Diesel bias In the photo contest???

[Marty Cozad]

Before this goes to far let me throw in that I wrote a nice e-mail to the person with other photos showing the MLS bridge 12 ft to the west and the Bangs Canyon bridge 8ft to the east. It just looks flat in that photo. Also that the 2nd unit is custom painted cause Aristo did not make any high hood 45s in the BN colors, and I said a few other things. I also told him how I felt for years the same way he does only about steam always gets the glory. A generaltional thing here, I grew up with SD40-2s and U-33- C so thats my childhood. Steam is only in tourist trains for me.
I thanked him and I know that you can't make everyone happy. I almost cropped out the higher tree line but I try NOT to touch up my photos even if there is things I to don't like. The mag did crop it width wise to fit the page and it did print out much darker.
But we all just need to keep sharing the hobby.
I've learned alot out of this.
Thanks

The issue that I always had with the contest was, finding the balance between realism and showing what we think best depicts garden railroading. Thats why i left the grass and the trees in the back ground was to show it is a GRR.

[grandpopswalt]

Hi Brian,

I think that letter represents not so much a criticism of Marty’s work or his railroad, but gives voice to a frustration a lot of us are feeling about the growth of diesel power in the hobby. The LS hobby in North America has historically been narrow gauge steam, starting with LGB. Live steam started to grow rapidly after GR magazine hit the stands. So to many of us garden railroading is generally represented by steam power and narrow gauge in particular.

Today there seems to be a growing trend toward modern power. Weather the trend is based on
Consumer preference or because the industry wants it to go that way is unclear. GR stated some time ago that it would devote considerably more space to standard gauge mainline railroads than in the past. Since GR plays a large role in the direction the hobby will take, it’s newfound enthusiasm for standard gauge is troubling. Therefore it does seem as though there might be some bias in selecting two diesel photos as the first two winners in the contest.

Given my bias toward steam, I’ll add my two cents regarding the quality of the contest photos. In Marty’s photo the foreground miniature “tree” looks like a bush and it’s obvious those are real trees in the background. Otherwise it’s a nice picture of a train moving down the track, not very interesting. The third place winner, the steam scene, also has defects. The switch actuator stands out in the foreground and it too has real trees in the background. However, the scene is INTERESTING. There’s something going on, there’s a sense of reality.

So there you have it, there’s no accounting for taste.

Walt

[bman36]

Hey everyone,
Just received my issue of GR a few days ago. In the letters column was a letter sent in with the same title as this post. After reading it I was left with a rather bad feeling inside. The writer refers to Marty Kozads photo as a scene that is "ho hum". He also refers to his BN diesels being "out of the box." Having seen Marty's RR first hand I can honestly say the writer is dead wrong here. Living on the prairies has taught me to appreciate the landscape we have as being georgeous despite the fact that it is flat. I can also assure you that Marty weathers everything he runs. At least everything I saw was. I for one loved the photo Marty took. To me it represents a very natural feel of what we do as modellers in the great outdoors. Having seen his line I can also say it is anything but "ho hum". Just wondered if anyone else read this letter? Thoughts anyone? Later eh...Brian. [:D]