Show off your realistic AI railway images!

[Sun Chariot]

I have started this thread after becoming rather too addicted (so my wife says...) to the capabilities of AI and Big Data.
There are several AI image generators. I use Google Gemini.

These images are created using my own descriptions into AI.
Add your realistic AI generated railway themed images, too!

1) A 37 emerges from Blea Moor Tunnel, into a Pennine mist.
2) A late passenger dashes for her reserved seat, watched by a pair of rail enthusiasts. Note the poster advert!
3) A man and his son chat with the driver of a class 23 "Baby Deltic". The pigeons care more for the lady's bird-seed.
4) These three lads are very absorbed in their magazines...
5) Nocturnal activity, as porters move the secure bags to the waiting train.
6) Diners are served in an American railroad's Pullman car.
7) An English Electric dawn chorus.
8) A 47 hauled passenger train crosses the Forth Bridge in a murky dusk.
9) A bonfire burns as a grey Civil Engineer 37 awaits booked departure along a freight-only branch, with cement empties.

How it works:
I write a descriptive desired image composition. AI algorithms sift their data sources to match each data point; then combine the results to build an image closest matching my description.
It's not infallible: it needs accurate and plentiful reference data. It seems to generate a better result with people, than for trains. Cast a critical eye over the 37s, Mk1s & wagons.

 

[D1511]

Ha! These aren't all that bad!
Pic 1....Not bad at all, apart from the extraneous lighting!
Pic 2.....the "enthusiasts" seems to be creepily surreptitiously photographing the woman in the shortish skirt! Love the billboard!
Pic 3....it's a baby alright....it looks tiny! Look at the size of the driver's door!
Pic 4...."high speed trains pass this platform. Please stand behind the yellow line!"
Pic 5.....that's a fancy pocket watch he's got....illuminated!
Pic 6.....those outfits would put me off my grub!
Pic 7.....are those guys in the HiVis trying to stop the tractor coming out the shed? I've got news for them if they are ....! Also. I note the interesting nose variant.....centre headcode AND connecting doors!
Pic 8.....pretty decent, and that almost looks like North Sea "haar" (or "fret" if you're from a bit further down the country!)
Pic 9.....probably the one most likely to be mistaken for a real pic apart from the buffer beam pipes!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Thanks @D1511 this is a bit of casual fun. The laborious parts are a) writing out a description in such minute detail and b) re-generating the same description, over and over, to get AI algorithms "learning" what is good and what isn't.

AI images I've done of people, are so much more realistic than the railway imagery you see here. But, in time, the AI algorithms will refine. I don't know if Cowley will get his 26 any time soon, though...

 

[D1511]

I don't know if Cowley will get his 26 any time soon, though...

He'll just have to make do with his Heljan one!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Picture 4 is a bit lifelike. When we were a bit older than those boys pictured there was often a smut mag being passed around.

 

[High Dyke]

Is it me, or does the person sheltering under the brolly, in the second picture, have a potato face?

I'll second the comment about top shelf magazines.

 

[Sun Chariot]

In the very early 1980s, a recreational playground by the local railway station regularly produced discarded smut-rags.
I and fellow "just-teen" lads would sneak off to the rec for our school lunch break, for a crafty look.

Yes @High Dyke you're right about the gone-awry AI render of the person's face.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Christmas Eve is exactly five months away.
What? You really thought there's only  one Santa and all those presents  only go on a sleigh?
25 years ago, Baker Street Wetherspoons on a mid December evening, 100+ pub-crawlers swarmed in and made for the bar. All dressed as Santa. Well, all bar one - a single green elf too!

Paddington, spring, late afternoon. A RES class 47 stands at the stops. Spot the oblique reference to Sir Peter Parker...
@D1511 I was determined to get you a 47! Excuse its class 37 bodyside grilles and the lack of Serck rad' slats. Gemini has an infuriating habit of rendering some bits well and other bits not.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Deleted, thanks Mods for migrating content.

 

[Horizon22]

Picture 4 is a bit lifelike. When we were a bit older than those boys pictured there was often a smut mag being passed around.

As with anything AI in pictures, zoom in enough and you can normally see. A dead give-away is the nonsense text.

 

[Sun Chariot]

As with anything AI in pictures, zoom in enough and you can normally see. A dead give-away is the nonsense text.

When I wrote Razzle in my descriptive instructions to Gemini, I didn't expect the algorithms to know what it was! It chose a lady for the cover. I wonder if the pages are AI-sticky, too.

 

[RichJF]

Couple of images I got after chatting to Gemini

 

[Sun Chariot]

Stirring images @RichJF

Did you specify actual locations in your descriptive text? The 37 shot looks as if it's on the West Highland line.

Gemini's rendered your 37 bodyside almost identically to the way it did mine (the extra side grilles / windows).
Mind you, I had to generate 30 to 40 images per descriptions because most AI renders were not even close.
I think "ambience" wins over "total accuracy" - and yours have loads of ambience. Please keep posting more!

 

[Cowley]

Stunning images @RichJF

Did you specify actual locations in your descriptive text? The 37 shot looks as if it's on the West Highland line.

Gemini's rendered your 37 bodyside almost identically to the way it did mine (the extra side grilles / windows).
Mind you, I had to generate 30 to 40 images per descriptions because most AI renders were not even close.
I think "ambience" wins over "total accuracy" - and yours have loads of ambience. Please keep posting more!

Some of these images really make your eyes go a bit funny!

Can it do a class 24/25, or even something really weird like a CoBo?

 

[RichJF]

The 37 I asked for a misty morning & the 47 I asked for a lightning strike.

I tried a class 31 & a 377 for variety.

The 31 ended up with a 47 & the 377 ended up with some hodgepodge of a 323, HST & 319 bodyshell.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Some of these images really make your eyes go a bit funny!

Can it do a class 24/25, or even something really weird like a CoBo?

Yes, "reading" Razzle will make one's eyes go a bit funny.

Gemini seems to rely on data sources with up-to-date railway imagery. I tried a class 52 Western, a 40, a 45 Peak, a 25 and a 26 - the resulting Al images were all completely wrong. The Baby Deltic image was a happy coincidence of a "wrong 37"!

This one's Dreaming of Devon - a homage to early-mid 1980s summer visits to my maternal grandmother in Exmouth; with Dawlish and Teignmouth visits guaranteed.
The train slightly resembles a South West Trains class 159.

 

[Cowley]

Yes, "reading" Razzle will make one's eyes go a bit funny.

Gemini seems to rely on data sources with up-to-date railway imagery. I tried a class 52 Western, a 40, a 45 Peak, a 25 and a 26 - the resulting Al images were all completely wrong. The Baby Deltic image was a happy coincidence of a "wrong 37"!

This one's Dreaming of Devon - a homage to early-mid 1980s summer visits to my maternal grandmother in Exmouth; with Dawlish and Teignmouth visits guaranteed.
The train slightly resembles a South West Trains class 159.

That’s quite nice actually

 

[Sun Chariot]

Thanks @Cowley

Further north and filthier weather. All That Power is a nod to Ratcliffe Power Station - and a "what if" EWS livery. I think it rather suits the 66.

 

[Ashley Hill]

How about a class 82 hauling a milk train through Okehampton or Bank?

 

[Sun Chariot]

The fire within - steam-era images I shared on another thread.
These are more "synthetic" (and less realistic) feel. That might be due to more "AI interpreting" needed, to create the image.

How about a class 82 hauling a milk train through Okehampton or Bank?

I've found that Gemini AI - I can't speak for the other AI image generators - doesn't cope well when I try to create images of older loco / unit classes.
That could be due to its data sources or to its interpretations. On post #22 I mention the classes I've tried, unsuccessfully.

 

[gazthomas]

When it was announced that the Royal Train was being decommissioned I asked Copilot to generate a picture of a class 142 Pacer in Royal Train livery going through a burning Liverpool as a statement of the decline of the country!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Shed at Sunset. This "what if" EWS variant quite suits the 66.
Oddly, when I use the same description but I change "class 66" for "class 59", the AI results I see are of a bizarre class 47' / 60 / goodness knows what hybrid...

Pennine possession. The filthy 37 echoes filthy conditions for this weekend engineering work. The driver seems to have left front and rear marker lights turned on...

... a picture of a class 142 Pacer in Royal Train livery going through a burning Liverpool as a statement of the decline of the country!

Very apocalyptic!

 

[Cowley]

Very apocalyptic!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jul 2025 ==

Shed at Sunset. This "what if" EWS variant complements that on post #24.
Oddly, when I use the same description but I change "class 66" for "class 59", the AI results I see are of a bizarre class 47' / 60 / goodness knows what hybrid...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Jul 2025 ==

Pennine possession. The filthy 37 echoes filthy conditions for this weekend engineering work. The driver seems to have left front and rear marker lights turned on...

I think that 37 is the most convincing one yet for some reason (could be the three beers I’ve consumed though).

I also think that I prefer that EWS livery…

 

[Sun Chariot]

I think that 37 is the most convincing one yet

The "grot covered" BR monastral blue was a true staple of my youth; I can't recall more than a half dozen locos in ex works blue. So this was a hark back to "how it was".
Google Gemini still doesn't render the 37's bodyside windows and grilles accurately yet...

 

[MarkyT]

Here's an interesting image of an early 20th century signalbox interior.

The bobby's just been handed the single line staff for the branch by the fireman of the big red tank engine, who is about to leave the box. The signalman has yet to return the staff to the release instrument it is normally kept in when not required by a train, as he is distracted by some unusual activity taking place in the yard. He's weighing up whether to call up the chargeman to find out what the heck is going on.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Lovely ambience, @MarkyT

 

[GatwickDepress]

A forum tradition brought to life - loco-hauled 442s on a CrossCountry service.

 

[Sun Chariot]

I do like that, @GatwickDepress . Coincidentally, I wanted an AI 68, but none of my results were anywhere as good.

Long Night Ahead is a three-parter:
1) Crew and machinery await their booked departures. A few errant small details; but 66791's livery is pretty close to when I saw it in 2024.
2) A brace of DB Sheds throbs through moonlight, with a long distance oil train. Bi-directional working's on this line section.
3) In a GBRf depot canteen, before the night shift. Play cards, read a railway magazine. Or, devour that knickerbocker glory!

Shedded Wheat sees unfenced permanent way between field and freight.

Paint and Power Tools peeks in a paint shop and delves into a depot. What's that, a Haynes Motoring Manual for a 66?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

While there's clearly been a heavy focus on locomotives recently, I wonder how well one would be able to do a Class 331 or any other modern multiple unit, it will probably have had lots of test data for them.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Thanks @pokemonsuper9 Google Gemini AI algorithms are not rendering classes 170, 196, 220 / 221, 331 anything like what those units should look like. I added the closest match (which isn't that close at all!) onto Mad AI Generated Picture. I'll keep on trying different classes.

Here's a GWR IET; it's got a few details wrong and it's running under dubiously wired 25kV AC catenary (and it's East Coast / Great Eastern style, too). But it's come out better than class 801 Azuma renders I've tried.