I like the perspective here a lot

Thank you! I was kind of afraid that it was, you know, just another picture looking up. But I guess something quite like that can be said of almost any photo: Oh, it's just another portrait. Oh, it's just another landscape. Oh, it's just another picture of the earth from outer space…

So, yes, thank you. I'm glad you like it. As I said, I wasn't sure it was anything special, but I did (and do) like it quite a bit.

"Special" can cover so much. This probably won't turn out to be one of the notable photographs of the 21st century, but the composition caught my attention, and the rendering of the flag too.

You're absolutely right about "just another". I tend to discount any criticism based on it (which is probably an over-reaction, but I associate the phrase with people looking to explain a visceral reaction, and not being very good at introspection).

Oh, my. I really like this. It reminds me of my childhood for a number of reasons, not least of which is the color of the sky. Where was this taken? The building has a bit of a Chicago feel, but I assume that isn't the case.

Well, if the building has "a bit of a Chicago feel" to you, I certainly can't argue with that—if that's how it feels that's how it feels. But my assumption is that your assumption was actually that the photo was taken somewhere other than in Chicago. Which is true—it was taken in St Paul, Minnesota.

Funny that it reminds you of your childhood, though, since the building you can see the corner of is the lower school of St Paul Academy and Summit School. It originally housed Summit School (an all-girl prep school), but when it and St Paul Academy (an all-boy prep school at which the poor lads all had to wear military-type uniforms back then) merged in the early 70's it became the lower school and the old St Paul Academy campus became the middle and upper schools.

And, as I said above, while I have taken photos in Chicago, this isn't one of them. Hey, some of the photos I've taken in Chicago were in the front room of your old apartment, as you no doubt remember; others of them, well, here are a couple three of them:

Woo-hoo! The Merchandise Mart! And Metra! And the Chicago River!

I finally parsed one of the odder reasons as to why the picture threw me back into my childhood. I went back to my old photo album, the very first one I ever kept. There, amongst all of the infink pics of me that my Mom took, and the pictures with my thumb firmly on the lens which was my teenage Oeuvre, was one that I took of the sky, and a tree in the corner. I'd taken it because the tree had orange and red leaves, and the sky was that same beautiful blue yours did.

I'd forgotten that I was using black and white film. Such is the life of someone not destined to be adept in visual communication.

I really like the picture of the locomotives. I am not a train but the picture flows towards the center... start at the lower left and move clockwise, moving towards the center every so often. I think it may approach the 'golden ratio'.

er... I am not a train buff (buff being the word missing from above).

Wow. Yeah. I can see that. Cool. Thanks! (Glad you like it!)

I like it too!

Why, thank you! I'm glad, I am.

Textures.
Placement.
Placement of textures.

Hmmm. Indeed. thx!

I think it's kind of neat, actually. It reminds me of what a very small child would see looking up at the sky from their vantage point.

Wow, thank you. That's another perspective on it I hadn't thought of, and it enriches my enjoyment of my own photo. Glad you like it too.