Canon cameras tend to be set a bit "soft" out of the box. You may want to bump the
sharpness to the max like I have done with all three of mine. Here is how it is done on my 7DII. I do not know how it is done with your Rebel, so you may have to experiment.
Click on
picture style. In my case it is
Landscape.
Once on
Landscape (or whatever your setting is), hit the
Info button, which will give you the following settings to adjust:
Sharpness
Contrast
Saturation
Color tone
Adjust
sharpness to the maximum:
+ all the way to the right of center. I keep all of the other settings dead center. It is your camera and your photos, so feel free to experiment with the other settings as well.
We started a brief discussion on the PNW Photo Forum site (which I recommend you join) about equipment. Many of us have succumbed to the
$lippery
$lope of upgrading our equipment over the years. Here is what I have done and my recommendations. Please bear in mind that I know nothing about your personal finances or what place photography has in your life in terms of priority
$pending.
All things being equal, better equipment will yield better photos, especially under less than ideal lighting conditions. . I have upgraded both cameras and lenses over the years. I have tried to do so wisely by purchasing used equipment whenever I can. With manufacturers constantly releasing new models of cameras and lenses, this can yield big
$aving
$ as many photographers sell or trade in perfectly good equipment in order to have the "latest & greatest" in their arsenals.
If/when you decide to upgrade, I recommend the following in the Canon line.
Camera: 5D Mk II. You will eventually want a camera with a full frame sensor. The Canon 5D line is now up to the Mk IV. The Mk II still an excellent camera for photographing trains and landscapes even though it may be 100 years old in camera years. As such, you can pick up a used one for a song.
Lens: 24-105L telephoto zoom. They say you date a camera but marry a lens. My opinion on lenses is spend the most that you can on a a high quality lens that you can pass on from camera to camera. As such, I purchase Canon's "L" series lenses (the ones with the red ring around them) and stay away from the EF-S lenses, which can only be used on cameras with crop frame sensors. I prefer zoom lenses as they allow me more leeway composiing shots in the field.
My favorite lens for railroad photography is the 24-105L wide angle zoom. It has been upgraded over the years with the current model coming in at $1,000.
https://kenmorecamera.com/product/158577/canon-ef-24-105mm-f4l-is-ii-usm
Older models which are fine for photographing trains can be purchased used for much less.
https://kenmorecamera.com/product/168729/used-canon-rf-24-105mm-f4l-is
There are my recommendations, for whatever they are worth.