I had spent a bit of time preparing to photograph the Flying Scotsman on a Saturday morning at the Watercress Line. Once done, I had gone home and picked up Nancy so we could head to an appointment that we had in Itchen Abbas. When we finished there, the plane was to head to Alresford for some other stuff. This was going to take us by the bridge in Bishop’s Sutton that goes over the track. I thought it was about the time that another of the Scotsman’s planned runs should take place. Consequently, we drove by that way.
There were plenty of people on the bridge when we got there so I parked and asked if it was due. Someone said five minutes, so I grabbed the cameras from the car. As I did so, I saw people lifting cameras to their eyes so zipped back. The train was already climbing the hill out of Alresford. The longer shots were not great because the heat haze was already showing itself, but they were okay. As it came up the cutting, it was making plenty of power. Then it was gone. We were back in the car and off to our destination and it had barely taken five minutes out of our day!
In a recent post, I told the story of my less than successful efforts to photograph the Flying Scotsman at the Watercress Line. In that entry, I mentioned how much public attention the loco gets. Given the number of large steam locomotives that there are in the country, it is interesting just how much more this one attracts visitors. If it helps the railways get some additional revenue, it is surely a good thing. Seeing as I had messed up getting photos on that occasion, I decided to try again the following weekend. The weather forecast was far nicer. Moreover, I spent a load of time thinking about what I would do. Even then, as I headed out in the morning, I had a couple of options with the things I was bringing.
I took two cameras with me and the Insta360 as well. I also had a clamp mount which I hadn’t decided whether I would use for the Insta360 of the second camera. I figured I would decide when I got there. Since the weather was nice and the Scotsman is popular, I worried that it might be pretty busy. There are limited parking spaces on the lane near the crossing I was going to, so I headed out in plenty of time. Of course, when I arrived, there was no one else around. Plenty of time to now kill!
I walked up to the crossing and found it empty. This gave me loads of time to decide on what to do. I had brought some PocketWizards with me. If I was going to use the second camera, these would be used to trigger that body.
As I unwrapped the PocketWizards, I realised that the Velcro cover I used for them would also make a nice wrap for the Insta360 handle. I attached it to the fence and wrapped the handle to the fence posts, and it provided a nice secure fit which meant I know had the clamp mount available. The Insta360 is controllable from my phone, so I was able to leave it fully extended and just activate it from the app when ready. I did a test with it when it stopped recording after 20 seconds. I have no idea why it did that so tried a couple of further recordings which all worked fine so I decided that was good to go.
While the PocketWizards can be used to trigger the second body when the first is firing, I didn’t actually want that. The two bodies were set up for different shooting scenarios – the long lens would cover the approach of the train but, during that time, it would be so far away that there would be no benefit to shooting with the wide-angle lens. Similarly, once it was close enough for the wide angle, the long lens would already be too much so I would have stopped shooting with it. Consequently, I handheld the PocketWizard and triggered it by hand when required.
I clamped the mount to the bottom of the fence with the camera at ground level looking up at the approaching train. I normally use back button focus but I don’t think that would activate via the PocketWizard, so I switched it to front button for focus and exposure. The joy of a flexible screen is that you can frame up the shot without having to be a contortionist which is good news for those of us with a few years under our belts. With everything set up, I set off a few test shots to see if everything was working. It all seemed good so now it was time to wait.
I was expecting one or two movements before the Scotsman which would give me a chance to test things out. There is a shuttle that is used to take people from Ropley to Alresford for the main event so I figured that would come through. It would be going the wrong way but would allow some practice. However, there was more than I expected. The first thing to appear was a steam loco running light in reverse from Ropley. Turned out that it was the Scotsman heading from Ropley to Alresford to join the train. That was a nice option but, of course, it had no coaches and, since it was running downhill, it wasn’t making much power. The shuttle also ran back, and forth which gave me some practice while another train rain down to Alresford for a service that would come after the Scotsman had departed for its first run.
All of this provided me with time to play around with the set up and make sure all was working the way I wanted. Then it was time for the reason for being there. The train departed Alresford pretty much on time. Since it is quite a climb up to Ropley, the loco was making lots of power and there was a banking engine on the rear too. The smoke could be seen through the gap in the trees, so we knew it was coming. Eventually it came around the corner in the cutting, and we could get some shots.
I started the Insta360 first and then proceeded to get some longer shots as it approached. As it got closer, I dropped down and photographed through the fence to look up at the loco as it came closer. Then I switched to the PocketWizard and took a bunch of it as it passed. I have no control on where the camera chooses to focus in that situation, but I was rather happy with the results. I even got some interesting shots of the driver and one of the passengers leaning out of the window. Then I took a few shots of the train as it retreated. That was very backlit, but it still made for an interesting view. And then it was done! All of that prep for a brief moment.
The people rapidly scattered and I started disassembling the things I had put in place. I had brought a small stool with me but that had never been used. Too much messing with gear or chatting to the others that had come alone. It was a very friendly atmosphere and made you feel good about being out on a sunny Saturday morning. I retraced my steps to the car. As I walked along the lane, I heard another whistle and pulled up the camera I had on a strap around my shoulder. The train that had run down to Alresford earlier was now making its run. It was skylined on the ridge above me and I just happened to be by a gap in the hedge so was able to grab a few remaining shots. Then it was time to head home.
The Watercress Line had arranged for the Flying Scotsman to make a visit to the railway. This locomotive seems to really capture the attention of the public, so it was a major event for them. They even lengthened the platform at Alresford to allow longer trains to be formed meaning more passengers could be carried. They were running on two consecutive weekends, and my sister was interested in seeing it. I was always going to be game for a photo trip. She could only do one weekend of the two and I only had one day free that weekend so that was going to be the one.
Sadly, the weather wasn’t being very cooperative. It was very overcast and there was a decent chance of rain. Even so, there were plenty of people out at the crossing we were going to when we got there. Plenty of space for everyone but definitely popular. As the time for the loco approached, I changed a setting on the camera for a higher frame rate and got in position. I decided to take a couple of quick shots before it came in to view just to check all was well. It wasn’t!
As soon as I hit the shutter button, the screen was covered in a “Busy” message. This caught me out. It wouldn’t go away quickly. I turned the camera off, but it still took a while. When it came back on, I tried again and the same thing. This time I pulled the battery and reset. Third time the result was the same. By now the loco was coming into view. Since I didn’t know what the issue was and time was ticking, I tried switching over to video and that worked so I instead videoed the train as it came by.
The video was fine but not great and, if I had planned for that, I would have done things slightly differently. However, it did recover the situation to some extent. The video I took is below.
Once the train had gone, I went home and then pulled out the camera to see what had occurred. I had made a very dumb error. It would have been easily fixed too. When changing the frame rate, I had accidentally switched to the HC mode on the R3. This is the mode that allows 194fps in short bursts of up to 50 frames. Once you shoot like this, it locks up the buffer until everything has been written to the card. Then it is ready to shoot again. What a dope. Oh well, it wasn’t a total disaster and my sister got to see the train which was the main point of being there in the first place. However, now I was thinking about a second effort. More to come…
A Ladybird Book reference in the title for some of you of a certain age from a certain country. An exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York is a sectioned steam locomotive. One of the guides at the museum showed us the various stages of the process of turning coal and water into power for the loco. I hadn’t understood the process fully before (and probably still need some additional education to be honest) but having the side of the loco cut open to show the various processes and the flow of the steam really made it easier to understand. I was going to say visualise, but it isn’t really visualising when you are looking right at it!
I was fortunate a little while ago to have a tour of the National Railway Museum. Our company had sponsored some of the development at the museum and we were invited to come and see some of the parts of the museum that are normally out of sight to the regular visitors. This was a most interesting visit, and our team really appreciated the time there. This was actually the first time I had been to this excellent museum.
As part of the Science Museum, the National Railway Museum is free to the public. They are expanding the facilities a lot currently but, if you were to visit now, you would still have plenty to see. There are trains of all types and age. The main hall is focused on a turntable. Apparently, the collection does get moved regularly so what you see at any one time can vary.
The majority of the collection is UK trains but there are other exhibits. A series 0 Shinkansen is part of the collection. Additionally, there is a Eurostar cab vehicle. Some famous locos are there, like Mallard, holder of the steam speed record. There are other less famous ones like the last steam loco built for the UK. I liked seeing the HST power car having had a lot of involvement with that fleet earlier in my career.
There are many artefacts aside from the trains. The gates that used to be at Euston station are most impressive. The nameplates from many locomotives are on the wall. There are two nameplates from Earl of Mount Edgcumbe which made me smile. My time around the main collection was slightly limited by other work commitments and, ultimately, the need to get on a train to Derby. After so long having never visited, I am really pleased to have finally made it there. If you are looking for a day trip in the area, do consider it. It is a short walk from the station.
I had spent a bit of time preparing to photograph the Flying Scotsman on a Saturday morning at the Watercress Line. Once done, I had gone home and picked up Nancy so we could head to an appointment that we had in Itchen Abbas. When we finished there, the plane was to head to Alresford for some other stuff. This was going to take us by the bridge in Bishop’s Sutton that goes over the track. I thought it was about the time that another of the Scotsman’s planned runs should take place. Consequently, we drove by that way.
There were plenty of people on the bridge when we got there so I parked and asked if it was due. Someone said five minutes, so I grabbed the cameras from the car. As I did so, I saw people lifting cameras to their eyes so zipped back. The train was already climbing the hill out of Alresford. The longer shots were not great because the heat haze was already showing itself, but they were okay. As it came up the cutting, it was making plenty of power. Then it was gone. We were back in the car and off to our destination and it had barely taken five minutes out of our day!
