Trackside with Trains.com, Vol. 91

[Bergie]

This week, Drew Halverson and I kick off a new Trackside initiative and share some for their recent railroading photos. 

Here's what's on tap for this week:

• Introducing our latest head-to-head voting scheme.
• Drew shoots the final (we hope!) snowfall of the season.
• Erik captures the Wisconsin & Southern in action.
• An animal theme? Drew almost gets carried away and Erik gets nauseous.
• Six never before seen photos, seven if you count what made Erik queasy.

Read Trackside with Trains.com Volume 91

Click here to vote then add your comments about this week's photos here.

Erik

[CopCarSS]

Drew got the nod this week. Nice shot, and a fun departure from more traditional railroad shots.

[zardoz]

Those disgusting dirty birds (no offense, mudchicken) add something to an otherwise rather (even for a red SOO unit) generic shot.  I've been to that location many times, and it seems to be the type of area that could produce interesting shots.  However, I've always failed to bring home the shot I thought I should be able to get there.  I will admit, though, that I never considered putting pigeons in the shot!

Erik, your shot has some nice color, and the image is sharp and clear.  And I like the detail on the running gear.  But it needs something to push it to the next level.  I know: pigeons!!

Voted for Drew.

[TheBeanTeam]

UHHHM...Erik, if you could have just made your pig fly I would have given your photo the nod.

[Anonymous]

I liked the pigeons, it does really add something to the Soo shot, but I couldn't ignore the fine detail in Erik's shot.... The dead pig was kind of a stretch as far as the theme goes, but alas you work with what you have, and since the roads, loads, and scenery had little in common, I guess the animal angle works.....

So I voted for Erik, only to find I'm in the minority.... Now,does this mean that Drew gets to try and verbally intimidate the next contestant since he is wayyyy ahead?

[CNW 6000]

Drew got the nod this week. Nice shot, and a fun departure from more traditional railroad shots.

+1

Sorry Bergie!

[CShaveRR]

Well, this time I saw the same shot repeated twice--a freight coming at me, and curving off to the right--in a few seconds the engineer will either wave or flip off the photographer.

Drew didn't do badly, but I'm not going to let a few examples of winged vermin sway me in this case.  I see enough of those--yea, far, far too many!--every day at work.  The interesting bridge over which the train is beginning to pass gave me pause--with a different angle I would have been able to see more of it, and that might have swung the vote.

So, I pulled out my ultimate test--which of these trains would I have been most interested in seeing?  Drew's looked like solid auto racks.  Erik's had old bulkhead flats with untreated ties, but there was a prospect of other interesting cars there.  I'm sure that if both trains had passed me, Erik's train would have been more memorable.  So, whilst holding my nose, I'll give Erik another vote.

[Rocket Man]

I am around big beautiful BNSF locomotives all the time, and I can't get enough of them. I also really love the newest paint/lettering scheme. The dark BNSF green against the green foliage, the crisp white highlights provided by the hand rails, the close-up "I am gonna feel some serious ground-shaking diesel electric power" that foamers live for...

Drew's photo also had many great merits...

Crew silhouettes? √

Sweeping curve? √

Backround interest? (spire, crossbucks, telephones poles, fancy street light, trees, etc...) √

Bridge? (2) √

Headlight glint on the rail? √

Pigeons? What? Pigeons flying at me? √ 

Both great photos. Drew's great shot of the pigeons gets my vote. Bergie, I am sorry you had to endure the dead hog and still not get my vote. Who in the heck knew you were going to need pigeons in a railroad photo to win?! But if you do win this week... like the pig, you will be in hog heaven!

[Modelcar]

....In my eyes, both photos rate to be good one's this week.

My vote has to go with Drew's rendition....Lots of RR "stuff" make up the pic and the wierd thought from the site of the birds and where they are....seems they are challanging the train for a race, giving it a "different touch".....

The train approaching....signals....bridges.....rail laying by the ROW....all together seem to spell RR environment to make up the photo.

[mandelswamp]

If Drew's photo lacked the pigeons, I would have been hard pressed to decide a winner because neither would have appealed to me very much.  Of all the photos presented in Trackside with Trains.com Vol.91, I consider Drew's first photo of the CP SD40-2 in heavy snow fall the best shot shown.  However, Drew's submittal got my vote because his inclusion of the pigeons made it an usual image and therefore a photo of much greater interest.

[tree68]

While Erik's BNSF shot is very "in your face" and stands well on its own, I liked Drew's very busy shot.  

The pigeons add interest in the foreground, but it's that red Soo nose that catches your eye amongst that cluttered (yet very interesting) background.  A lesser color scheme would not have been able to do that, and would have left the pigeons as the only saving grace. 

[gemotor]

Looks to me like Drew optimized his shot to get the pigeons, whereas if it were taken a bit later it would have given us a nice angle on the locomotive, and a winner for me at least.  Pardon me, but I thought this is what TRAINS, The magazine of railroading, is all about.  Ah well . . .  Erik nicely captured an outside-of-curve photo that I always find difficult to do well.  A bit ho-hum this time, gents.

[mmartian22]

drew's has my vote it adds little more interesting visual  aspects to the norm.it reminds me of of seagulls on the outer banks  in which i had one took off with my burger  in my hand.

[asnjoe24]

Very creative with the new format idea; I like it!

The decision was tough, because the pigeons in Drew's Soo Line shot immediately draw you to it, coupled with the approaching train. On the other hand, I like how up close and personal that Erik's BNSF shot is, with really good detail. By a narrow margin (owing to the slight, unavoidable disadvantage that the train in Drew's shot is slightly more in the distance, and the fact that I'm more familiar with BNSF), I went the minority and voted for Erik this week.

Still, both shots are great!

- Bryan

[Chris Owens]

Erik's BNSF SHOT GETS MY NOD

[lhtalbot]

Hey Drew, nice shot. I must admit tho, my vote is biased by the location.....I shoot there all the time, it's about 3 min from my house. Bias aside, I did like the birds in the shot. In that very location I have seen geese, deer, raccoons, fox, & (just once) a snake.  But they don't like to hang around as long as the birds do when the trains come.

Bergie, your shot was good, but I had to give the nod to Drew.

Nice work guys, the new format sounds interesting.

Regards,   Larry in Wauwatosa                                                                                                                              

[Anonymous]

Sorry Bergie, had to go with Drew's shot of the Soo Line shot coming through the pidgeons trackside.  I liked your shot also and would have voted for it had I not noticed one small thing in Drews shot.  If you look closely, you will see that one of the wings on the pidgeon is partially obscuring the word "Soo" on the lead loco, making it unsure as to whether the Loco is a "Soo Line" or a "Goo Line" (which is what those pidgeons would become after tangling with that train!  Both shots were excellent however!  Good luck to you both!  And I also like the "King of the Hill" photo concept.

[Anonymous]

Had to go with Drew for the tons of action (from the Pigeons...)! I really could have gone for the snow shot if it were a little closer - more emphasis on the Locomotive vs. the snow.
Well done both of you!

[Dakguy201]

Both were great photos!

You should also hold a contest to see who can correctly pronounce place names in Wisconsin.  Wauwatosa could be the first event. 

 

[dknelson]

You should also hold a contest to see who can correctly pronounce place names in Wisconsin.  Wauwatosa could be the first event. 

Waw whuh TOE suh.  That's a Native American term meaning "dead pigs smell mighty fine."

I'll let Bergie teach you how to pronounce Kinnikinnick.

Dave Nelson

[CShaveRR]

Most railroaders pronounce that "KK".

[loadmaster747]

The BNSF shot looks suspiciously like the winning shot from last installment, just without the cemetery.  So, my vote went to the Soo / pigeons shot.

[mikeyuhas]

Hi all,

I may end up regretting this, but I voted for my old arch enemy Bergie*, and here's why.

I liked what Drew's shot "could have been" better, but I think that doggone winged varmint right at the front of the locomotive ruined the shot. I liked that Drew didn't zoom so far in on the lead unit -- the inclusion of at least a little bit of scenery gives the shot some context. This would have been a nearly perfect photo if A Flock of Seagulls hadn't decided they, too, liked trains.

Now, as for Bergie's shot, I agree with what Loadmaster said above: all that's missing is a cemetery!

* No, actually I enjoy quite a nice friendship with Bergie, but it still smarts to vote for him after he creamed me in so many previous editions of Trackside.

  

[jeaton]

I like the new format.

Perhaps the last winner should get a five star avitar.

[espeefoamer]

I voted for Bergies  "In your face" BNSF shot.I love that clean sweeping curve. In Drew's photo the foreground was too cluttered for my taste.I would most likely have voted for Drew's second snow shot,the one with the bright red CP unit,but the voting seems to be going his way anyhow.Those were both great photos.

[TOMinTN]

Both shots this time around are good stuff...but Drew's pigeon-cam perspective is a lot more interesting, and my vote has gone there to roost.

TJB

Nashville, TN