"My Favorite Railroad" - Trackside with Trains.com vol. 144 now live

[Matt Quandt]

The latest round of our biweekly photo competition, Trackside with Trains.com, is now live. Nine photographers submitted images for the theme, "My favorite railroad."

View the selection and vote for your favorite here.

[Mookie]

(struggle, struggle.....) I thought I had one, but then I looked at all of them wide-open. 

Back to (ponder, ponder)

[samfp1943]

Mookie

(struggle, struggle.....) I thought I had one, but then I looked at all of them wide-open. 

Back to (ponder, ponder)

I'm pretty much in Mookie's Camp this week ( an eenney,meanee,minee,moe, moment and with a little of just throw a dart there all good!)     For me, this Trackside, is more about the stories behind the photos, and how they came together. From fist to last they were all represenative and interesting.

 Had to pick one--Andy's!

His story was built over time, and involved a little sweat (maybe a small bit of blood as well?), as well.        Not to denegrate all the others, they were all intersting and well worth the results.

Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Soo 6604]

Ken Fitgerald got my vote. All others you can see anywhere they have railroad pictures posted or someone gave a 3 year old a camera to take pictures....pretty poor picks this month

 Andy's came in second. I've always liked the "action" shot with the train in the background either streatching into the distance or on a curve.

[zardoz]

Soo 6604

All others you can see anywhere they have railroad pictures posted or someone gave a 3 year old a camera to take pictures

Dude, you must know some very talented 3-year-olds. 

[tree68]

I went with Kent - in your face, front of the company calendar material.  Granted, it wasn't especially creative, but it carried the message.

[Andy Cummings]

Soo 6604

Ken Fitgerald got my vote. All others you can see anywhere they have railroad pictures posted or someone gave a 3 year old a camera to take pictures....pretty poor picks this month

 Andy's came in second. I've always liked the "action" shot with the train in the background either streatching into the distance or on a curve.

 

I appreciate the positive comments from you guys. I have to say that this round, I thought Ken's photo showed the greatest level of creativity. I've never seen a shot quite like that, but I think it works very well. I'm also a fan of Matt's. I guess my favorites this round have some "blur" to them. I think that really helps bring a photo to life, and it can be hard to produce in the field.
 

[DadH]

Well, couldn't vote for four of them, so went with Tom D's, though Tom N had an awesome night shot -- but the scenery & description was enlightening. Elrond's and Andy's held a certain appeal for action and traingraphics.

What, no Red & White Snow Photos this time; No one had a favorite steam line?

"Trains uber alles"

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

     Dear Friends,

     I have never commented on the photos before, but now I have a proposal.

     I propose a  **  BEST PHOTO OF THE YEAR  **  photography vote.

     I hereby nominate Danneman's  "Montana Rail Link."

     This is one of the most beautiful, narrative, scenic, working pictures I have ever seen, and in my line of work I see plenty of photos and paintings.

     Hope Mr. Danneman doesn't mind, but I downloaded this and it's going to be on my computer screen background for a long time before I get tired of seeing it.

    ---John Passaro

 

[Mookie]

If you aren't particularly interested in how my mind works - skip to something else.

OK - I narrowed it down: (remember, I just go by what I like and how it makes me feel)

Kent - could "feel" the rain.  And it is a cold rain.

Ray - I like the color contrast and the prairie feel.  Stark vs color and movement or pending movement.

Tom D - the mountains are to die for and the whole photo is so "pleasant" to the eye.

Matt - I think I hear a rock slide.  Photographer never in picture, so this was a very different perspective.

Elrond - I love the SF and the green.  Our remotes look just like the lead power.  Plus I can read the signals. 

Andy - If this was just a little flatter ground - it would be eastern NE.  Not far outside Lincoln, in fact!

Tom N - when I opened this up - my first reaction was "cool".  Such a rush of different emotions.  Night air; lonliness; obvious lights; uncovered windows.

Drew - not a fan of b/w since I even dream in color, but I studied it and got a crick in my neck.  Very "clean" engine and detailed.  Had to look at this one for awhile.

Ken - well, being female with a still detectable heartbeat, a good-looking engineer is always worth a 2nd or 3rd look. 

I am down to the two Toms.  I just can't quite decide.  So will go back to pondering.  But I will say it has been a loooong time since I have had such a great array to choose from.  All are outstanding and all are very different!

Back to pondering.

 

[LU-Trains]

 Although the theme of “my favorite railroad” does give each of our photographers a reason to wax eloquent about the endearing qualities of their favorite flag, it really didn’t bring out the best in photos.  I think a lot of us are all usually - as was thrown around a bit last edition - drawn to the “story-telling” of the picture more than anything and how each photographer paints the portrait of each theme.

I know we are treated to the picture order by random drawing, but admittedly, Kent’s in-your-face very RED CP Diesel was a nice start to the menage.  Unfortunately, Ray, Tom, and Matt’s photos seemed too detached, distance wise, for me to appreciate the trains.  I appreciated their feelings about each of the railroads.  Granted, Tom’s picture contained the best mountains!

I’m a real Santa Fe - that is, the REAL Santa Fe, fan - so Elrond’s consist struck a deep chord with me.  (My hometown was on the Wabash/Santa Fe mainline between St. Louis and Kansas City and I watched about 40 Santa Fe trains a day come barreling through the community when I was growing up.  It’s still the dominant railroad on my model layout.)

I wish Andy had been closer to his subject matter.  I did love Tom Nanos’ night shot.  I did appreciate Drew’s black and white artistic rendering, but since the color scheme of a railroad is it’s identity, this picture was more about “power” than “the face of”.

Truth be told, I lived in Ft. Worth in the 80’s and 90’s, and I actually know the FW&WR up close and personal, so just for old time Texas sake, I’m going with Ken Fitzgerald this week.  He’s right, it is a marvelous color scheme!

[TOMinTN]

They're ALL winners.

Since my favorite railroad no longer exists (Soo Line), I opted for something in the same genre...Andy's DM&E shot.  It's in the same category as the Soo, having been sucked into the Canadian Pacific system.

TJB - Nashville, TN

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

Soo 6604

someone gave a 3 year old a camera to take pictures....

 

   I hear this a lot when it comes to abstract, non-representational art...usually it's "My two-year-old could paint that!"

   I think not.

 

[drgw17]

Some cool stuff, and a difficult bunch to judge. Got hung up for a bit on the portrayal factor--what, for example, besides paint, shows the Santa Fe-ness of Elrond's shot. What, in other words, makes the Santa Fe special for him, and where is it in the photo? In those terms, it's hard to argue with Tom D's MRL, a road I, too, find intoxicating, and his portrayal is terrific (a bit dark on my work PC, fab on my Mac at home). Still, it's a lot to ask of everyone in an informal contest like this. So I went out on a limb and voted for Drew. I like the tilt, and I grew up in a black and white darkroom, and find that the grayscale showcases the crisply clean SD90 truck wonderfully. I'm way in the minority, I see. Nice effort all around, though, thanks!

[zardoz]

tree68

I went with Kent - in your face, front of the company calendar material.  Granted, it wasn't especially creative, but it carried the message.

Kent had an advantage of being able to actually be on the train--everyone else had to "settle" for trackside.

Wait a minute!! I detect a technicality here: the contest is "Trackside with Trains", but Kent was not trackside--he was on the train!

 

[drgw17]

Um, it was KEN who was on the train, not Kent.

[zardoz]

drgw17

Um, it was KEN who was on the train, not Kent.

That's what I get for trying to be clever: instead, now people know what a I am.

 

.....quietly slinking away......

[saldana17]

I picked Kent Johnson. Straight forward with the photo no backround flash or trick photo shoots.
No spectacular mountains in the back.
Just the theme.
Some photos you had to read to see what RR it was.
Nice Shot Kent you are now my desktop photo. Thanks

Brad Busse 

[Choo Choo Aussie]

I could only narrow them down to 5.  I could not pick just one.  The 5 being Kent, Tom D, Elrond, Andy and Tom N.  I had to put them into a hat and draw just one out to vote.  Great photos from all five. 

Forgot to say who I did vote for.    I picked Andy's.

[CRSD50]

This one was pretty tough for a few reasons- I usually try to vote based on what best suited the theme.  But "favorite railroad" is something personal to each photographer.  So I had to base my vote on what I thought was the "coolest" or most pleasing shot.  Again, a difficult choice since they were all good and pleasing to look at.

 In the end, I voted for Ken.  His photo has a different perspective, shows motion, conveys the sense of power, and also shows the human element of railroading.

[edblysard]

Had to go with Ken...

The theme was "Favorite Railroad" and only someone who loved his railroad would go to those lengths to take a photo, plus it was really evocative of a scene I get to see every day at work, it really struck a chord.

[CRSD50]

edblysard

The theme was "Favorite Railroad" and only someone who loved his railroad would go to those lengths to take a photo,

 

-Very good point!

[jettrain]

Drew,

Great photo of INRD no. 9010. 

I was excited to see my hometown short line railroad featured in Trackside.

I must admit.  I'm partial to the INRD since I live in Indy.  There is an INRD yard here in downtown Indy that I like to visit because I can get close to the engines without actually being on railroad property.  Also the yard office was recently remoded to the retro PPR depot style.

I have throughly enjoyed every installment of Trackside.  Keep up the great work.

[Sunnyland]

 This one was very difficult, they were all good. Since my own personal favorite-Frisco- is no longer available to photograph, I went with Ken's because it's a different shot than we usually see,. Doesn't look it was easy to do either.

Great job everyone

[D-Halv]

Thanks jet, I'm glad I could get out and visit such a cool railroad. I was in Indy that weekend for IndyCar qualifying and made it a point to check out the INRD on my way back home. I'm so glad I did. Now I want to get back down there and check out some of the awesome spots along the line in southern Indiana.

[KenFL9]

You are absolutely correct on that point Ed!  I began to wonder about the sanity of trying that shot at 40mph even with the conductor holding my belt, but after several blurry tries I got what I wanted.

[Bruce Kelly]

Tom's shot is an absolute stunner. And it's a fresh look at a part of MRL we don't see very often. There's way more to Montana's own railroad than helper-assisted coal trains over Mullan Pass, manifests crossing the Clark Fork, or unit tank trains on Evaro Hill. Who needs blue sky and sun-lit power? That's some exquisite light bathing those craggy peaks and putting a soft silhouette on the train. I've only breezed past the Polson Branch three or four times, on the way to or from somewhere else, usually when those mountains were hazed by smoke from some distant fire, and never when the local seemed to be nearby. Gonna have to make an effort to work that branch the way Tom has.