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 72
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
I liked both photo’s but I went with Mike’s photo this week. I really liked how the light from the train was enhanced by the rain.
I voted for Mike’s shot this time. I just like the moodyness that the fog and rain add to the subject.
The cleanliness, simplicity, and wide-openness of Erik’s shot appealed to me.
However, Mike’s shot evoked a much more emotional response. Yes, it is noisy…but it is night, and you can see the entire train!
Additionally, I can appreciate the difficulty of getting a quality image under those conditions. Very creative!
Mike got the vote.
Non-photographer Carl reporting (I’m just saying that to let the people know that in no way could I match the skill required to obtain either of these shots).
So I can’t comment on the quality of the shots, just on which one grabs me. It was almost a tie this time, but Mike gets my vote (despite the rain, which actually felt cold to me). I like the closeness of the subject, and the fact that things are green, not that dusty stuff out west that has to serve for green.
I wish I could say more about what influences me to choose one shot over another from time to time. When you get to edition #80 of this, remind me to have a look back at #72 and see whether my opinion (or my reason) has changed. It was very close this time.
…Must vote for Erik’s out in the open Wy. railroad {special}, action shot. Love how it shows the civil engineer’s “work” to get the rail line through such terrain. And the wide open space of the western landscape.
…I like Mike’s night shot too {very much}…I happen to like night shots and understand a good measure of difficulity was present to attain his photo.
This was a close call for me to make…Appreciate both shots.
Had to make a choice and did that with Erik’s.
Mikes shot says something visceral about slogging out a tough job during less than ideal time and conditions. Eriks is neat, especially the way it looks almost like a painting. The interesting aspect of Erik’s shot to me is that the train is heading away from the camera instead of the usual toward the camera/photographer type shot.
However, the fact that the landscape seems to swallow the train up and it is heading away make it just a bit too different for my likes. Mike gets my vote. Cool shots tho.
I got a bit sad when I saw Erik’s shot of the CNW units faded to all he** in WY. It’d be nice to get them painted up and redone along with some cars. Maybe as a second business train set available that’s unique to UP.
Each picture for this week’s vote had its own unique taste that made them great, despite the fact that each also lacked some detail of the consist shown (Mike’s because it was dark; Erik’s because it was at a distance).
Mike’s UP “stealth mission” shot in the rain gives off a deep, gloomy mood that I like. There’s a hazy, “misterious” (mysterious, get it?) atmosphere coupled with a train braving the storm to get to its destination and make its set-out…the picture almost tells a story on its own, I feel. Kind of a “ghost train” feel.
Much like his magnificent close-up shot of UP 844’s light and number boards, Erik’s UP business train shot with the 844 is of the aesthetic kind that I would rate for a rail photography show. The Wyoming landscape seen in the background is quite inviting (particularly the large rock formation in the upper left) and gives an open feel. Even though it is far away, I like how you can see the whole consist, thanks to the curved track. Modern steam at its finest.
Erik’s pictures from the UP factory yard indeed invite promising possibilities. I can totally see the engine with new CNW colors, and I would totally have that B-unit decked out in Rio Grande heritage colors!
That night shot of the UP was it for me… although I liked the steam train with all the UP coaches… the going away shot just didnt do it for me, even with the entire train in the pic…
I’m gonna go with Mike’s shot this week.
Erik: First let me say that I really liked your shot, but it was too far in the distance, darn it! Should have taken advantage of that telephoto lens power! I had to vote for Mike. Sorry! I am an avid steam fan and really liked your last couple of steam shots, but this one - I need a loupe!
Show us some more of the stuff that you took while in Cheyenne!
Regards
I’m withholding my vote this week. Mike, nice try, but too bad about the digital noise and the traffic headlights. At least with film you don’t get digital noise. Or is that another name for grain? Erik, you would have had a better position on that rise to the right of your photo. It sits in the center of the converging tracks with an excellent view to the east or west of either line.
I love Eric’s shot of the UP Steamtrain with 844 in the lead. No matter how you shoot that shot, you’ll have a winner. What would have made this picture even better would have been a big billow of white/gray exhaust training the loco as she heads around the bend!
But in this case, Mike’s night shot has so much texture, that it’s hard to pass on. I love the flash of the rain in the headlights. It tells me something is happening here. Who knows, maybe that train is struggling against a mighty head wind of almost hurricane proportions. We don’t know. But we can certainly wonder.
Both shots have their merits, but I chose Mike’s.
I was using almost everything I had in the bag (250mm). I was probably over a half mile away from where the locomotive was in that shot.
Looks like it’s time to step up to a 400mm! [:D] Yeah, like that’ll ever happen.
No can do for two reasons.
First, at the time my friend Kent Johnson was in a leg support boot from his knee down (blew out his achillies playing hoops with Tom Danneman and me). Thus, Tom, Mike, and I only wanted to go where Kent could go, so we didn’t want to hike up on that bluff.
Next, that bluff might be considered tresspassing on railroad property, and there were M.O.W. crews all over the place that morning. (You can see some of them on the double track main in my photo.)
In Volume 73 I’ll probably show a unit train of covered hoppers heading east on the double track mainline, snaking past the bluff you mention.
Thanks for reading.
Erik
I went with Mike’s this week. Both shots interesting, it wasn’t an instant decision. I guess I was intrigued by the technical aspect of Mike’s shot, even tho I realize Erik’s was not just an “aim & shoot” shot either.
Larry in Wauwatosa
I voted for Mikes photo because it definately not your average picture. It has a mysterious quality about it. I liked the contents of Eriks photo but it was too far distant for me to make out clearly.
Sorry guys, but I am both a steam and streamliner fan. The moody night shot was great, but the red-and-yellow streamliner on a curve will always capture my heart. Wonder if there is a drawing room available in car 1015?
Another round of hating to have to choose- I wish I could choose both. This time, Mike wins by a nose.
Sorry Erik, Mike’s shot, inspite of its grain, shows a greater technical difficulty. Your shot Erik is a straight forward one which I felt has too much scenery.
Of note, is that a track maintenance unit on the other track? If this has already been answered, apologies, I have decided to make my [2c] worth.