Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 30: May 2, 2005

[Anonymous]

Mike has my vote this week. I have seen ballast trains dumping before with men walking along openig the chutes. But to see one being done by remote control an get a shot of it. You go Mike. [^]

[espeefoamer]

I voted for Mike this week.I have never seen a photo of a train dumping ballast by remote control. In fact,I haven't heard of it being done this way.Very interesting shot,Mike[:)]!

[Anonymous]

I voted for Mike's. Great shot of the ballast being released!! Cool!!!

[Anonymous]

Good job, Erik. That guy has the best seat in the house.

[steve14]

Had to go with Mike's shot as it brought back many memeories of how this used to be done. Like using a board behind he chains to control the flow of rock on what was called an "MSE" door that had to be cranked up and down with a sledge hammer handle on a rusted ratchet mechanism and then literally running along side as we dumped 42 cars of rock over a 7 mile stretch of track on UP in Kansas in just under 2 hours.

These mechanically operated doors are so much nicer and safer.

[Anonymous]

I can see Mike's shot perfectly well on my monitor, which is at a good setting (not too bright or too dark). Hard choice. I went with Mike's, but I don't really have defined reasons. I'd never seen that before. Erik's was nice too.
For anyone who voted for Erik's on the basis of this "theme" thing: ERIK said "Looks like we're going to have a "railroads at work" theme this week for the voting competition. " not Mike.
Mike didn't completely agree to that. He merely replied with "Anyhow, like you say, this week we’ve stumbled across the theme of “railroads at work.” Your shot certainly does put the human element into it. " This implies that Erik's shot fell into that category, and his might or might not depending on your opinion. He never agreed that it was set in stone. Once again "we’ve stumbled across the theme" doesn't mean 'yeah great idea, let's do that.'
So in MY opinion the so-called "theme" shouldn't be a factor in the voting either way. Just vote on the picture itself independently. I guess that's just my [2c], so do whatever you want! [:)]

[Anonymous]

I went with Mike's shot. You can always see an engineer or switchman on the front end of a train, but how often do you catch the inner actions of a train doing something along the way? Nice shot Mike!
The only other time I ever remember seeing a train do any kind of "dumping" goes back to the early fifties, when I went with a friend of mine and his dad to where his dad worked, the Belt Railway of Chicago. We went to the Yard at 95th & Stony Island Ave. and then afterward went and caught a train coming out of a steel mill and dumping the coke from the cars down the hillside. Don't remember the location where it was dumped, I just remember it.

ralph zimmer [e-mail]

[jimmac230]

Erik gets vote this time, but Mike has another aspect of working on the railroad also. It's all in a day's work no matter what a railroad man does. Working in the yard or laying down ballast, it's still hard work.

[emmar]

A question for Erik and Mike. Do you read all the comments about your photographs?

[mikeyuhas]

QUOTE: Originally posted by emmar

A question for Erik and Mike. Do you read all the comments about your photographs?

No, never [:-^]

[Anonymous]

I like eric's pic because it shows how tiring(spelling?) the job can be!

[081440]

Too close to call!! Mike's shot is great, for those with "proper" monitor settings, and so is Erik's. [(-D] [:D] [tup] [wow]

[Anonymous]

I too went with Erik. Seeing the groundhog out there on the front porch reminds me of my days on CSX and taking power to the house after a long long trip. Mike's photo is interesting as a document of a new technology which very few people have seen in action. It is my understanding that the Hertzog train actually uses GPS to open and close the doors at crossings and bridges. They are already working on a technology (or it may already be in use) where a track inspector will basically ultrasound the trackbed to see where any lowspots or weepers and various other things are, using this along with GPS the ballast train can be programmed to dump just the right amount of ballast at certain locations instead just opening the door and letting it drop.

Personally, I would have voted for the "roster" shot of the WC unit at the crossing with part of the Grand Am and the gates...:)

[Anonymous]

I liked all the pictures this time. Erik's is a very dramatic comparison of how a grown man is tiny compared to a locomotive, but it is the tiny controlling the strong. Mike's picture is interesting in showing how ballast is deposited. But being a long time BN fan, I like Erik's picture better.

[Anonymous]

I voted for Erik's photo this time, for the color, the detail, and the human element.

I also liked Mike's photo, but not as much. I found it educational (I didn't know how that was done), but visually a bit boring, despite the action that's taking place. If you ever compile all of these into a book, however, I would want to see it there.