Trackside with Erik and Mike Vol. 55

[Anonymous]

I know what you mean.  Try Western Kentucky with north south railroads - tough lighting all day long.

 

[zardoz]

Mike, why did you not use the rain shot for the contest?  That shot was so excellent!

Perhaps I would have... except it was taken four days after our volume 55 premiered. Was thinking of holding it for volume 56, but there's another one up my sleeve....

All you had to do was take advantage of the temporal instability that occurs every new moon: find a good drop point, and then send the photo to yourself four days ago.  Easy as pi.

[mikeyuhas]

Mike, why did you not use the rain shot for the contest?  That shot was so excellent!

Perhaps I would have... except it was taken four days after our volume 55 premiered. Was thinking of holding it for volume 56, but there's another one up my sleeve....

[zardoz]

Mike, why did you not use the rain shot for the contest?  That shot was so excellent!

[OJLAR]

Mike I liked your UP train the BEST would have liked to seen it from lower level but this was

GOOOD.  Keep up the good work.  OJR

[zardoz]

I liked the crispness and the symmetry of Mike's shot, and it's excellently framed and exposed.

I liked the 'grittiness' of Erik's photo, and how the length of the train and how the track profile is evident.  If it wasn't for those scrap ties.....

Each had their positive features.  A difficult decision.  Mike gets the nod this week.

[mandelswamp]

I thought that both Erik and Mike did a fine job on this week's submittals.  It was a tough choice since I much prefer CN over UP but for some reason I liked Mike's shot slightly better so it got my vote.  Perhaps it was Mike's angle for the shot that seemed better or the fact that I felt Erik's shot was marred by the the railroad ties sitting to the right of the tracks.

[DrummingTrainfan]

I went with Erik's because it is what the human eye sees. I see too many pictures that are from bridges or other raised location (such as Mike's). Although those can make good pictures, they get old when that's all you see.

[espeefoamer]

Erik got my vote this time.I like the train streched out over the undulating landscape.That was really cool.Mike's shot was also very good but it was a UP train and any UP shot automatically starts with one strike against it.

Erik,that top shot of the CN train was great until I clicked on it.I noticed in the enlarged picture that the nose door had been left open,spoiling the shot. Otherwise it would have made for a good entry sometime.

[SDFP-45]

I think that if you are taking photos for publication, you should do a better job. Personally, I think both photos stink in this months edition.

I have railfaned all over MO and I disagree that there are not good photo spots at trackside.

If you shot the San Clemente picture and it was no good, why didn't you go further south th Del Mar? With the L.A. basin or Cajon Pass within an hours drive, maybe you would have had better luck.

[Bergie]

Erik, you said: "I guess I could have shared the rear-end of this train and asked you to use your imagination, but I know how much we all like to see the head-end power." Even with a northbound, though, you probably would have got the exact same shot as you did. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and SCRRA's Metrolink both operate push-pull, using the locomotive as the head end for trains outbound from Union Station (in San Clemente's case, heading south) and the cab-car at the head end heading into Union Station. So, even if you had seen a northbound Pacific Surfliner, it most likely would have been facing the exact same direction (i.e. locomotive on the south end) as the train you photographed.

Hi Jackal,

Thanks for posting.

You're absolutely right. Once I was heading the the nearby restaurant (on the San Clemente pier) the northbound finally showed up and it was indeed pushing. I was actually referring to the rear end of the southbound, which actually had good light on it.

Again, thanks for sharing.

Take care,

Erik

[jjlamkin]

Sorry again Erik, I voted for Mike's shot. It was an interesting photo due to the angle. The overhead view makes it stand out from the standard "roster" shot. It was a tough decision! Both of you keep up the GREAT job.

 

Stay Safe,

Jim

[jackal]

Erik, you said:

"I guess I could have shared the rear-end of this train and asked you to use your imagination, but I know how much we all like to see the head-end power."

Even with a northbound, though, you probably would have got the exact same shot as you did. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner and SCRRA's Metrolink both operate push-pull, using the locomotive as the head end for trains outbound from Union Station (in San Clemente's case, heading south) and the cab-car at the head end heading into Union Station. So, even if you had seen a northbound Pacific Surfliner, it most likely would have been facing the exact same direction (i.e. locomotive on the south end) as the train you photographed.

[ValorStorm]

I actually voted against a winged UP locomotive. A tough call. But Bergie's was better.

[UPTRAIN]

We need a new votong category. . . . ."None of the Above"

Two plain vanilla shots.  Ho Hum

 

Chuck Hinrichs

Sounds like someone needs to be our next special guest. Trackside with Erik, Mike and Chuck. Join us for a month and you'll find out how hard it can be to obtain presentable photos every other week (especially when you live in southeastern Wisconsin!).

Bergie

 

Try living in Southest Missouri, we don't even have highway bridges.  Tough for me this week, too, pretty similar.  So, with personal interests, I went with Mike's because it's a UP coal train in a good patch of woods.  I saw a single CN unit pulling a train today (an SD60F on a fricken UP manifest).  So, maybe it's just to soon for me to see that again.

[Railfan1]

I like Erik's shot this week. Sometimes it is better to have more going on in a scene, it gives a better sense of busy mainline railroading. Good job Erik!

[Modelcar]

....I must vote for Mike's photo this week.  Like the sceenery included in the shot and the extended shot of the train slicing down the center in balance.

Of course Erik's shot is nice as well....but this week we must go with Mike.

[lhtalbot]

ok, nothing special here so my vote goes to Erik. Just a little more interesting photo, I like the "sag" in the middle.  The telephoto helps too.                        Larry in Wauwatosa

[Noah Hofrichter]

I went with Erik's myself. I've seen quite a few shots of coal trains in green surroundings, but the low lighting angle, the vertical curvature of the train and the locomotive really looking like it's working did it for me. An excelent shot Erik, from an excellent location (always liked Duplainville, although I don't get down there enough).

Noah

[CShaveRR]

If it means anything from a guy who has to use a shot taken by his wife for an avatar, I like Mike's shot this time.  The comments about reality creeping into Erik's shots as a positive point are valid, though.

[Bergie]

We need a new votong category. . . . ."None of the Above"

Two plain vanilla shots.  Ho Hum

 

Chuck Hinrichs

Sounds like someone needs to be our next special guest. Trackside with Erik, Mike and Chuck. Join us for a month and you'll find out how hard it can be to obtain presentable photos every other week (especially when you live in southeastern Wisconsin!).

Bergie

[james saunders]

Erik got my vote, it's a change from the UP coal trains and the Surroundings in Erik's photo were very pleasing

Both good photos, but.

[da Milwaukee beerNut]

First - the beach sign was rather amusing! Now if we could just figure out which politician planted it!

Both the trains are attractive long shots - but CN gets minorly docked for slipping 4 flat-side CH's among the cylinders. Not that Eric put those in there!

Mike's uniform linear string gets this volume's vote. Two heads are usually better than one. In the wake of Irish Fest, the dual frames of summer's green beat out the defeated ties the CaNoodle has had piled up since 2005.

da Milwaukee beerNut

[Anonymous]

Had to go with the UP coal train.. just because its UP.. no other reason... both shots were basically the same.  noticed the same problems around here.. High sun angles... low traffic volumes for my twice weekly walks along the right-of-way area along the river here.  I somewhat agree with the above idea of adding "none of the above" as voting category. I still wish you two would offer a CD for sale of your shots.

[Anonymous]

We need a new votong category. . . . ."None of the Above"

Two plain vanilla shots.  Ho Hum

 

Chuck Hinrichs

[rest6hgl]

I would say that Erik's photo is more realistic, accurately portraying life as seen by the human Eyes. Life is not always a post card set up, and I don’t have to pay royalties to view Mike’s picture of CN.

[hlcw]

Mike's shot has better perspective and better lighting.  Erik has too much telephoto, making it look like an articulated pipe rather than a train of individual cars.  Even Mike's lights look cleaner.

[Rocket Man]

I agree Mike wins the clean award, but I still like Erik's lower more head-on point of view, the heat vapor plume, and the reflection of the lights on the rails. I also like the curve shape of the hoppers and the vertical curve of the consist due to the grade change. I think Mike's photo, while technically more pristine, looks like a posed still life. Erik's photo captured a workin' train!... it has life to it!

[Willy2]

I vote for Mike's shot this week. It's really a very nice looking train/scenery and is very clean. I thought Erik's photo had more distractions and just didn't look quite as good overall. Both pics were great though!