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Trackside with Trains.com, Vol. 107: "Snow"

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Posted by Bergie on Monday, February 16, 2009 2:27 PM

bnsfkline

GAH! I am gone for a a few months and when I come back, the content of my favorite webseries has been changed from a 1 on 1 duel to just another photo contest! Bring back the OLD Trackside with trains!

 If its going to be just another photo contest, why not let the forum members join in too!

 

Hi Jim,

Welcome back!

If you knew how much trouble I have wrangling in the 10 photos from within this building, you'd understand why I'm reluctant to open this column up to everyone under the sun. (Never say never, though!)

Bergie

 

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Posted by bubbajustin on Saturday, February 14, 2009 7:03 AM

Steam in snow sure is magnifacant, but I voted for Kathy's picture that red and white scheem looked just stunning! Sure beats any picture my Nikon Coolpix 21000, made in the1300's, could take! Smile,Wink, & GrinI think that the steam in snow pic was a close second though!

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Posted by bnsfkline on Thursday, February 12, 2009 11:10 AM

GAH! I am gone for a a few months and when I come back, the content of my favorite webseries has been changed from a 1 on 1 duel to just another photo contest! Bring back the OLD Trackside with trains!

 If its going to be just another photo contest, why not let the forum members join in too!

Jim Tiroch RIP Saveria DiBlasi - My First True Love and a Great Railfanning Companion Saveria Danielle DiBlasi Feb 5th, 1986 - Nov 4th, 2008 Check em out! My photos that is: http://bnsfkline.rrpicturearchives.net and ALS2001 Productions http://www.youtube.com/ALS2001
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Posted by trainfan1221 on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 3:11 PM

I had to go with Kathi's photo, she seemed to get it at just the right moment with the snow bursting.

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Posted by edblysard on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 5:31 AM

Andy, drew's and Kathi's all excellent shots...

But Andy's just screamed winter....and to the fans, snow is something pretty that adds visual interest to thier photos, but to a railroader, snow is just one more thing to be dealt with, often with plain brute force.

Andy's photo shows just that...plowing the stuff away as more of it falls.

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Posted by espeefoamer on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 8:09 PM

I had to go for Tom's photo.The look on that baggage lady's face was priceless.Thumbs Up

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Posted by kicksvette on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 6:13 PM

We finally get a break in the weather and get some temps warm enough to melt off most of the accumulated white stuff here south of the Cheddar Curtain and you have to decide to have a 'snow' theme. You've been hanging with the groundhogs a bit too much.

I went with Kathi's shot. The bright red of the loco blasting through the plow drifts at the crossing gives me hope that we can blast through the rest of this winter.

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Posted by gannbb1 on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 5:04 PM

Jim gets my vote with STEAM. Well done steam Getting that exposure right, the black locomotive and the white steam is quiet an accomplishment!

Kudos to all potograhers. A very good set of photos. My second choice,  Black & white.

 

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Posted by loadmaster747 on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 1:43 AM

As an admitted sucker for steam, I thought I probably would just vote for Jim's Pere Marquette 1225 photo and not need to view the others.  I'm glad I looked at all of them, because Andy's Soo/plow shot spoke volumes about working in the snow of a Midwestern winter.  Kathi's photo beautifully captured the moment a locomotive powers through a drift.  As usual, all the photos were good, and Tom's photo of the Amtrak employee shoveling snow out of the baggage car made my back hurt in sympathy, but Andy got my vote this time.

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Posted by TOMinTN on Monday, February 9, 2009 11:54 PM

WOW!  Talk about great submissions...from everyone.

Andy's entry got my vote.  What says winter better than a CP plow with a Soo locomotive in a snowstorm? 

The steam shot was great, too, and would have been my pick had the Soo entry not been included.

FWIW, I really liked the CN photo that was used in the advisory e-mail.  Had that been part of the contest the choice would have been even more difficult.

TJB - Nashville, TN

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Posted by Choo Choo Aussie on Monday, February 9, 2009 8:54 PM

Thumbs Up to all photos this week.  It was a hard one to pick.  Jim's was a good photo but I am not really into steam trains.  Drew's was quite good once I enlarged it but would have stood out better in colour.  I did like the different coloured engines in Erik's photo but took it away from what it was all about.  Hats off to Tom for showing something a little different but would have like to have seen a bit more of scenery.  Andy's would have been great if only it was a bit closer.  Aaron's was a great shot once it was enlarged.  Until I did that I couldn't see the train.  It blended in too much with the scenery.

The one I ended up voting for was Kathi's.  Train verses snow is what it is all about and this photo caught my eye the most.  Well done Kathi.

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Posted by LU-Trains on Monday, February 9, 2009 8:17 PM

 Snow.  

SNOW!!!!???!!  You got to be kidding - after the past four months of red train with snow pictures, the most imaginative subject we can find is  . . “snow” . . .?

Well, sobeit.

So I plow on - no pun intended - to see what we’ve got.  First of all, steam engine, big white smoke, flat white snow.  hmmmmm . . . nope - don’t think so.

Let’s jump around.  Down at the bottom.  Aaron’s panoramic shot . . . well, big white sky, long white train, scruffy white snow.  . . . I got nuttin.

 Erik’s pix in the middle.  Pumpkin, Green, Blue and Yellow with shades of snow . .
I suppose this would win in the “Pumpkin, Green, Blue and Yellow” category . .

OK, now wait a minute . . there’s a couple of possibilities close by.  Kathi - with the EXPLODING SNOW coupled with a steel pole wrapped in festive plastic evergreen wrap - something you don’t see everyday on the railroad, granted . . . o . . but wait.  It’s ANOTHER red train in white snow picture.  I kind of tired of that theme . . . moving on . .

Wow . . Look at Drew’s picture.  Boy, nothing says black and white train against black and white scenery more than a black and white picture of a black and white train against black and white scenery . . .eh? . . .  (My wife liked this one - not that that’s any consolation.  She’s a pretty black and white type of personality . . . )

Of course, in the “if looks could kill” category, there’s Tom’s picture.  But I think it would fit better if the subject matter was something like “You want me to take that camera and stick it where the sun don’t shine, sonny boy?!?”  Way to make friends and influence the railroad folks there, Tommy boy . . .

So finally, if anything says “SNOW” and isn’t like any picture we’ve seen this season, it’s probably this snowstorm shrouded landscape featuring engine and snow plow.

So Andy, you’re da man this time around . . .

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Posted by gemotor on Monday, February 9, 2009 8:07 PM

While I loved Jim Wrinn's photo, it was more about steam than snow, so I passed over and chose Tom Danneman's photo of the baggage handler shoveling the white stuff.  All photos were technically fine, but Tom got a photographer's eye on an unusual scene that most of us just pass over.  Kathi, I thought that was your forte!  Anyway, another fine program of photos, well done, all, and many thanks.  This is a great format.

George in Lynden

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Posted by DadH on Monday, February 9, 2009 7:54 PM

What can I say..... "Steam Uber Alles"

 DadH

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Posted by john_edwards on Monday, February 9, 2009 7:49 PM

 Had to go with Andy's shot as it left no doubt about the theme.  I almost voted for the steamer but realizied that most of the shot was steam not snow.

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Posted by LVJJJ on Monday, February 9, 2009 7:35 PM

If the subject is snow, then Andy has the mostest

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Posted by WSORatSussex on Monday, February 9, 2009 6:47 PM

Sorry, Bergie, I really liked your shot, but would have liked to see the entire snowy side.

Also, I agree about the Grayscale image - those Zebra's are ugly enough in color, always disappointing on point.

 The Amtrak picture got me. Years ago, on a 5 degree day, I rode the 'smoking car' from MKE to CHI. We all felt and looked like the luggage Tom mentions, as the door was 'froze open'. - Nice!

 

Ed

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Posted by mmartian22 on Monday, February 9, 2009 6:35 PM

steam is king, andy's is a second  eric's a third  that's it in my opinion

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Posted by DennisHeld on Monday, February 9, 2009 6:14 PM
Since the theme was 'snow', you don't get more more snow than the Soo/blizzard shot by Andy. It really conveyed the theme. Kathy's was a fairly close second. What I didn't like was the clutter. She could have moved those power poles. It was the best action shot. Drew's black & white should have been in color. A splash of CN color would have really stood out. Erik's color was great, but didn't convey the snow theme as well. Somehow, I figure the steam engine shot will win. Just because it has a steam engine in it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good shot. But it didn't crank my tractor. The other shots were ok. But didn't do it for me.
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Posted by Partsman_ba on Monday, February 9, 2009 5:55 PM

Had to go with Andy - the only one in blizzard conditions! Fun times trackside. I also wished for an action shot, however. Surely you took more of them than the one already published.

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, February 9, 2009 5:34 PM

Good theme - some interesting shots.

Jim got my vote - in fact I 'borrowed' a similar image to use as the avatar on another forum I'm on over the holidays.

As has been pointed out, Kathi came in with a close second - I've been on a locomotive busting drifts before - that's a good shot.

Drew's shot was good, and tempting.  I felt the contrast was a little flat, and couldn't help wondering what that red nose would have looked like in color.

Bergie's contribution didn't really do anything for me, although the narrative helped.

Tom's shot was OK, but would have been a winner if the theme was "workin' on the railroad."

Andy probably would have gotten my vote if the plow had been in motion - winter railroading personified.

Aaron - Sorry.  That just didn't do anything for me.

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Posted by squeeze on Monday, February 9, 2009 4:37 PM

Wow! What a selection. Hard to get just one from this weeks choices.

Jim - great shot and the one that ultimately got my vote.

Kathi - You couldn't have timed it any better, excellant color co-ordination.

Drew - I'm normally a sucker for a great B/W photo, Yes I recall the location from fog, I BTW voted for that one.

Eric - What a last shot of the day opportunity. Great color and a defining shot!

Tom - Very good timing very good odd ball shot, was my no. 2 pick.

Andy - Good shot in difficult envirnment. The shot seemed too centered for me, but who am I to say anything? Still a novel shot though. Rule of thirds might have got it the winner for me.

Aaron - Overall a good encompassing view, a little closer would have made a deeper impression.

This week was not easy for me as I liked every one of them. My only complaint would be that all the photos always seem to be of the upper midwest. It'd be nice to see some winter shots from the other locales in this great country. Just my 2 pennies.  

Thanks for the views to all involved.

Jim

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Posted by Modelcar on Monday, February 9, 2009 4:14 PM

....I select Jim Wrinn's photo of the "steam" theme....

For some reason, I couldn't get several of the photos to enlarge to take a good look at them.

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Posted by CShaveRR on Monday, February 9, 2009 3:09 PM
I didn't need another point of interest to vote for the 1225 shot by Jim Wrinn. That one said "winter" to me when I first opened up the choices, and others didn't measure up, for whatever reason. Perhaps because I'd stay inside if the snow were still falling. Somehow I get the feeling that watching Kat play in the snow would be as much fun as watching the train. Drew's was the runner-up for me this time--on both his and Jim's, I can imagine a good tromp through deep snow to get the shot (that may not be the case--and likely wasn't, with the 1225--but both shots leave me feeling warm and cold at the same time).

Carl

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Posted by henry6 on Monday, February 9, 2009 3:04 PM

Oh, come on...we've seen these pictures so many times before!  Yeah, Jim's steam and snow is most dramatic, but Tom's is the only new picture...a woman, a baggage car filled with snow, and a snow blower!  Gotta be the winner cause it aint the sameole sameole.

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Posted by zardoz on Monday, February 9, 2009 2:54 PM

Interesting collection of photos this week.  From a simple theme of 'snow' comes six unique perspectives on the subject and how it relates to trains.

While I very much liked Jim's steam shot, the lack of any other points of interest left me a bit wanting for more. 

Drew's greyscale image just quite didn't work for me; almost, but not quite.

Erik's shot was one of good timing and fortunate conditions, but it didn't do anything for me.

Tom's shot was quite interesting, but I would have liked to see more of the surrounding location (that sure was a lot of snow for just one night's run!).

Aaron's shot was nice, but without knowing the theme of the photos, I would not have been able to discern what he was trying to convey by the image.

Andy's shot suffers from rthe same affliction as most of my snow shots: the snow in the air ruins the shot by making everything too indistinct. But it came in second in my personal scoring, due to the uniqueness of the image and the surrounding scenery.

I voted for Kathi's image; for me it said, "Snow vs. Railroad, Railroad wins".  It would have been a wall-hanger if it wasn't for that darn telephone pole.

Nice shots, everyone.  It took me a while to decide.

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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, February 9, 2009 2:19 PM

I'm not usually a steam locomotive fan, but that shot just beat the others hands down! I'd say Kathi's photo was a close second, but most of the others didn't have much of a chance against steamers in the snow.

Nice job all!

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Trackside with Trains.com, Vol. 107: "Snow"
Posted by Bergie on Monday, February 9, 2009 1:36 PM

Hello,

The latest edition of Trackside with Trains.com is now live!  This week's theme: "Snow"

Click here to read Trackside with Trains.com Volume 107 ...

... then click here to vote.

When finished reading and voting, add your comments about this week's photos below. We'll be back with a recap next Monday, February 16, 2009.

Thanks for participating!

Erik Bergstrom

 

Erik Bergstrom

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