Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 59

I went with A. I do think that B had a potentially better, or more interesting, shot but the contrast was missing that might have captured my eye. A got my vote because it was more pleasing to my eye.

Bill W

I go with picture B. The “former BNSF” one. I guess it should be “BNSF (former BN)”.
Jeff

I like Photo A. I agree Photo B had more potential interest, but I would have liked to have seen it composed better. The reflection of the Metra’s lights off of the containers was cool, but at the expense of chopping off the lights, depot, stop sign etc. I also believe that if I wanted to capture “life at the depot” I would have used perspective from the ground like I was there instead of this particular “bird on a wire” angle. Photo B appealed to me more with the sweeping curve taking the loco right in to the middle and (which probably sounds weird) is how exquisitely perfect the track, ties and ballast look. I wonder if that M.O.W. crew could help me with my garden railroad!

…My vote must go to Photo B. I consider both photos to be photographical equal. The difference for me to make the decision between the two is: Photo B has more “railroad stuff” included in it…Commuter station…signals…station platforms…road / rail crossing and signals…{both have a train}, communication lines. So the vote was based on such.

Wow, thanks for all the comments, boys.

Anyone have some sunshine to spare? [:D]

Bergie

I preferred Photo B as I felt it represented the “Norm” of day-to-day railroading; not only a freight has appeared but a “passenger” train closes in! The terminal details helped as well.

And we have plenty of sunshine to spare in So. Arizona. “Come on Down”. DadH

I went with photo B this week, it was more of what it’s like for railroading in the city is like, there are not to many pictures like that in the mix. I enjoy the work that both of you do, I look forward to coming home from work each monday to see what you’ve got for us. Thank you.

I went with photo A. Most of the comments posted above pretty much say it all, though I’ll add that I like the way that the Iron Highway parallels the little blacktop road on the right. The depot shot seems just a bit too busy for me, though it is a nice shot!

Weather forcast for the next two days is mostly sunny – hope to see you trackside! [}:)]

Good shots, both. Just a personal feeling, I like the surroundings in photo B. It gives me a feeling of telling more of a story. Nice work, guys.

Larry in Wauwatosa

Photo B for Me:

So many ingredients!

Darn near a toss up. I chose A on gut feel.

Photo B was shot at some elevation. A step ladder? Small hill? Standing on roof of car? Just curious…

Both shots are very good, but 90% of the time we see shots of trains coming around curves, out in the country, etc. We rarely see shots of trains, particularly freight trains traveling through towns and railway stations. Having grown up in a railroad town picture B gives you a good feel of a massive freight train rolling through town while you are waiting for your commuter train to come and take you to work. Great job catching all the minute details, from the people waiting, the signage, and the magnificent angle that catches the grander picture.

Thanks, Fuzzy – we’ll be enjoying the sunshine from inside our offices at our fun jobs at Kalmbach Publishing Co.

Wow, I had to vote for photo B. It looks like a scene right out of Model Railroader! If you sit back and look at the photo, it looks like someone shot a picture of a model railroad. Now that is COOL!

Stay Safe, Jim

You guys need to have the company designate this weekly feature as one of the required tasks of your job. Then you’ll have a good excuse for going railfanning on company time![:D]

Wow. Had to go with B. And had to say thank you for the blast from the past. My grandparents lived in La Grange for many years, about 1 block from the EMD plant and only minutes down the road from the Western Springs station. It’s where I was introduced to prototype (and model) railroading. Great memories.

Went with A… photo B has too many distractions, namely the light post on the left side. There are a couple of places along the Western Springs station to get better angles, this is not one of them. Yes, the train does seem to be dwarfed by it’s surroundings, but, I have discovered that seems to be the case whenever I shoot along that portion of BNSF… It’s an effect I like. But, photo A for me… Photo B just doesn’t look very good…

I picked B this time.

While I really liked photo A, I thought that photo B’s background of the station and waiting commuters made it a tad better. So B won my vote this time. Tough choice gentlemen! Great submittals from you both.

I thought both photographs were done well given the conditions, and even with all the clutter, I enjoyed ‘B’ more than ‘A’. I liked the fact that all the elements said passanger rail and here was a freight train rolling by… nice juxtaposition.

Greg
“wcnut”