West Somerset Railway General Discussion

West Somerset Railway - Then and Now #104

Leigh Wood Level Crossing 1973 / 2017

Not the greatest quality pair of photographs in this series but interesting, nevertheless.

Looking towards Minehead 'Then' shows the gates and cottage in, apparently, relatively good condition. I spent some time at the Crossing yesterday to photograph the passing trains and not a hint of the cottage's existence now remains.

Copyright Robert Prance / Robin White

1973


2017


'89 Storms past in the gathering dusk

 

Is it normal for WSR locos to carry high-intensity lamps?

Tom

 

When running after dark, or into the dark, yes.

 

Just curious as to the reason. (For the record, we just use ordinary lamps after dark). Is it a consequence of crossing public roads?

Tom

 

Best to let an Engineman give a definitive answer - but improved visibility seems to be the reason.

Of course, one might hope that the 'guts' could be fitted into a more heritage case.

Robin

 

On the SVR a number of LED loco lamps are being used. They are built in to conventional loco lamp bodies

 

Similar on the GWSR, train lamps are traditional with LED insides, but loco lamps are still traditional in and out - never noticed if this changes during hours of darkness though.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Hmm, Robin. Linesiding? Taking pictures of a moving train? Maybe the time has come to use a camera, not an iphone.

 

Nothing wrong with the quality of Robin's photos. The historic ones are what they are. The Iphone cameras are renowned for thier quality. To do better requires the expenditure of far more money without the convenience.

 

They are somewhat controversial - there is a feeling among some signalmen that they reduce safety at token exchanges.

 

I was always told the best camera is the one you have with you ...

Tom

 

Uncalibrated speedometers required accuracy is plus or minus 10% . So you would have to have 81 mph owing on your speedo ,ive heard from plod on a speed awareness course that you are allowed before the boys in blue were interested . The only accurate way to measure speed in a car is with GPS .

 

I refer you to the thread elsewhere on here about the alleged 135mph Saint test run, in which I rambled on at great length as to why GPS devices do not necessarily give you an accurate speed, because it is derived from primary measurements that are of variable accuracy, by methods known only to your device's manufacturer.

 

For the 'Then and Now' book that Ian and I have in mind, it is likely that I will retake the 50 or so shots we use with a more 'camera' camera.

The I-phone is great in strong sunlight or for Internet use, but we wish to produce a quality publication.

(Ian's line history was a tour-de-force and we would no want to let the standard drop.)

Robin

 

Have you thought of using a camera of similar vintage to the "before" shot?

 

No.

Having spent a fortune on hair etc in recent years, exposing it to flash powder isn't an option...

Robin

 

That camera may be good but the memory is useless.

Iphones etc are perfectly capable for stills but not so good when the subject is moving. I am referring to the last photo where 53809 is blurred due to movement. This is why iphones are not the weapon of choice for lineside photographers. And on price, how much is an iphone? My 12 year old dslr cost £80 on ebay and takes good photos, even at dusk.

 

In my opinion, as someone who is a bit of a camera collector, you can (with practice) take good photos with any camera, but taking a specific good photo requires a specific type of camera. For example, I have taken a beautiful photo of a country orchard on a 1950s compact rollfilm camera with two choices of shutter speed, which would be impossible to do on a DSLR, but said camera would take rubbish shots of moving trains.

 

Horses for courses .

 

The blurring is not the fault of the camera. Slight panning would have elliminated it. However given the context of the then and now pictures it is a bit unfair to criticise what is a photo being used for that purpose. The reason Iphones are so popular is the take it anyware conveneience. Take a look at som eof Robin's pictures on Steve Edge's website to see just how good the underlying quality is. Nobody buys a phone for the primary purpose of taking pictures. What phones, not just Iphones, has given millions of people, is access to picture quality far better than they would otherwise have had. As someone who had used a conventional SLR for thirty years I was sceptical until later in life when I tried an Iphone for taking pictures on the WSR.