Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 31: May 16, 2005

[PRRK4s1361]

I have to admit this was really a puzzler...both pix are great. I liked Mike's layout with the whole train and that milepost sticks out; however for many of the same reasons that others have quoted about the colors in Eric's pix I had to go with that. Those stripes on the nose seem to say 'Don't hit me with any golf balls; I am not part of the green!'

[Anonymous]

vote one for artistic content and the other for rail action. beauty is in the eye of
the beholder. no two train fans are alike. what pleases one, will displease the
other. it's a tie. that means a runoff. question--did you have to cross the tracks to
continue golf play or was there a grade separation? safety first.

theo sommerkamp [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

vote one for artistic content and the other for rail action. beauty is in the eye of
the beholder. no two train fans are alike. what pleases one, will displease the
other. it's a tie. that means a runoff. question--did you have to cross the tracks to
continue golf play or was there a grade separation? safety first.

theo sommerkamp [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

The stripes in the golf course and the noses of the BN units is just too perfect for words. Excellent work Erik! [8D][tup]

[mandelswamp]

While I thought Erik's picture was nice, I felt that the amount of green in the picture was too much - even though green is my favorite color. In addition, Erik's shot only featured the locomotives and I much prefer seeing at least some of the freight cars in the consist like Mike provided. As a model railroader, I am always interested in both the make up of the consist and how it is arranged. I think Mike's adjustment of the "film" speed to compensate for the increasing darkness and his usage of manual focus also helped to demonstrate the power of the camera and of shooting digital. In summary, Erik had a nice photo but Mike's captured my vote.

[rcdailey]

Any other color scheme on the engines and it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting a photo.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JoeKoh

voted for mike.although the green engines look great mikes got the whole train in the shot.
stay safe
Joe

Ditto, I would have changed my vote if both engines had been in the center of the photo.
[%-)]

[emmar]

I was not sure who to vote for this week, but I went with Mike because I don't like golf courses and the stripes are a bit distracting. Also I liked the power shown in Mike's photo even thought it is a common type of photo.

[Anonymous]

Being a golfer and loving trains made it easy to vote for Eric's photo. Plus it was also a good picture. I thought the grass and trees contrasted nicely with the train. While some thought it was too much green it should be noted that the darker green of the engines contrasted with the lighter green on the fairway. Plus not having all the leaves out provided a contrast to the fairway and train. It all worked for me.

[Anonymous]

My vote for Mike, Both great photos, i feel a lot of golf course with just a part of the train in this Erik photo, great composition paterns anyway, but
The whole train and the mile post catch me !! great work Mike !!!

[Anonymous]

I voted for Erik's. Right through the golf course????

[Anonymous]

This week both Erik and Mike out did them self, both photos are great. So I guest I want vote this week[:O]? Good luck Mike[:)]

[kicksvette]

Let's see... Do I go for the train pic or the golf pic? Both are tempting. I've been known to chase a train and also chase the little white ball. And LaCrosse isn't the only spot to see a train from a golf course. UP has a line running west out of Chicago. At the end of the triple track portion is a yard in West Chicago where things narrow down to double track. This is formerly CNW trackage. The west end of the yard skirts the southern edge of the DuPage County Airport. Land at the south end of the main runway is the site of the Prairie Landing Golf Course. This is also the area where an auto rack transfer facility is located. On top of that, a spur curls from the westbound line and heads north alongside the golf course and the airport before turning west onto the old CGW line through St Charles just a couple blocks from my house. So if I play it right I get to see planes, trains and automobiles while consuming a cold adult beverage and searching for that ***ed lost little white ball.
But my vote came down to the fact that the Cascade Green just blended in a bit too much with the background to be an effective railroad shot. An intersting golf calendar photo, yes. But not the best train photo this week.

[walthuston]

Much as it pains me to have to vote for a photo with a Usually Parked locomotive in it I find Mike's photo more compelling than Erik's. It says Railroad rather than railroad as Erik's does.

[ValorStorm]

Tough call. But I chose Erix over Mixe.