Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 64

[steve14]

Just read the results and the comments about the engineer in the Amtrak photo that was not submitted for voting.

Mr. Willet! I worked with Craig for several years at Soo/CP when he was the rules guru. You could always count on at least one question per test that was really ch&^$*& sh%$. Good to see he is stil running. 

I learned a lot from him and his successor, Rod McCorkle.

Not always easy to teach us track guys about the GCOR.

[Anonymous]

Today the vote was cast with the help of my two sons.... WE all agreed that the night time Uncle Pete was an eye catcher. I agree with one of the above comments about using the Amtrak shot. That might have swayed me to go with Erik's picture.

[Road Foreman]

Erik,

 The photo of train #7 on the 17th of January is outstanding. The engineer that is waving his red ball cap is Craig Willett. Outstanding engineer, in fact one of the best.

Bob

Amtrak Road Foreman

Chicago Terminal

[PBenham]

Wow! I just looked at the totals, this week is as tight as the slack in a stack train! (Why would I say that? Ponder and answer if you care to)

[zardoz]

Sorry Mike, the auto ruined the shot for me.  Erik's really had some 'punch'.

[senshi]

Got to go with Erik's this time.  The slight lean as the train rounds a curve just invokes motion to me.

[espeefoamer]

I went with Mike's night shot this week.They were both very good.I really liked the way the headlight lit up the snow in front the UP train.Erik, I may have voted for the Empire Builder shot.That would have made a close choice even closer.

[Texas Zepher]

Mike should have entered his CN night shot.

[Anonymous]

I nearly Jumped out of the Way! Erik's Photo gets my vote this week.

 

Paw

[lhtalbot]

This is harder than it would seem at first glance. The nite shot of course jumps out at you. But on closer inspection, it has some flaws. I really had to spend some time going back & forth looking a each shot enlarged. Altho it is very close, I picked Erik's shot this time.

Thanks for the commentary re your "trips to the tracks". I know the waiting feeling well. I spend quite a bit of time waiting under the bridge in Wauwatosa, where there is a nice parking area & pretty good view of the CP double tracks. It is close to my house so it is a natural for me. I thought I had gotten pretty good in reading the signals just to the East of there, at 72nd  street crossing. A green backed by a red......oh good! A westbound is coming. A 45 minute wait with nothing shakes my faith in my ability to read signals. Next time I go by, its two greens backed by two yellows. Nothing coming from either direction, right? So I skip the parking lot & go right home, which is about 3 minutes away. As I'm getting out of my car at home I hear the horn from an eastbound & wonder....how can this be? These are the joys of rail-fanning. If you don't go nuts!

Larry in Wauwatosa

[Chris30]

Had to go with Erik's pic this time.

Here's an idea for a future volume of Trackside with E&M... Erik & Mike will each select a picture of theirs that won on a previous volume and put them up against each other for voting. The criteria could be favorite photo, biggest winning percentage, etc. Just an idea.

 Thanks,

CC

[Anonymous]

Great night shots, Mike.

[mikeyuhas]

Mike, where were you when you shot 9455?  I've gotten a few shots of her around Neenah, Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh here in WI.  You get my vote by a hair but had you gone with that crystal clear shot of 9455 it'd have been a slam dunk!  Here is a shot I took of her on January 20th at night near Neenah, WI.  It's the best I can get with an Olympus D-540 3.2 MP camera.

 It was in Saukville, Wisconsin, very near to the location of the shot in Volume 63.

[mandelswamp]

While I have to grant that Mike's night shot shows off the fine qualities of the Cannon digital camera, I would have liked to see Mike's shot with some of the consist and a lot less of the parked car.  Erik's photo, on the other hand, is a great photo of the CP locomotive and its rail cars.  So I voted for Erik this time.

[Railfan1]

[wcfan4ever]

Went with Mikes for this week.  Love the night with the color and I am starting to like the blue lights effect that has taken place.  But overall, great shot from both of you.

[Anonymous]

Ok, go ahead!! Make it extra hard to pick one to be "the best" for this week. Both shots had things going for them that I really liked! Mike, you've perhaps found a niche in shooting at night.   Not easy to do under the best of circumstances.  Erik.. your CP shot screams power!!! I liked the detail of the snowflakes being illuminated by the headlight of the UP engine.  That shows VERY good detail esp when you consider its as you say.. the dead of night and the only illumination was the parking lot lights and the loco headlamps.  HOWEVER.. there is something, and I couldnt tell you what exactly that something was, that made me lean just a tiny bit towards Erik's CP autotrain frozen in time.  guys, you both keep getting better and better at this as the weeks go by.  GREAT SHOOTING to you both!

[fuzzybroken]

Nice shots, both of you!!!  I went with Erik's shot, though.  I really like the head-on shot with the auto racks, and those ES44ACs look awesome!  8796 isn't the newest I've seen, though...  newer ES44...

Dan, I like your shots, but WOW!  They're really cropped close!!!
 

[Rocket Man]

Along with "CTGreybeard", I'm "leaning" toward Erik's shot this week. Looks like a great cover shot for Trains mag!

[CNW 6000]

That is probably the best picture of trains that I've taken so far.  I moved it from one server to another.  Here it is again.

[Datafever]

Mike, where were you when you shot 9455?  I've gotten a few shots of her around Neenah, Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh here in WI.  You get my vote by a hair but had you gone with that crystal clear shot of 9455 it'd have been a slam dunk!  Here is a shot I took of her on January 20th at night near Neenah, WI.  It's the best I can get with an Olympus D-540 3.2 MP camera. 

What do you guys think about this picture?  Both were taken on the same day, same camera.

I prefer your daylight shot. 

[CNW 6000]

Mike, where were you when you shot 9455?  I've gotten a few shots of her around Neenah, Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh here in WI.  You get my vote by a hair but had you gone with that crystal clear shot of 9455 it'd have been a slam dunk!  Here is a shot I took of her on January 20th at night near Neenah, WI.  It's the best I can get with an Olympus D-540 3.2 MP camera. 

What do you guys think about this picture?  Both were taken on the same day, same camera.

[Modelcar]

.....You Fellows are really making it difficult to distinguish between the two of you for the winner.....So, for me they are that close.

Again, I like night shots....and in my eyes, Mikes shot of the approaching engines and brilliance of the lights and sharpness of the subjects....I had to give that one the vote.....

Erik's photo rates high with me too....Good composition of subject and surroundings and lighting.  Sharpness....Overall a very nice rail fan photo.

[DadH]

Reckon I'll go with Mike and another Night shot... but 1 A.M.?

[Railfan1]

I went with Mike's UP photo this week.

[LVJJJ]

Erik gets my vote, I like head-on shots.  Didn't like the car in Mike's picture (didn't look like a    '57 Chevy, that would've been cool).  Larry of the Northwest, and boy is it raining!

[Chris Owens]

I liked Mike's this week !!!!

[asnjoe24]

I have said it before, and I'll said it again: "Stealth mission" (i.e., my short-hand term for night train operation) shots can be exceedingly difficult to capture well (I myself have had no luck with them), and when one is able to do so, the results can evoke quite a mood and be very pleasing, aesthetic-wise (if that's what you're shooting for). This is the main reason I chose Mike's UP stealth mission photo for this week's vote. Particulary with the snow, it really does seem to me to evoke a kind of eerie loneliness broken by a train roaring by at 1 in the morning.

Of course, Erik's CP photo also has its qualities; particularly in the lighting. Quite frankly, I personally would have liked to have seen Erik's front photo of Amtrak's Empire Builder as the one for the vote, as I like that one immensely. With the lighting and the snow, there is a kind of "home for the holidays" kind of feel that it gives me. The smaller detail of the engineer tipping his hat to Erik as he passes is also inviting; it's always cool when engineers are kind enough to acknowledge railfans like that! I know the feeling Erik described of standing alone trackside and waiting for a train that may or may not come (my local railfanning area, along Glorieta Pass in NM, has seen a decline of regular BNSF freights, so the wait can be quite long), and can relate. A couple of engineers who have passed in trains I've watched have done something like the hat tipping, and it kind of gives a feeling that seems to make it all worth while! Anyway, long story short, excellent shot, Erik!

- Bryan

[CTGreybeard]

Had to go with Erik this time but Mike's was also very close.  It's the "lean" that got me ...

 

Bill W