Trackside with Trains.com vol. 113: Short line and regional railroads

[Andy Cummings]

Folks —  As we search for a replacement for Erik Bergstrom (accept no imitation!), I'll be posting Trackside with Trains.com. The subject of Vol. 113 is short line and regional railroads, to coincide with our June issue. Give trackside a read, then vote for your favorite photo. Then, come back to the forums and be sure to share your comments. Thanks! Andy Cummings Associate Editor TRAINS Magazine Waukesha, Wis.

Here's the link.

[tree68]

Here's a link to Trackside 113.

(Don't forget to make it sticky, Andy.)

OK, so much for the housekeeping.

Had to go with Mike's shot - It simply personifies "short line" - switcher, one car, track's a mess.  The picture just has a lot of character.

Andy's shot get's an honorable mention - it does say "regional" to me.

If it weren't for the names on the sides of the locomotives, though, Drew's shot would have "big railroading" written all over it.  Six axle power, what appears to be a busy facility, not how I picture a shortline or a regional (although I know they easily could be).

[Andy Cummings]

Thanks, Larry. I'm still trying to get everything running the way it should; posting Trackside is harder than I realized! I have to figure out how to do the "sticky" topic, but will do so as soon as one of my office-mates can show me. Appreciate everybody's patience on this; everything should be working ok within the next hour or so; hopefully sooner. My dad was a career IBMer, and I grew up using computers, but sometimes they really throw me for a loop. Andy Cummings Associate Editor TRAINS Magazine Waukesha, Wis.

[Anonymous]

Larry, you linked to the voting page. You want this one: http://www.trains.com/trn/default.aspx?c=a&id=5032

I had to go with Mike this time. While the other two both fit the catogory, nothing said shortline like a telephoto dirty switcher pulling one car on light jointed rail! Nice shot!

I also liked Drew's shot, since I'm a real sucker for nighttime photos, and the actual photo is very nice.

Andy's shot was very good, but didn't say "shortline" like Mike's did.

Nice work all!

[tree68]

Thanks, Ty. 

[henry6]

Oh its gotta be Mike Yuha's pic...classic shortline pose of a smallest engine and one car trundling off to somewhere to take care of a customer!  The others are so contemporary, but this one is classic!

[Mookie]

Something different this voting time.  I loved them all, for different reasons.  But Andy's made my heart go pitter-patter.  Could it be because I am native Nebraskan?  I love photos that I can "feel a part of" and these 3 all accomplished that for me!

[trainmanj]

I agree with Mike's photo saying short line. However, it looks like a place that could be 'no line' in a short time as well.

[Bergie]

I went with Drew's shot for one reason: I know where the shot is taken and know it's not an easy one to pull off. Hat's off, Drew.

The other two shots were good; I just gave Drew more credit for the degree of difficulty.

And Andy, I'm glad you're experiencing first hand how complex Trackside is. Welcome aboard!

Bergie

[CShaveRR]

I liked Andy's shot--nice equipment (and I'm not referring only to the power!), and an operation that one could find anywhere--including on a lot of main lines yet.

So his shot came in a close second to Mike's. I didn't even read his description, but that track and the rails remind me of what a short line should be. Some regionals just look too much like the big guys.

[Frisco Ryan]

I totally had to go with Andy Cumming's photo. It just screemed a nice modern shortline to me, with the claasic small wooden bridge, the rolling fields and the small country road streaching off into the distance. Sorry, but Mike's shot just didn't do anything for me, it looks too run down. Just because it's a shortline dosen't meen it has to be in bad shape, also the train is just to small for me, I've never seen a train shorter then about 10 cars long and to me his shot looks like the train is switching more then it does a shortline train. I loved Drew's shot, it had to be my favorite of all of them, however it just didn't fit the shortline theme. Overall a great effort by everyone!

[Rocket Man]

Given the topic, I'll keep this as short as Mikes photo consist. Yuhas!

[LVJJJ]

Love the Yuhas short-short-short line, the oft jointed rail, wooden ties, plus the ditch lites seem like overkill on the MP15 while speeding along at 5 mph.   Larry of the great NW

[RailWaY GA]

Gotta go with Andy, not so much for the "classic" aspect but more for the "existential" aspect.  I see trains running along an abandoned road (no vehicles!) transporting fuel that will not be used anymore!

[lhtalbot]

Only 3 choices. Should be easy to pick, right? Wrong! 3 good shots. I finally settled on Mike's shot, because it seems to best fit the theme. I do have some bones to pick.....to me, it's too compressed by the telephoto effect.Have to look pretty hard to distinguish the units. Of course the telephoto does make the track look pretty bumpy which does add a little "short line" look to it.

I felt tugged to vote for Drew's pic, because it is a really neat shot & I am very familiar with the location. Have shot many pics from that spot myself, very close to my home in Wauwatosa. As the Muskego yard continues to be used less & less, it seems like a stop there is a rarity these days. I think that your observation re an imminent westbound maybe has something to do with it also. It's my understanding that CP prefers not to run side by side traffic thru those dangerous State Street crossings, as a safety precaution. Those are all no horn crossings, and altho they are all gated, there seems to be no shortage of people who like to start across (pedestrians) as soon as the train clears. I'm sure there is someone out here who can help me out on that??? 

Photo must be fairly recent......looks like the Little Red Store is open??

Andy also has a very nice shot. I kept going back to look at it in large view. Hard choices this week.

Larry in Wauwatosa

[Choo Choo Aussie]

I loved Mike's photo.  They were all good but I loved mikes.  The rails, scenery and the small train said it all. 

[edblysard]

All three photos were well done, Drews would have appealed to me more if the overpass was not cutting the top off, but the color and composition were great.

Andy's photo had every thing you could ask for, big blue sky with just a hint of clouds, beautiful power, good composition, great color...

But Mike's shot screams short line...thin to no budget for MOW, old, very old jointed rail, second or third hand locomotive, one car delivery to a customer out in the boonies...and having been there and doing that exact thing every few days it simply appealed to me the most.

I hope they have a re-rail frog and some wood wedges on that motor!

[TOMinTN]

Drew got my vote.  I just happened to like his entry best. 

TJB - Nashville, TN (vacationing in FL this week)

[jjgmodelrailroad]

I  chose Andy's photo.  My vote is a little bias because Nebraska Central runs through my home town.  The SD40-2s arrived about the same time that Andy did to take the picture.  I'm not sure if the paint is fully cured in the picture.  They look allot different now.  Nebraska Central had a pair of ex ATSF GP7Us that seem to vanish about the same time that these beauties showed up.  So it seems that even shortlines upgrade every now and again.

[mbv9415]

All 3 were great pix. I voted for Andy because I knew the line and actually rode with Sam and Fred up there in the mid 90's when I lived in St Paul (NE). If it hadn't been a Cotesfield shot, I would have voted for Drew.

[WSOR 3801]

 They don't carry blocking or frogs these days.  If something happens, call downtown, and the car department and the section show up to make things right. 

I think Andy should have walked across the road to get the shot.

Drew's shot was good, but didn't really say "short line".   

I went with Mike's shot.

[CNW 6000]

Andy's NC shot was very nice.  I agree, though, that he might have been better served to walk across the street.  The road in the foreground distracted me more than I thought initially it would at first. 

Drew's shot honestly didn't do anything for me, except that I know how challenging a night shot can be to pull off.  Not being familiar with that area, I couldn't tell what was what without the description and a visit to a mapping application.  So maybe it's a good shot but possibly in the 'wrong' theme?  I dunno...

Mike's shot of the WSOR was a little blah at first.  Then I stared at it a while and let my eyes wander.  Older power, small (very!) train, serviceable but dated track structure (stick rail), rural setting.  All of those spoke "shortline" to me.  At first I felt the shot was wanting for a bit more detail on the train, such as letting it get a touch closer, or maybe finding an old trestle that it's crossing. 

Went with Mike's shot.

[loadmaster747]

"Short line" to me means a small operation, sometimes just a family and few friends/employees operating a few miles of castoff Class 1 branch line track, and serving only a few industrial customers; the type of operation which is usually modeled in someone's basement layout.  Matching double-headed power doesn't come into the equation very often in this scenario... so Mike got my vote, for the scene most easily re-created by hobbyists. 

[Modelcar]

Voted for Mike's photo....It speaks of lean operation, hence....short line.

The other two photos are really great.

And I especially like the evening shot of Drew's....but it kind of relates larger rail operation....Love the night shot.

Andy's shot is very nice....Just thought Mike's said "short line better".

[espeefoamer]

I voted for Mike's shot. This photo just screamed "short line" to me. One switcher pulling one car on 10 MPH track.Drew's photo deemed too much like big time railroading,to me.Andy's was good but Mike won my vote.

[selector]

I knew, from my own model railroad photography, that Drew's shot was a toughy, but the context, to a kinda-not-really-a-railfan-except-in-British Columbia, didn't get under my skin.  Nice work, though, and full credit.

Andy's shot had me hooked because I saw it first in full size, and I am a sucker for wooden trestles.  I was thaaaaaaaaaaaaat close to posting my vote right then and there.

But, I dutifully opened Mike's shot and I couldn't help it; that lonely work crew is thinkin', "Jeez I'm hungry, and we still have two hours to get back to the shop!  And this bouncing isn't making it any easier!"  My compliments, Mike.

-Crandell

 

 

[amtraker-in-OK]

Three great shots on the subject - all with great rational'

 Photographically I like Drew's - nice balance, good lighting, and the composition pulls the viewer right into the picture.

Andy's rational is beautifully illustrated by his shot.

Mike's shot really captures the local aspect of short line both with the engine and single hopper and with the track stretched out before and after the train.

Amtracker-in-OK

[oltmannd]

Choo Choo Aussie

I loved Mike's photo.  They were all good but I loved mikes.  The rails, scenery and the small train said it all. 

Ditto!  I especially liked the effect of the telephoto.

Andy's was very good, too.  I was intrigued by the inclusion of the highway in the shot.  If I were in the same spot, I automatically would have shot from the other side of the road in order to exclude the highway.  But, I think inclusion of the empty road and shoulderless bridge adds a lot to the off-the-beaten-path setting.  It'll make me think a bit more next time I go out.

[bubbajustin]

I just loved that short dinkey train of 1 hopper. What is that a 40 tonner? Maby a 70 tonner?

[drgw17]

Although short lines today are getting harder to distinguish from the Class Is, what with much better track, six-wheel power, and the like, Mike's photo captures the lingering essence of short line operation. As a photograph, the lighting is nothing special (understanding that some small, infrequent operations don't give you many options), and I wish that instead of centering the train, Mike had clicked earlier when it was more distant, to suggest even more the loneliness and smallness of single-car railroading.