Good morning,
Voting for Vol. 228 is now open. Check out the eleven entries here: http://trn.trains.com/Trackside.aspx
So, who best showcased winter’s wrath?
Drew Halverson
Lots of good ones to choose from. I narrowed it down to three people showing tracks actively being cleared by trains. From there, I’m almost ashamed to say that I went with the home road again, and gave my vote to Teresa. Trainorders.com has some video of the same event, which also influenced my selection.
Trainorders also had a series of shots of the battle lost by the GEXR plow, referenced in one of the shots.
I also liked Tom Nanos’ picture of the waiting Amtrak train. I could feel the chill in the air. As the snow accumulates in our area today, I thought the chill was far too realistic.
Machines fight snow…so all the pics except Tom Nanos show that well. What Tom shows is that man puts up and contends with the snow, etc., without the plow in front of him, So, I had to choose Tom’s shot.!
Lots of cool shots showing snow vs. railroad. Two shots of the other aspect of winter: the cold.
Tom’s shot was ok, but the lightweight clothing of the passengers sort of ruined the ‘winter’ mood for me.
I voted for Jonathan Hill’s image. I liked the low angle of the shot, and I liked the tower. But what I really liked was the low sun trying to shine through the cold, diamond-dust snow-filled air, which is most dense near the ground and rises only to just about the top of the traincars, and obscures the distant horizon.
I got cold just looking at it. BRRRR!
Many of them were taken on sunny days, which to my mind is after the “winter’s wrath” has turned away, at least for the moment. The plow pictures are often excellent, but they show the revenge of the railroad after the storm’s energy is spent. Nicolas Houde was one of the few who captured it still snowing, with the storm still in progress, so that is where my vote landed.
John
Never seen MOW teams digging out switches in yards and on the mains, I take it?
I have. But these pictures show machines. I remember when snow fell, the switch heaters started screaming, the lone Maintainer at the interlocking tower hosted 20 or more guys to finish the job by shoveling and sweeping out the 20 or so switches, turnouts, derailers, etc, and set the smudge pots afire where the LP pipes were not. Snow was an exciting time on the railroad.
Still is. I didn’t really care for any of the photos in relation to the theme. Shows a bunch of people in warm(ish) cabs (well, maybe not the plow), or right outside a heated coach. That’s not winter’s wrath. Where’s the people up to their buttcheeks in snow? Now that’s some winter wrath.
I am 1 Mile from the UP Main Line. I walk my dog along the tracks all the time. It mostly skirts our wild-life marsh and federal ranch lands.
So I have Easy/Lots of access to pics of trains and track…but I live in USA CA 94585.
What am I supposed to take pictures of…cows lying around in 78 degree weather…chewing their green grass.? [:)]