Good morning, Trains Nation.
Just wanted to let you know that this week’s photo contest is live and posted here: http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/trackside/2015/07/glass
We’ve got eight excellent submissions on the theme: Glass.
Hope you enjoy.
Best,
Steve S.
I am surprised…I voted for Alex Mayes because his picture had the most glass applied to a train. Jim Ribar was second choice since it probably had the most glass. But the surprise is at this point, five hours into the posting of the pictures and it is almost an 8 way dead heat!
This contest is a very weird one, and the voting results reflect that wierdness.
The Alex Mayes photo is a super eye-catcher, and early so!
Mitch Goldman’s photo strikes me as way out of kilter composition-wise, but the all-important theme-wise it grows on one and is a masterpiece!
Jim Ribar’s at first seemed so very much theme related, but the problem with it is the obvious glass is not railroad related.
Tom Nanos put out the weirdest one of them all. It was ludicrous … until one figures it out. Once one does, Tom becomes among the gods!
Glad to increase the “weirdness quotient” a bit…as you could tell, I look at things differently… 
I really like Ribar’s photo: lots of trains and lots of glass. [swg]
The Ogilvie Transportation Center occupies the lower floors of the Citigroup Center, which is the glass building in the photo.
The old stone head house was razed in 1984 to make way for the 42-story Citigroup Center, which was completed in 1987 and now serves as the main station entrance. It also houses a ticketing area as well as a food court and other retail shops, restaurants and amenities.
The passenger platforms and adjoining facilities were renovated starting in 1992, after Metra bought them from Chicago and North Western. Upon completion of the $141 million project, the station was renamed the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center in 1997, after the former governor who championed mass transit and was the major architect of legislation that established the Regional Transportation Authority.
The OTC now serves as the terminus for three Metra routes that bring more than 40,000 commuters to the station each weekday.
I went with Jim Ribar’s photo. The location is near where I work and I occasionally ride out of North Western Station. Now I know what the engineer sees upon arrival.