Not at all, Rev.! Welcome!
Always great to get a different, unusual perspective on things. Just watch your language and typing skills here, though--there are those among us who will take advantage of typos and other potential for word play to the fullest! (I'm one.)
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
I liked the UP shot because of all the power, especially that winged tri-window SD60M in the second spot.
But I ultimately voted for the BNSF because somehow I thought it was a little humorous. Something about that billboard with the kids running and laughing made it look like they were cheering on the train. I know, I'm weird, but what can I do? Maybe I've said too much in my first post...
I voted for the Union Pacific. I liked the mountain "pull".
The BNSF crossing over the river bridge with the billboard in the background advertising swimming was pretty neat catch. I still cannot, for the life of me understand why people insist on "tagging" someone else's property and call it free speech, even if it just a bridge. It is just disrepectful of others.
Had to go with Erik's UP shot in this one. Mike shouldn't post a 'blind vote' shot on his website until after the voting.
The UP shot was a nice scenery shot.
The urban jungle that some of us live in can make good use of big lumber (aka long lens) to help crop out some of the distraction like the billboard in the BNSF shot.
I must be slipping in my old age. I voted for the UP photo on two different forums today.
(On the other forum a UP shot was competing against a NS photo).
Remove the grafitti and the HUGE billboard,and the BNSF shot would have been much better!
Looking at the voting up to this point, it appears that I should have set up another prepublication power lunch.
The rule of the day would have been "No fair putting up a photo of a consist of 7 or 8 engines grinding up a grade in the middle a spectacular mountain range against a..."
Wait a minute! When is the last time someone got a photo of a BNSF train heading out of Milwaukee on the CP?
Of course, it would be ironic if the UP train was heading up the hill toward Marias Pass.
Jay
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics
UP has never been shy about using big power. Don't get to see that kind of thing around these here parts. Nice track too. The BN shot has too much non train "stuff" to make it appealing to me.
Jim
OK....so I struggled & voted for the BNSF anyway. Yes the billboard really sucks. Maybe I am swayed by where I think it was shot. I have photographed AMTRAK in that location. All in all, nice work guys. Thanks again!
Larry in Wauwatosa
To each his/her own, and my own is #2. While the large and intrusive billboard is a distraction, I was much more impressed with the wide angle of the BNSF opposed to the 3/4 of the UP. Also, the UP shot seems a little heavy to the left of the image, so I would have like to have seen a little more scenery on that side to balance it out.As I am living in an urban environment now, it is challenging to incorporate these intrusive elements into our shots. Ideally the billboard should be on one side of the image or the other, I find all the urban elements interesting...angles from the interstate, light poles from the parking lots, and the graffiti on the piers (not to glorify it).
Greg "wcnut"Transplanted from the Dairy to the Nutmeg Sate.
Definately the UP power, don't see one with that many around here very often!
Graffiti? A monster billboard? Come on now...
Don
Ooh, painful, had to vote against a war bonnet, BNSF photo was just to washed out for me. The UP picture grabbed my attention, the BNSF caused a, huh? what's this? Oh well, at least EMD's lead the UPs. Larry, at the edge of the world, Blaine WA
I found both photos to be pleasant but neither provided much in the way of "Wow" factor. Photo 2 has some interesting graffiti on the bridge supports but I found the large sign advertising the hotel to be a distraction. Photo 1 is a closer shot of a train with lots of front end power. Of the two pictures, I like photo 1 better so that one got my vote this time.
For a future volume of Trackside with Erik and Mike, how about competing photos that focus on a railroad structure rather than photos that focus mainly on locomotives? Perhaps a trackside industry, track bridge, signal bridge, round house, water tower, station, freight house, or switch stand?
I gotta go with the Uncle Pete photo... While there is a lot in the BN picture that adds to the level of interest, I hate seeing a sign growing out of the top of a loco. I like the location but not all of the clutter that came with it. The UP shot is clearly my favorite.
Too bad that You guys can't find a way to easily accept photos from us, so you could turn the tables and choose a few shots and make comments on them. It might help me out with the guilt that I feel week to week when I write something negative about one of your photos, when I know full and well that I have a lot of duds stored away on my computer...
Have a good Labor day Weekend!!! and thanks for pictures you share with us!!
Personally, I thought the billboard stood out in the BNSF shot, but the way it was worked into the picture actually appealed with me. For once, I didn't vote for the photo of my home state. (Come on, who visited Oregon this week and didn't tell me?)
-Alan-
http://rails_etc.rrpicturearchives.net
I like the BNSF shot as it shows more of the environment of where the train is working. I'm not a fan of graffiti but this shot shows that the paint was applied when the channel was dry. It also shows that there has been an attempt to remove/cover over previous efforts of graffiti artists.
The UP shot is a great country shot, but the head-on nature means that there is not a lot of train showing.
StephenDx: Computers and trains are my greatest interests GMT +12hrs (+13 in summer)
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