Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 73

[Bergie]

Hello! 

I just posted the latest installment of Trackside with Erik and Mike in our new section within the Railroad Reference area of TrainsMag.com.  Read Trackside with Erik and Mike Volume 73

Voting for Trackside with Erik and Mike now occures at the top of the Trackside with Erik and Mike section. Click here to vote.

Please add your comments regarding this week's photos here.

Thanks!  Erik

[zardoz]

I really like Mike's heritage unit shot, and I can appreciate the difficulty of getting a shot as 'clean' as Mike did, considering all of the clutter in that area. Indeed, the congestion of railroad equipment actually lends itself to the composition.  Too bad the sun was on the opposite side.

Erik's UP photo was an interesting composition, and I like the psuedo-steam locomotive, but the colors are way too washed out.

However, these are the choices this week, and my vote went for Erik's, due to no particular reason: I just liked it better overall.

[Willy2]

I went with Bergie's photo this week. The matched grain cars, locomotive exhaust, and the rock formations along the track all made Erik's photo unique, in my opinion anyway.

I just thought Mike's photo was too cluttered. In a way, I can see how it would make the photo better to have all of that railroad equipment, etc, but it just seemed like too much to me. However, it was still a nice pic of the CNW Heritage Unit.

[Modelcar]

....My vote is Mike this week.  Like the deep clear contrast.  It's all railroad stuff too.

That track there at the diamonds surprises me.  It looks kinda rough, and I don't mean that siding to the left.

Erik's location shows the west out in it's open spaces with the railroad trying to thread thru it all.  Don't like the dull bland make up of the pic.  Understand the lighting conditions were causing it.

[CNW 6000]

Bergie's shot was pretty nice and seemed to flow well.  The engines were working pretty darn hard-no doubt.  The lighting and scenery scream "Shoot me!"

Mike's shot to me seemed typical of what the CNW was.  Day in/day, out get it done railroading.  Run the old and the new.  The 'new' heritage unit leading what looked to be some SD's of some variety reminded me of the CNW I knew and loved coupled with things that focus the picture like the signal tower and the RR background.

My vote?  Tough call since I love, LOVE widenose engines (preferably GE!) so that's equal on point.  CNW heritage or not the manifest that happened to be headed his way and the fact that he had to fight a bit to get the lighting right on the shot puts my vote squarely in Mike's column.  Super job guys, again!

[Noah Hofrichter]

I had to go with Erik's shot this time. The backlit heritage unit just can't compare with the beautiful scenery and "wide-open feel" of Erik's shot. Mike's isn't a bad shot or anything, but Erik's just grabbed me more.

Noah

[senshi]

Went with Erik this week.  This one was soooo close for me.  I like the composition of both.  Mostly it was the landscape around the train in Erik's shot that tipped me over to that one, but just barely.

[blhanel]

Tough choice again.  After much hemming and hawing, I went with Erik's- after all, I want to make sure he'll shake my hand when I see him Saturday.

[Bergie]

Tough choice again.  After much hemming and hawing, I went with Erik's- after all, I want to make sure he'll shake my hand when I see him Saturday.

Oh Brian, I'll always shake your hand, regardless of your vote (I may have kicked you in the shin at the same time if you hadn't voted for me!). 

    Bergie

[asnjoe24]

Once again some great UP action for this week's vote!

I wouldn't say that there's anything "plain, ordinary, and humdrum" about Mike's photo, considering this question: how often does one see the CNW heritage unit up close and personal? That unit alone makes the picture exciting, in my book. I also like how you can clearly see the overhead signal bridge and parts of the diamond in the photo. Inclusion of trackside equipment sometimes enhances a photo, I think. Plain and ordinary? I think not.

Erik's UP unit grain photo captures majestic scenery with a weaving train exhaling a huge burst of exhaust; quite the action photo. The huge rock pile to the right looks awesome and would be cool to model. The entire scene itself makes me think of the entrance to Abo Canyon near East Sais on BNSF's Belen Cutoff/Clovis Subdivision, it too weaves like that and provides notable cliff scenery.

After careful deliberation, I found that the action of Erik's photo won me over just a bit more than the CNW heritage unit, and I ended up voting for Erik's this week.

- Bryan

[CShaveRR]

Erik, give Brian an extra handshake for me...I'm voting for your scenic shot (more for the scenery and the freight cars than the smoke, thank you very much!), in spite of the fact that Mike's was of a favorite subject and came from familiar ground (and I was under the same roof as he was when he took it).

As for the rough track, particularly the piece between the 1995 and the diamond, note also the new lengths of welded rail alongside that track.  When this was shot, the entire track was under a timetable speed reduction.  By this time, it's possible that the new rail has been installed over a new concrete-tie roadbed.  I tried to check it out on the webcam, but there was a ballast train working on the other track.

Betcha you won't see any protruding spikes, Quentin!

[da Milwaukee beerNut]

Wyoming forever vs. the crunch of Rochelle? Very tough call. Mike got this nod by the slimmest of margins - just for the fight against the sun. We've all been there - wondering if we can pull off the shot. Set the diamond at the bottom, the signal horizon at the top - and wait for heritage to fill the frame.

As for modelcar's comment about the track conditions at Rochelle in Mike's shot - remember he had a zoom all the way out. That WILL put wobbles in the rail where there really are none. Gotta imagine with the constant pounding it gets - that junction is shepherded by a devoted clan of rail maintainers. Could make for an interesting tell-all -  a week in the life of Rochelle.

[acmatth]

Sure wish I could have voted for both photos.  Both are great shots in their own right!

[LVJJJ]

not a tough choice for me this week, Mike's too dark, Erik's just right, love the open spaces, blue sky, "S" curve and the funny rocks, oh yeah, and the trains under the smoke.

[Rocket Man]

Erik's shot is the winner for me this week. It makes you wonder if someone stood at the same place way back when and said, "Let's put the track there. It will make a perfect train photo someday".

[StephenDx]

I'm going for the so called "cluttered" pic. It gives a sense that there is more to railroads that the motive power and the rolling stock that gets cargo from A to B.

That track work was a bit of a surprise. I would have thought that there would have been better track work in such a busy place. Then again maybe that is why it is not up to spec. The real question is: "Is there a speed restriction in place in that area?" The condition of the track suggests that there should be if there is not.

Like the shot of Erik's too. Sense of space and the challenge of traversing difficult terrain.

[Anonymous]

Although I liked the UP Heritage shot, it still seemed like an everyday shot along the railside, the Wyoming shot showing all the smoke billowing out of the loco's as they toil up the grade, along with the twisting railcars on the line behind them combined with the scenery, made up my mind for me.. Great shots guys.

                                                 Kofy

[CShaveRR]

Stephen, the diamonds themselves are under a permanent 35-m.p.h. restriction on both railroads.  The "rest of the story" is contained in my previous post on this thread.

(No track replacement yet, by the way.)

Diamonds are not a section foreman's best friend.  Those particular diamonds set the trains from both railroads to rockin'!

[lhtalbot]

Actually, both pics are pretty nice. I like Mike's shot, I guess because it's the type of photo I take. Unlike a couple comments re the clutter, I am not bothered by that stuff. As a matter of fact, I would like to have seen this shot at about 198 mm to catch all of that sign on the right.

I voted for Bergie's pic because it is pretty neat. Those boulders make the shot & it is interesting. Smoke helps.

Larry in Wauwatosa

[mandelswamp]

I thought both Mike and Erik entered some very interesting photos.  I liked the fact that Mike's picture captures both part of the train consist and some background trackside buildings.  Erik's photo also included part of the train consist plus the dark exhaust of the diesel engines hard at work.  However, what made me vote for Erik's photo was the beautiful rocky background.  Belated Happy Father's Day to both Erik and Mike plus all the qualifying readers.

[Chris Owens]

Hello All,

 

Both were great shots, Mike's was framed great with the signal tower, but I went with Erik's not because of the smoke, but because of how small the unit train looked to the boulders.

 

 

CMO

[CopCarSS]

Nice shots as always guys. Mike, the shot was a little too cluttered, and the lighting a little too harsh for my liking, though. I went with Bergie's dramatic shot of a trio of hard-working locos. The S-curve and the background complete the shot to make it a "winner" for me this week.

[Modelcar]

....Is all the black smoke being emitted from the diesels "hard working" or are they "out of tune".....?

[CShaveRR]

I would say the latter, Quentin--if you look closely, only the first two (or possibly only the first) are/is emitting that cloud.  Definitely not normal, or good, for an EMD product.

[spokyone]

I voted for Erik for all the reasons that Mike said in Trackside. Too bad Mike had to enter his pic this time. It would have been  winner at another time.

[dknelson]

I feel so .... so disloyal.  I should always vote for a C&NW photo.  But the Wyoming shot was the prettier picture.

I can shake Erik's hand without shin damage this weekend!  Sweet deal.

Dave Nelson

[Modelcar]

....That's what I'm thinking Carl....That smoke is not a desirable part of a picture, as {in my way of thinking}, it is showing an {or a couple}, of engines not working properly and embelishing the atmosphere with unwanted diesel by product, thick arid smoke.

These are not "steamers".....

[IRONROOSTER]

I voted for Mike's picture.  Erik's was nice, but I just liked the sharpness of Mike's picture better.

Enjoy

Paul 

[crewshuttle]

Re: Exhaust photo

Wow! Thats the first time I've seen one of those big boys smoking like a old steam train.  Being an ex crew shuttle driver (contracted with BNSF), Ive seen a few of the old boys smoking like that, but never a new unit. Was that train in notch 8? Would have been interesting to hear them rumbling at full power to pull that train. What was your expeirence like?

Greg 

[gapotter09]

I somewhat agree with zardoz.  However, I have to vote for Mike.  I do object to using the term 'psuedo-steam locomotive'.  To me the only locomotive to come close and be honored as a steamer class, was the PA.  I guess that is just my generation.  In Erik's photo, beyond the cut in the rocks, the haze makes it appear to be a background painting on someone's layout.

Keep up the great photos, it keeps us old timers thinking.