This week, Andy Cummings from Trains magazine joins Drew Halverson and shares photos of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) from his recent trip to South Dakota.
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Click here to vote then add your comments about this week’s photos here.
Erik
I liked the unique angle Drew used for the CN shot. I am, however, appalled by the incredible danger inherent in what he did. What if that train had hit a car or pedestrian? I’ve seen many railfans taking pictures or just watching trains from the opposite side (from direction of movement) of crossings for many years, and each time I had a brief moment of concern for the photographer should my train hit something or someone. I somehow think that he did not follow the "100’"rule. Having said that, it is an interesting shot.
My favorite of Andy’s shots is the one of the DM&E going over the bridge. My second favorite is the one he submitted: with the horses. My third favorite is the one climbing Wall hill. All of his images are (to me) composed well, show the location well, are very colorful, and overall are quite nice. Each one could be a calendar shot for the DM&E.
Andy by a landslide.
**WOW…Loved the shots of D M & E and my olde stomping ground.**MADE ME HOMESICK… Almost. As KELO-TV Bureau Chief in Aberdeen in early 90’s, got down round PEER an Mitchell occaisionly… Chasing was never a problem what with a 10MPH embargo most of the time. Loved seeing those rustyolde CNW SD9’S shuttleing nawth to svc the elevators south of Aberdeen then headin’ up to cnxn with BN.
Down heah in the heart of dixie (mungummrie) all we’ve got is CSX, with an occaisonal visit from NS via the olde G M & O line…Or go east to Columbus for Gawgia SouthWestern…ANYWHO:if ya’al ever start a “video trackside”… let me know. Have some interesting vid stashed away from my stays in IOWAY, MICHIGAN ETC. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK…Love seeing all the rusty ole SOO LINE STUFF.
Dave Finger APTV.
Andy, love your wide open spaces shot. I think what makes it is that the two engines have the same horizonal color scheme that emphasize the railroading part of the photo. Also, no trees, I’m not fond of trees as they cut out what little sun we get here in the Pacific NW. Larry
I love both shots - it’s like asking which of your children you love best.
I would have voted for the DM&E train at the lattice truss bridge. Does anyone have a shot of the North Western, steam or diesel, at this location?
$4 a gallon sure put a crimp on my train chasing. Luckily, being a senior, I can ride all over Metra for free. Unexpectedly caught a UP switch job backing out of a siding at Pingree Road waiting to return on the UPNW. Missed an afternoon freight, mostly empty auto racks to Janesville though.
I’d like a contemporary shot of the UP at the bridge over the Fox River. There’s a park along the river to shoot from 3-4 blocks west of the Fox River Grove station. You can get a drink of water at the library along the way.
Of the two selected for competition, I like the DM&E shot better, and voted that way. There’s a lot to be said for viewing a great deal of a given train in the distance (one of the reasons I like the area between Meredith and Cortland along Illinois 38 so much!), because it gives one a true sense of what we’re really doing out there.
As for the ditch shot, I think I’ll stand apalled with Jim–if something should come at you, there’s no place to go. It doesn’t have to be catastrophic: for example, I’ve seen a stake bopping along the tracks at the end of a lading strap still held by the load in a flat car. And what did you gain from it? A totally weird angle on a CN unit (it might be the paint scheme that makes it weird; a more solid-colored unit might look better).
I feel like I have to agree with zardoz…it does seem to be a rather dangerous position but beside the point of the whole matter it is a great shot. But I think the animals in Andy’s shot capture the mood of the moment better. So Andy gets my vote! Otherwise all the shots are really great. Keep up the good works guys!
I went with the horses… I would not normally go with the wider angle shot, but the barn, horses and the wide open range really appealed to me. I really like Drew’s ditch shot, and could have voted for it any number of times other than this week. It really is a nice twist on the overused traditional wedgie!! I agree with the others, that this could have put you in a bad spot had something bad happened. ON the other hand not being there with you at the time it’s hard to be too judgmental because maybe you had good egress and agood zoom to give you plenty of time to get out of the area after getting the shot.
Tough vote, liked them both. The fact that the iron horses and their predecessors are caught in one frame sold me on Andy’s shot. Good work guys.
Fred
The “ditch angle” on Drew’s CP photo made the locomotive seem grotequely huge… like a recurring nightmare for a motorist who has spent too many hours of his life at one of the many crossings in the Chicago area. By comparison, I liked Andy’s wide-open-spaces DM&E photo much better. With or without the horses, I would have voted for Andy this time.
I went Andy’s shot this week. Both shots were something other than a tradition zoom or wedgie. Andy’s appealed to me because it included not only the train but the landscape it travels in. I think many railroad photographers (including myself) concentrate too much on capturing the leading locomotive or the consist without giving the viewer any indication where the photo was taken. Although unique, Drew’s photo could have been taken in Waukesha, Nashville, or Topeka. Drew’s photos of switch job with the 6th Street Bridge in the background is another great example of being able to identify with the location of a shot.
While I liked the “in your face” nature of Drew’s shot, the train being more or less dwarfed by its surrounding in Andy’s shot won me over. It was a tough decision, though. On another day, I might have voted the other way.
I’ll admit that CN shot was not only “ballsy” but definitely “IN YOUR FACE!” - However, that long meadow shot took me back to childhood where I could stand in my country bedroom window and watch the trains traverse across the landscape about a mile away, day and night. When you’re my age, nostalgia has a tendency to always overrule “ballsy-ness”! . . . Glorious shot, young man. Congratulations.
Two winners this time. It’s one of the few times I’ve wished I could cast a 50/50 vote.
Andy’s DM&E entry tugged at my emotions because the setting is very much like the area where I grew up (along the Soo) in south central North Dakota.
Drew’s submission of the CN power at a well-protected grade crossing…from an uncommon angle…simply had big-time railroading written all over it, and got my vote.
Gents…thanks to both of you for outstanding work.
TJB
Nashville, TN
I went with Andy’s shot this time.Those wide open spaces.with the red barn and horses in the foreground won me over.[:)]
Fine shots both, but - and I realize the safety concerns - went with the ditch shot. Sorry, horses.
And in the Picky Dept., the plane behind the guys at Ellsworth AFB is a B-52, not a B-1. Not difficult to tell the difference, seeing as how the types look nothing alike.
Has anybody else noticed that the plane behind Andy is a B-52, not a B-1??? That would be like looking at a 70ACe and calling it a SD24!!
Both pictures were great. I really liked the down and dirty grime look on Drew’s shot. However, with so many rain days, I needed a perkier shot.
A grab shot is usually just that. In this case the engines are too close to the edge running out of the image, they are too far away. Not a bad horse shot however.
The CN image was much better, thought out things were placed not grabbed.
A very tough choice. The close-up shot Drew took was fantastic and yes very dangerous. Surviving alone deserves a vote (Remember don’t try this shot at home), but the wide open shot of Andy’s was unique. Throw in both nature’s horse power along with the man’s mechanical huge horse power got my vote.
Andy gets my vote… Real Horses in the foreground; Iron Horses in the background: and a Red Barn sandwiched between. Awesome. DadH