This week’s installment of Trackside with Erik and Mike is now live within the Railroading section on the Trains.com home page. Please read this week’s column and then vote for your favorite photo below. Click here to read Trackside with Erik and Mike Vol. 36.
TOUGH, this is too tough!! They are both awesome but I have to go with an SD70ACe.
Don’t get me wrong, the other photo with the BN “whiteface” SD60M ROCKS OUT LOUD!!! But I have to go with the railroad I model and have an era of.
So photo number two is my pick!! ACe’s rock all the way!!
Richard
I have to say I like Mike’s photo a little better. Just because I can see more of the train.
Mike’s photo is a little dark, but I like how the headlights glint off the rails.
Both Nice shots of loco’s working hard.
Just think the SD70ACe is a contender for “Ugliest Loco ever built” title.
Geoff
mike’s photo appealed to me i liked the whitenose on the BN loco,and how the lights were shining on the rails.
It was a tough one this week,but I finally went for Erik’s photo of the SD70ACe.That engine is so close I can feel the power as the train rolls past[8D]. The fact that it is a manifest did’nt hurt either.Mike, I’m sure your shot could have won against a different photo.It was real close this time.
It is tough, but it looks to me as if the CSX shot is slightly overexposed and the whiteface BN catches the soft light of the end or beginning of the day just perfectly.
i liked mikes shot best. the heat and smoke over the top of the loco realy show a
locomotive hauling the bacon.you can almost hear and that baby howling.
I went with the BN. We’ve been seeing a lot of SD70ACe’s in new paint schemes lately, and seeing an older green and white BN is a good change of color.
BN SD-60m all the way.
Sorry Mike, I went with Erik’s this time. The contrast looks brighter in Erik’s photo and the CSX loco definitely looks different. Looks like a modified Dash 9?
Erik, The Chillicothe Corn Fest was GREAT. We gave motorcar rides Saturday 7/30 and Sunday 7/31. I would say we probably ran about 100 miles. Plus Saturday night the Iowa Interstate Engineer and Maintenance of Way employee were able to get a track warrant for us to ride into Peoria up to the yard limit almost to the water plant located on Rt. 29. They also road along with us. We had about 15 motorcars this year which included 3 gang cars, 1 of them owned by a Metra Engineer! It was cool!!!
I went with the BN shot this time, I like a whiteface anytime.
Erik, I was to the same John Deer Combine facility two years ago. That place is an awesome tour! But what I liked the bext was that a little was away from there, there was a locomotive graveyard with hundreds of old, dead locomotives, and if I remeber right somewhere near the plan too there was a old SOO caboose as a permenent railroad office, as well as a few SOO locomotives parked there. I just barely remember the details, but I remember that I had fun!
Noah
I voted for Erik’s photo. I like the angle that the train’s shown at and think that overall it’s a better picture. I prefer the BN unit in Mike’s photo to the CSX one in Erik’s, but, as was talked about after the results of the last voting, this isn’t so much about which train we like better, but which is a better picture.
I voted for Eriks because of two big +'s. The first reason is because I love ACe’s, the second reason is because I saw that same unit (4849) in NJ around April, 2005. But both of your pictures were very good.
I went with Erik this time, because it was a clearer photo. Otherwise I wasn’t that fired up about either.
I see quite a number of pictures daily, and I’m sorry but Eric’s just doesn’t stand out. Mike’s, on the other hand, is not run-of-the-mill. It’s not a “perfect” shot (whatever that is), but it is a bit different, with the lights coming out of darkness.
Bear
Well a white faced BN unit always something different to see. The CSX is okay but the lights on the rails is a trip.
Yikes! For the last few contests, you guys keep making it tougher and tougher to pick a winning shot. The two pictures are both so good that it is very difficult to decide which one should get my vote. After studying both shots, I decided that I liked Erik’s shot over Mike’s simply because I liked Erik’s in your face composition of the lead engine more. Yes, Mike gave a great shot of the locomotives and consist of the BNSF train that out does Erik’s shot but there is something about staring at the CSX’s nose that tugged at my love of railroading even more. Great work to both of you! I look forward to the fantastic shots you guys will submit for the next contest.
The great battle of the wedgies! This was a tough one this week, I actually had to study both of them to try to figure out which one I liked better. And finally after some back and forth between the two I finally decided on Mike’s for two reasons:
1.) In the very bottom center of Erik’s picture it looks like there are some weeds that are really close and out of focus, and I found that a little distracting.
2.) It looks like the CSX loco in Erik’s is a little crooked. I’m not sure if it is just a perspective issue, or if my monitor is not quite level [;)].
Either way superb job by all involved. And I’m glad to see that Mike is exposing future generations to the wonderful world of trains!