Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 49: April 10, 2006

[Bergie]

The latest installment of Trackside with Erik and Mike is now live within the Railroading section on the Trains.com home page. Please read this week's column first then vote for your favorite photo below.

[PBenham]

Being a traditionalist, and an easterner, Mike's photo won my vote,easily! The UP stack shot is OK, but the NS coal shot is a non-traditional wedge,a nice solid angle, which I am partial to.

[lhtalbot]

Both interesting, Mike's just a little more. Good thing I went back & read the story (actually I always do) as I was going to ask if that was another unit back there.
Nice work. Keep it up.

Larry in Wauwatosa

[dldance]

You took 2 of the most common types of trains out there and made them both interesting. Great work.

dd

[Noah Hofrichter]

Boy, you guys made it tough againg this week! In the end I'm going with Mike's shot. I really like the "S" curve that the train is flowing through, and it being a coal train and not intermodual is also a plus. Erik's photo was definately a good one too, but I just liked Mike's a little better.

Thanks for another great installment guys!

Noah

[trainloco647]

Both are great pictures!
But the viaduct cutting Eric's UP train is worth some minor penalty...
Also the angle counts a lot. I prefer Mike's angle. Another minor penalty here for Eric's...
Hence, the winner this time is... Mike's pic!!! (According to my judgement, of course.)
Congrats Eric and Mike (or Mike and Eric...) for the great pictures you're providing us with!

Carl

[fish1467]

I think the curves make Mike's shot the most interesting. I'm glad this contest is running again. Its fun to see the shots from two execellent photographers.

[trainloco647]

Erik...

Sorry (four times), for spelling your name "Eric"... It won't happen again!

Carl

[DICKK]

I thought both were great but the long UP double stack beat the gondolas.

[trainboyH16-44]

Definitely Mike's photo, mainly for the curve, but Bergie's photo angle was a bit high IMO.

[Anonymous]

Ok this one is a toughie.

I first thought of Mike's but then I looked at Erik's and said yea that's a winner. But after reading the thought on Erik's photo with the overpass being an "eyesore" I have decided to go with my first gut choice, Mike's.

Two reasons:
1)S-curve
2)It's my railroad, NS!!!!!!

The winner is Mike!!!!!!!! :)

[H Garvens]

I like the show of power in Eric's photo

[FrankStratton]

Nice pictures guys, made it hard to decide.
I finally went with Eric's shot because of BNSF bias and seemed more interesting in my judgement.
Mike's seemed to be framed better but had less interest for me.

[Anonymous]

Mikes picture got my vote!! I love railfanning that area. I live in Nappanee, In on the busy CSX about 45minutes from the s curve and find myself visiting that spot several times a year. Thats a great spot to shot year round. I love seeing my area published nationally like this. When your on top of the hill you can hear UP dispatcher on the Kenosha Wisconsin line. Great photo and keep up the great work.

[gemotor]

Both fine photos, but I'm a little bothered by what seems to be a shallow depth of field. I recognize the thermal refraction caused by the hot exhaust in Mike's photo, but the rest of the unaffected background is soft, too. Sometimes a shallow depth of field makes the subject appear three-dimensional, but it didn't work in this case. I'm really torn about how Eric could improve his shot. The winter landscape in Illinois is pretty dull, and what's there besides dun-colored grasses isn't much, either. I'm not sure a vertical shot would have been stronger by cropping out the cropland. Eric's depth-of-field is better than Mike's but considering the film and the f-stop, a little effort with the depth-of-field lines on your lens would have really made this one jump out. So I went with being seduced by the train on an s-curve in Mike's scene. Just a stronger composition than the skinny line of the UP stack train. Good mug shot, though . . .