Trackside with Trains, Vol. 88 with guest Cody Grivno

As others have stated neither photo really said “Vote For Me”, though my favorites were the UP Granville and Amtrack shots – either would have been a TOUGH vote choice. Guess I’ll go with the “Old Timer’s” [:-^] shot of the UP. Southern AZ is much nicer than Tennessee in the Spring (Was 73 today). C’Mon Down. DadH

Too much…[:-^] And we don’t live in it, we stay inside whenever possible… I’m sick of it up here too.

I gotta agree with the Undecided Camp on this one…neither one stood out for me. About this time of year, though, I would be tempted to vote for any picture with no snow as the winner, no matter the other technical merits!

I agree, neither shot is a real grabber. I like the brilliant colors in Cody’s pic. I don’t have a problem with the snow & the framing with the piles is probably better than an over the top of it shot. A little smoke over the engine would have been nice, but you have to take what you get.

I voted for Mike’s shot, it just has a few more goodies. You can see the smoke, & you can see the lights better. The wrong side lighting is what makes it, tho. I recently shot some pics of a standing train during a crew change, & had the opportunity to shoot from both sides. As in Mike’s shot, the nose was shadowed from either side. My experience was the sunny side pics seemed washed out, probably because of all the snow. I admit, I shot with the camera only on “auto”, perhaps could have done better with some tinkering.

Keep the photos coming, guys (& gals) I enjoy your efforts.

Larry in Wauwatosa

Hello, Cody, and welcome to Trackside. I’ve never been to your corner of Minnesota, but I have been to International Falls. Glad to see you moved south for the warmer weather [:D]. How much “white stuff” do we get? Here in the Chicago area, this has been the 7th snowiest winter on record, the last two major storms just missed us (sorry, Milwaukee and Cleveland!), and early April snows are not unheard of. Still, I voted for your MSOR photo. The brilliant blue sky contrasting with the pure white of fresh snow and the bright red of the MSOR locomotives shows the beauty of the season, as well as man’s determination to deliver the goods. Mike’s photo, while showing more action, also showed the more depressing side of winter… overcast skies and dead brown vegetation. I usually vote for a photo based on which one I would rather include in a company calendar, and Cody’s shot won in that respect.

I prefered the UP shot.

While I appreciate the effect I think Cody was trying achieve with the snowbanks, to my eye the prespective just didn’t sit quite right. If it had been a natural formation of snow, like a drift, then it might have worked better. Additionally, it seemed a bit overexposed.

The “wrong side” shot of the UP looked nice. Yes, the sky was a washed-out grayish sort of non-descript feature, but the blue exhaust and the trees looked good (too bad about the foreground junk in the lower-right corner).

Actually, if both photographers had submitted their “other” photos (UP Granville job & the Columbus SOO/CP shot) I would have had a more difficut time chosing. I liked both of those better than the submitted images.

RED loco’s, WHITE snow, BLUE sky, Cody’s picture for me

Hadda go with Cody’s. Sunny side, brighter colors, snow drifts, etc. Admittedly pathetically poor reasons for judging between two very excellent photos.

While neither picture was overly exciting,both were examples of good solid railroad photography.I voted for Cody’s shot,mainly for the way the snowbank in the foreground framed the WS train.

TrackTalk 1 - Kearney, MO.[#offtopic]

Just a sidenote - I just noticed your hometown. I was the band director at

Lawson, MO. many years ago! Greetings to a neighbor!

I almost went with the UP shot but I liked the great color contrast in Cody’s shot. Red, white and blue…what’s not to like.

I, too, found the piles of snow distracting. I also like pictures of railroads “at work,” which Mike provided very nicely. The “pristine” nature of the snowy landscape was also a plus for me, so Mike gets my vote this time.

Hi, guys,
I really like both photos, but most of my railroad shots this winter have been a lot of winter, so I’ve gotten flat looking at so many snow shots. I live in Mead, Washington right next to a BNSF branch that comes from the north and winds its way down to join the main line in Spokane. We have a morning and an evening train, both with 5 or 6 GPs pulling a lot of weight.
In contrast to that, my daughter and family live up in Sagle, Idaho right next to the main BNSF North-South main from Coer D’Alene to Canada. They have trains about every 15 to 30 minutes rummbling through. I make a lot of excuses to be up there “visiting” my grand children and I always have my camera with me.
Contrary to some, I really like the bright white, rolling snow piles framing the red/white of the WSOR against the bright blue sky. I’m afraid it’s my vote.
However, Mike’s Sheboygan UP shot has some neat framing with the jagged lines of the bare trees in the background, contrasted with the smooth yellow lines of the engines and the shadows on the snow. The WSOR just has a bit more color, but they are still very close photos. Nice goin’ guys.
-Chris Eaton, Mead, WA