Eight of our 14 photographers participated in this round of Trackside, theme: Coal.
View the photos and vote for your favorite.
Enjoy!
I voted for Jim Wrinn’s photo but rather reluctantly. Reluctant in that I really don’t find any of the pics as “now” as the word “now” indicates and thus wasn’t going to vote at all. Kathi’s was interesting in comparing a steam locomotive to a diesel. Jim’s beat it out only because it showed the gray NS Gon’s which are contemporary marketing. As trite as it might seem the best concept of “coal now” would have been a four abreast shot in the Powder River basin. The sillouotte shots showed nothing new, and the others were just pictures. Not really a good demonstrive showing over all this week guys.
Several good photos referencing “coal” this week, relating to the coal theme. Kathi’s rendition got right to the subject.
I’m looking for the beauty in this week’s photograph and how the photo displays it, and a sharp reference to coal.
I believe Alex’s photo meets that criteria very well this week. Knowing this line {and he said so}, is former B&O territory and of course now CSX and is deeply involved in hauling coal out of, and thru that area.
The beauty of the extensive black and white along with the not so clean hard working power and coal cars puts the photo qualifying for my vote.
There were a lot of fascinating photos in this installment. Nearly every one of 'em would be a great shot just to have.
(As an aside, I wish Matt had re-entered that shot of his with the four UP coal trains. It has been in the contests before–and I think I voted for it!–and it appears in this month’s issue of Trains. But it would have gotten my vote again.)
I picked Elrond Lawrence’s shot, because it shows a unit train, the coal loads, the DP units, everything that appears in a modern coal operation. This says nothing that would detract from the quality of any of the others, and I would have gone for Jim’s, David’s, or Drew’s quickly had my mood been slightly different. Kat, I liked yours, too, but it certainly was a niche application of the topic.
I went with Jim Wrinn’s photo in part because it DOES NOT show a unit train and in part because I grew up near Rail To Water Transfer in Chicago. A reload facility is fascinating in its own right and I enjoy seeing cars pushed through the unloaders to fill a lake boat.
I voted for Elrond’s photo cause I like his name for one thing. but really, for me, it was the extreme heat waves boiling out of the pushers, you can tell they was workin hard, plus I like the desert terrain and overall composition, there is a lot to look at.
Living in coal drag country, Elrond’s photo spoke to me the most for content. Additionally I like the curves, the meet, the heat plume, the small old wood power poles, the western background…
I am usually a sucker for sunset photos, but since there were two of these photos entered my vote was split. Maybe it’s the fact I live in Western PA and I’ve got over 3 feet of snow in my yard, I’ve traveled through Paw Paw, West Virginia many a time, (and yes that is the true name of the town. Don’t blink twice while passing through, you’ll miss it.) and I’ve seen many a CSX coal train roll down the tracks, so I voted for Alex Mayes great shot of the powerful CSX coal train coming out of the tunnel near Paw Paw. Just a great Coal Country shot in the middle of winter.
Jim Wrinn nailed it (for me) this week…and I didn’t have to spend much time deciding.
TJB / Nashville, TN
I went with Jim Wrinn’s shot. The drama of the rail-to-water transfer process appealed to me. How many generations of workers, thousands of loaded hoppers and untold tons of coal has that old Heyl & Patterson dumper seen, in the background? Yet it’s still on the job, still delivering WV and KY ‘coal now’ to the holds of waiting lakers for its onward trip. (I almost called it a McMyler dumper, until I read Jim’s narrative more carefully.)
I voted for Jim Wrinn’s photo. It was different to the others showing how the coal is loaded/unloaded. In my opinion had a lot more to the photo than the others. Kathi Kube’s photo was also good in that it showed something different but unfortunately could only vote for one.
Here’s my thoughts, top to bottom:
Drew, Steve, David, Andy - beautiful shots, no coal visible.
Jim - plenty of coal, just didn’t like the lighting very much.
Alex - great snow shot, just felt like it was too loco-oriented.
Kathi - wonderful twist on the theme 
Elrond - that’s what I was looking for! Lots of black gold being shoved through the countryside by hard working DPUs.
I agree that a Powder River meet would have taken the cake for me, however.
My major criteria for judging the pictures each edition is whether they speak to the theme without explanation or interpretation.
Kathi’s entry does have a unique perspective on the theme.
Alex, as noted, didn’t really have a lot of coal but was otherwise a noble entry.
Elrond showed plenty of coal - which speaks to the theme for me and got my vote.
Jim’s shot deserves honorable mention, but even then, you kind of have to understand what’s going on to appreciate the connection to the theme.
The rest were just pictures of railroad cars…
Exactly right. If I have to think hard about what the picture says…I think it’s missing something. Nice shot Elrond.
Some nice images here. Yet while it’s not my favorite of the bunch–and it would have been nice had the locomotive been prominent in the photo–Kathi’s shot conveys the theme in a way no one else really did. The other photos, however pretty or well-composed, emphasized the equipment over the load; in most you could barely see the load if at all. Seen in isolation, would we guess they were about coal, or motive power, or heavy-duty main lines? And to be fair, Kathi’s composition requires background knowledge to understand. But there’s no mistaking the subject.