if they really put their mind and effort to it. In order to do so you have to tune out "I can't." My message for the incoming year is clearly about attitude. I want to encourage a positive attitude with this address not only to how you consider others but to yourself as well.

All deviations featured must conform to TRFN submission standards which is not very strict.
All of the following are TRFN members.
Deviations are ranked based on faves.
All featured works were posted in 2011. This refers to date posted not technically date taken/made. (Example: a photo taken in 2010 but posted on deviantART in 2011 can qualify).
Policy violations are not counted in the ranks no matter how many faves they have. All deviations mentioned below passed TRFN inspection. Obviously a policy violation making the top 50 would understandably anger people. So final results are subjected to a point to point inspection, and if something is found to be in violation of dA policy it is rejected from the line-up immediately. (Example: Stolen material will be treated as though it never existed. So if someone posted a stolen pic that racked up enough faves to make the top 50 and I didn't notice it the first time it is automatically ejected in the final inspection process.)

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43. :thumb204054313:
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40. :thumb252466800:
39. :thumb271812877:
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33. :thumb203674485:
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22. :thumb197630359:
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18. :thumb202186326:
17. :thumb251988929: :iconcortexedge:
16. :thumb192082873:
15. :thumb234838131:
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11. :thumb267929446:
10. Through the spiral we go.
9. :thumb208023218: A little urban exploring in Ulster County, New York.
8. Underground combined with motion blur is epic.
7. Even Locomotives in the worst condition can make some of the best scenes.
6. Modern VS. Classic.
5. :thumb199010195: Steam on the move at Victoria Australia.
4. Sometimes the best things are found underground.
3. Love how the sunrays break through the trees over this Polish railway.
2. Epic sunrise over a Polish railway.
1. Chicago style black and white wins #1 this year following a DD.

In addition to this being the 3rd edition I'd like to recognize people who have made all three top 50 features since 2009 with their average rank within the top 50. Folks making this list once is hard enough but to make it 3 straight times you have really made yourself standout.
16.6
31
11
15

Last Year's results 2010.

Signed,
TRFN-Co-Founder
Joseph W. Johns