Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 71

[bnsfkline]

You can still vote on this

[fuzzybroken]

Something tells me you're a little late voting...

[K5GBW]

Erik, You received my vote this week and all I can sum up my emotions with one word. "Timeless"

Mike, Great job but there is just something about the photo from Bergie that captivates me. 

[StephenDx]

! Steam Rules ! I gave myself away

 Great shot Erik, and like has been mentioned, I would have tended a little left to reduce the glare of that highly polished number plate.

Sorry Mike, your shot is great but did not grab my attention to the same degree.

[samfp1943]

LET ME SEE! PICK THE SHOT I LIKE THE BEST!  Eeneey, Meeney,Mineey Moe.                          STEAM/DIESEL/STEAM/DIESEL/STEAM/DIESEL;                                                               

      Wracked with indecision...ERIC or MIKE, WHO TO PICK ?

        BOTH SHOTS, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS, ITS LIKE HAVING TO PICK BETWEEN TWO    WOMEN..     CAN'T VOTE FOR BOTH, SOMEONE ELSE ALREADY MADE THE APPLES AND ORANGES ARGUMENT,                                                                                                                                                                 

                         EENEEY, MENEEY.MINEEY,MOE...

[dragonsparrowblue77]

Excellent photos by you both.  Erick's is definetly an "artsy" shot.

I hate to be a bother, but the UP 844, as scheduled but 3+ hours late, did not end in Portland, OR.  It Is now in Tacoma, WA running excursion trips around the Puget Sound until the 22nd.  Several members of my model club, along with quite a plethora of other people turned out in droves between Centralia, WA and Lacey, WA and captured MANY photos of it.

[gapotter09]

Gentlemen: I again say both of you do great work.  However, I must go with Erik this week.  I have always liked a good 'Front End' of a locomotive. 

 

[Poppa_Zit]

Sorry, Mike, but while yours is an excellent photo, Bergie wins "by a nose!"

Maybe youse guys oughta have a rule about "setting up the voters" because Eric's series from Cheyenne was a perfect setup for those of us still in love with the romance of steam.

That's probably why they have a law applicable at polling places against electioneering too close to the ballot box.

Great shots, Bergie! I wish I could have been there with you.

Question: did your status with Trains.com get you "in" where mere mortals are not allowed, like in the shops? 

PopZ

[Rocket Man]

Loved them both, Bergie's wins by a number plate!

Looking forward to more photos from out west! Yee Haw!

[Valleyline]

I love anything to do with steam but my vote goes to Mike's UP stack train. Those wide open western shots are something us New Englanders can only dream about. A plus in this shot was that lonely semi towing one box in the background. Mike's photo gives perfect testimony to the productivity of rail vs. highway.

John Wallace

[dorfantiques]

Erik: a lighted headlight and numberboard would have made it even better.

Mike: Next time, crop the truck!

[DadH]

Went with Erik this week. The photo is so "life-like" it's as if I were there looking at that number plate / lamp fixture myself. Jolly Good Show Old Chap.  DadH

[dknelson]

I'm all mixed up, like Pasta Primavera...  (First person to name where that Pasta Primavera line is from gets a pat on the back.)

Bergie

"Why'd you throw that chair at Giraldo Rivera?"  The Beastie Boys have been railfanning again I see!

Dave Nelson

 

Dave Nelson, I'm so proud of you! OK, fess up.... what Web site did you use?  

Bergie

Confession is good for the soul.  A bit of Google magic found this:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=77779174324

Dave

[timbowilts2]

Whoowhee!!!!! What a tought one gents.

As a man with steam in my veins (I come from a family of railwaymen and am a practising Signalling Engineer) I love Bergie's shot but.............

I'm also a modern railwayman so Mike you win my vote

 

Timbowilts 

[zardoz]

Artistic brutishness vs sleek modernitity (I think I just made up a few words).

Big Boy vs Intermodal.

Part of one old locomotive vs two new locomotives and a train.

Close-up vs telephoto.

In-your-face vs wide open country.

Up close & personal vs remote and impersonal.

 

I just don't know which to choose.

Because I could not choose, I asked my wife for her opinion.  And as she is not a railfan, her first impression was interesting when she said (about Erik's image), "What's that?"  After I explained it to her, she thought it was artsy, but she liked the "train picture" better.

However, the more I go back and forth between the images, I find I am trending towards Eric's image: it's just so....unique.  I should have as good an image as that in my collection.

Nice shots, gentlemen.

[LVJJJ]

Erik, I too am a child of the diesel, that's why I had to vote for Mike.  Mike, my favorite part about your diesel shot is the fact that it is morning and the shadows of the SD 70's fall to the west.  It's sunny, it's morning, it's a new day, love it!

[mandelswamp]

Erik, your entry in Vol. 71 was a nice artsy photo but I've seen similar in numerous books and magazines.  There is even one similar hanging in one of my doctor's examining rooms.  I particularly liked the photo of the waiting engineer and of the train near Dale Junction.  I often complain that too many of the Trackside with Erik and Mike photos only show the locomotive and not enough of the train's consist.  As a model railroader, seeing operating examples are an excellent source for planning my own trains.  Mike's entry that captured the entire train therefore won my vote.  I even liked the contrast of the lone tractor-trailer heading in the opposite direction.  Given the beauty of the surronding scenary in both photos, it would have been a real tough decision for me if Erik had used the Dale Junction shot to compete against Mike's entry.

[CopCarSS]

I actually took several exposures and ended up using the one that was a little on the bright side because recent installments have led me to believe that, based on users' comments, monitors tend to run a little dark. If I would have used the exposure that was perfect (on my monitor) it may have been dark to others. I guess on the flip side, it must look too bright to other readers. It's a real challenge.

Thanks for reading!

Bergie

Simply superb shot, Bergie. It easily gets my vote.

As per your bracketing towards the bright side, you'll get an added benefit. Digital sensors record brighter tones better than darker tones. If you watch your histogram and "expose to the right" you'll record more information cleanly than if you just expose correctly. It'll require a little more post-processing time, but I've noticed that the benefits, especially as regards noise, are HUGE!

Michael Reichmann has a great article about it here. Just be sure not to clip those highlights!

Once again, excellent shot. That'd be a wall-hanger for sure if it was mine!

[Bergie]

Liked the 844 nose image.  One question though.  Could you have positioned a little further to your left to not have as bright a reflection of the silver 844?  Just wondering.

Working for another Class 1 in the west I like the UP's under utilized car mgt practice (missing tops on cofc) also the 3500' long train with two new motors on the UP intermodal train image.  This is sarcasm.  Could have powered this small train with one motor especially if westbound with predominantly mty cans.

 

 

I actually took several exposures and ended up using the one that was a little on the bright side because recent installments have led me to believe that, based on users' comments, monitors tend to run a little dark. If I would have used the exposure that was perfect (on my monitor) it may have been dark to others. I guess on the flip side, it must look too bright to other readers. It's a real challenge.

Thanks for reading!

Bergie

[Bergie]

LOVED Erik's shot.  Great detail shot.  The other steam shots were awesome as well.

Your descriptions, on the other hand...  I apparently missed the Big Boy reference, but 844 is mentioned as being the Challenger at one point...   And #96 is not a SW1000M, it's a classic UP SW10!  Yep, Erik's definitely having a case of the Mondays...

Thanks!

As for the SW... yes, it's an SW10. The locomotive roster book that I used initially was incorrect (which is concerning).

Bergie

[Bergie]

I'm all mixed up, like Pasta Primavera...  (First person to name where that Pasta Primavera line is from gets a pat on the back.)

Bergie

"Why'd you throw that chair at Giraldo Rivera?"  The Beastie Boys have been railfanning again I see!

Dave Nelson

 

Dave Nelson, I'm so proud of you! OK, fess up.... what Web site did you use?  

Bergie

[Modelcar]

....Erik's shot for Vol. 71 gets my vote hands down...I agree with everthing Erik wrote about this shot in his write up of his opportunity to take this photo. 

It reeks of railroad ambience.  Something that seems lost and this has captured just a peek back into it all......

Mike made a nice rail scene as well but I must vote for this special shot of Erik's this week.

[senshi]

Any other time I would have gone with Mikes but the 844 crest triggers something in my railfan brain.  Now we just need to get one of them back on the Geneva Sub sometime soon.

[PBenham]

Erik's shot is in a class by itself this week. Mike, the SD70/2 shot is kind of ordinary next to that smokebox shot. But, this is tough and slightly unfair to judge between a mood (artistic?) shot and a good, but not overwhelming action shot. To be fair, both shots should be similar in nature. Otherwise, matters of taste get in the way. They can also spark debates, too.

[fuzzybroken]

LOVED Erik's shot.  Great detail shot.  The other steam shots were awesome as well.

Your descriptions, on the other hand...  I apparently missed the Big Boy reference, but 844 is mentioned as being the Challenger at one point...   And #96 is not a SW1000M, it's a classic UP SW10!  Yep, Erik's definitely having a case of the Mondays...

[JDHRAP]

CSX?  Shuffle the letters around and it resembles SUCKS.

[dknelson]

I'm all mixed up, like Pasta Primavera...  (First person to name where that Pasta Primavera line is from gets a pat on the back.)

Bergie

"Why'd you throw that chair at Giraldo Rivera?"  The Beastie Boys have been railfanning again I see!

Dave Nelson

[gemotor]

Oh my, it's Erik's smokebox shot this time.  I did something similar in Denver quite a few years ago, and yes, it's on my wall.  Mike's intermodal - nicely composed, nicely exposed.  Technically good, but as another writer stated, it's time to get creative.  I enjoy trains in the landscape, but given the number of scenic opportunities all over Wyoming, this location was flat uninteresting.  Erik got creative, and got a photo that's timeless and elegant, dare I say artistic. 

[lhtalbot]

Glad you guys are back! Both photos are very nice. I also liked the window shot with the crewman.

Larry in Wauwatosa