December 2009 Contest

[JCagle]

The theme for December's contest is a Christmas Card. Maybe it's a shot with decorations, or perhaps it's a snow shot. If it would work as the picture on a Christmas card it will fit the theme!

Entries will be accepted until the 29th, and we will begin voting on the 30th.

Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

And as always the rules.....

All images entered in the contest must be your own images. Any violations of this will be banned from entering the contest for 6 months. Any subsequent violations will receive a minimum of 1 year suspension from the contest. At Jreb we take seriously the rights of photographers, and we strive to protect those rights.

Entries may be watermarked with your name if you desire, but please remove any references to other sites for contest entries.

There will be a theme announced for each month's contest.

All entries must be Norfolk Southern or it's predecessors.

There is no age limit or time frame that the pictures must be from.

Everyone including moderators and administrators may enter the contest.

Each participant is limited to two entries in the contest.

Since the winning image is posted on the main page you must attach the file as a thumbnail. You may post the image in the thread as well if you desire. Attaching the image can be done in the additional options menu above and to the left of the post button.

The deadline for entries will be posted in the theme post each month. Following the deadline a poll is placed in the thread for voting. When the poll is posted the deadline to vote is also posted. The poll will time out at the designated time. The winner is determined by the highest vote total.

In the event of a tie vote the moderator of the contest will cast the tie breaking vote.

[NS145]

NS 51V at Springfield, IL.  When I processed this photo last January, I thought to myself  that it would make a nice RR-themed Xmas postcard.  Strange...

[JCagle]

Do not forget to submit your entries to the contest the deadline is the 30th.

[tq-07fan]

264 drifts down Erlanger Hill into Ludlow Kentucky on January 25 2009.

Jim

[butch]

Jarrett's Tunnel on the S-Line from last January

[Whitethorne]

Would these photos fit?
First photo:822 at Ingleside,WV
Second photo:236 Vicker,VA

[mbgphoto79]

44N stops for papers @ Pomona Yard

[NS2593]

22A running through Jonesborough, TN.

[JCagle]

Would these photos fit?
First photo:822 at Ingleside,WV
Second photo:236 Vicker,VA

Yes, they will fit. This contest is pretty much wide open. As long as you'd make a Christmas card of it.

[Gage O'Dell]

I hope this will fit

[Conrail Tweety]

Some screen shots from Microsoft Train Simulator

NS 236 meets the NS 769 on the NS Christiansburg District of the Virginia Division, while NS 822 passes overhead on the NS Whitethorne District.


A heavy coal train climbs the grade eastbound from Cedar Bluff, Virginia on the Clinch Valley District of the Pocahontas Division.


EDIT: This website cropped the above images. Original versions can be seen at:
http://dennis.shelor.net/Forums/Train-Sim/Wabun3Way.jpg
http://dennis.shelor.net/Forums/Train-Sim/CedarBluff.jpg

[NS145]

Conrail Tweety: 

I think you're trying to "game" the contest! 

[Conrail Tweety]

Conrail Tweety:  

I think you're trying to "game" the contest!  

I don't remember ever shooting a photo of a train in the snow, so these "images" were a compromise.

The Wabun, VA three-way meet is from the "NS Radford District Route (Beta 0.90)" by Austin Yoder. It hasn't been released yet, and I'm doing beta testing, and I also created a custom 3-D model shape for the coaling tower at Vicker for the route. The route covers the north and south yards at Roanoke, the yards at Bluefield and Princeton, and everything in between. This shot was the one I selected from over 100 I made near Wabun, VA. There were several substitutions of locos, position changes, and time-of-day changes for this shot. This was a more difficult task than I had anticipated. The trees were in the way everywhere, and when I used a high camera angle to miss the trees, then far zoom caused most detail to be lost. The level of snow was less than I wanted, but would have involved modifying the route to change it, so I left it alone. This shot was staged, and all locos are stationary.

The shot from Cedar Bluff, VA came from the freeware "NS Clinch Valley Route" by Drifton Dalton. The route covers the wye at Cedar Bluff, VA, the yard at Bluefield, WV, and everything in between. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Dalton a few weeks ago while we were chasing the Amtrak Excursion Train between Roanoke and Bluefield. This shot was selected from nearly 500 I made in the Cedar Bluff area. I originally used older power, but the smoke looked terrible for a shot that was supposed to be pretty. So I substituted newer GEVO's on the head-end, and because they run much cleaner, the smoke is barely noticable. This train is a huge one, with over 100 loads, and three more GEVO's pushing from the rear. Since it was a clear day, there was good grip on the rail, and I had it in throttle Notch-4 at this spot, moving at 19 MPH. The head-end is on a shallow grade, while the pushers are still climbing a steeper section. This grade is quite difficult when the weather is snowing or rain. The location is between MP 399 and MP 398 eastbound between Cedar Bluff, Virginia and Pounding Mill, Virginia.

Dennis Shelor

[JCagle]

As always the voting will be open for 5 Days. Be sure to cast your vote.

[NS145]

Conrail Tweety:  

I think you're trying to "game" the contest!  

I don't remember ever shooting a photo of a train in the snow, so these "images" were a compromise.

The Wabun, VA three-way meet is from the "NS Radford District Route (Beta 0.90)" by Austin Yoder. It hasn't been released yet, and I'm doing beta testing, and I also created a custom 3-D model shape for the coaling tower at Vicker for the route. The route covers the north and south yards at Roanoke, the yards at Bluefield and Princeton, and everything in between. This shot was the one I selected from over 100 I made near Wabun, VA. There were several substitutions of locos, position changes, and time-of-day changes for this shot. This was a more difficult task than I had anticipated. The trees were in the way everywhere, and when I used a high camera angle to miss the trees, then far zoom caused most detail to be lost. The level of snow was less than I wanted, but would have involved modifying the route to change it, so I left it alone. This shot was staged, and all locos are stationary.

The shot from Cedar Bluff, VA came from the freeware "NS Clinch Valley Route" by Drifton Dalton. The route covers the wye at Cedar Bluff, VA, the yard at Bluefield, WV, and everything in between. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Dalton a few weeks ago while we were chasing the Amtrak Excursion Train between Roanoke and Bluefield. This shot was selected from nearly 500 I made in the Cedar Bluff area. I originally used older power, but the smoke looked terrible for a shot that was supposed to be pretty. So I substituted newer GEVO's on the head-end, and because they run much cleaner, the smoke is barely noticable. This train is a huge one, with over 100 loads, and three more GEVO's pushing from the rear. Since it was a clear day, there was good grip on the rail, and I had it in throttle Notch-4 at this spot, moving at 19 MPH. The head-end is on a shallow grade, while the pushers are still climbing a steeper section. This grade is quite difficult when the weather is snowing or rain. The location is between MP 399 and MP 398 eastbound between Cedar Bluff, Virginia and Pounding Mill, Virginia.

Dennis Shelor

The only way you could have improved your shots is if you had used SD70M-2's for the motive power! ;D  Actually, the GEVO's look great.  Thanks for sharing the info.

[Gage O'Dell]

Its a tie?!?!

[JCagle]

Congrats to mbgphoto79 and his shot of 44N. I will get it on the main page tomorrow evening. Since the voting was so close I am also going to include Batman's mid train slave in the facebook gallery of contest winners.

[mbgphoto79]

Thanks for the votes everyone!

[Ali Kenneth]

A fantastic winner! That is one of the best shots I have seen of NS in many, many hours of looking through the various photo sites. I hope you don't mind me using it as desktop background on my home PC?
Stunning!

Alasdair

[JCagle]

Yes, the contest did end in a tie during the allotted 5 day polling period. As the rules state if the voting is tied after the polling period then the moderator will cast the tie breaking vote. This has been included each month in the rules section of the opening post for each contest for some time now. The decision that was reached was based on nothing more than the theme.

[mbgphoto79]

A fantastic winner! That is one of the best shots I have seen of NS in many, many hours of looking through the various photo sites. I hope you don't mind me using it as desktop background on my home PC?
Stunning!

Alasdair

Thanks forthe interest in the image, it was a grab shot from the door sill of my car.  I was driving around Greensboro that night and didn't expect to see this train as early as I did.   Feel free  to use the image for as long as you like. 

Matt Guerrant