Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

Agreed, which is why I was at pains to point out that saying "I don't watch videos" is completely fine; I don't take such a hard line personally but if that's your thing, that's ok. I was simply trying to point out that in this case the news is available by other means.

Have to agree with you there! There are one or two artists (music) who I'm into, who have Patreon supporters who receive exclusive new songs (not available to the general riff-raff), and so on. Even where I have all their CDs and go to their gigs, I haven't and won't sign up to this. If the songs are good enough, put a CD out. If you need Patreon income to live off, but you're good at what you do, something is wrong with the music industry. To be honest, the whole concept feels barely one step removed from signing up for an OnlyFans account (and I'm not going to do that either, before you ask!)

 

As a subscriber or a producer?

Tom

 

Something's very wrong with the music industry. Because of readily available access via the streaming platforms people don't, for the most part, buy albums any more and the streaming payments to artists are miniscule. Basically, the music industry was mugged twice. First by the pirates who used to rip CDs and put them on line; then by the 'mainstream' streaming companies when these seemed to be the only way to sidestep the piracy. Artists had little or no say and streaming in its various forms (including Patreon, which gives a better return direct to the artist) is now, more or less, the only way to get recorded music out to a wide audience.

 

Completely agree. Volunteers (and a handful of paid staff in some situations) work their socks off to produce information in different formats and to communicate using a variety of media, focussing on those that reach the largest audience. There are only so many hours in the day and it's exhausting trying to satisfy 'everybody'. The GCR produces some impressive videos. If you don't like a particular media format or the background music for some peculiar reason, that's your choice. Some people probably still don't trust those new fangled moving picture boxes in the lounge or phones that aren't plugged into a socket in the wall!

 

Wait until they start doing neural implants that create a direct link between the brain and computers. About a year or so away, now. (I am not kidding.)

Noel

 

Some people seem to have already replaced their own brains with their mobile phones (and social media) anyway, so it's only a small step further.

 

Hi Miff and jnc
Not to fear I will only be posting text and pictures when construction starts...my IT skills are very limited!

 

So fashionable that people were writing to Points of View on the BBC in the 1980s (at least about) the same thing.

 

It's quite illuminating comparing programmes made in the 1970s with those of today: I gave up watching it a few years ago, but the modern incarnation of Doctor Who - which had continuous music in the background to the whole episode - must have kept the BBC's National Orchestra of Wales in full employment.

 

This thread drift was the first I knew about Patreon being a source of income for musicians. I pay Patreon subscriptions for two YouTubers (who post videos about completely different subjects) and for Time Team.

 

Somewhat lost in recent postings was another "First" for the GCR and the benefits of its double track. During the recent Gala there were Two Windcutter rakes in operation and they were pictured passing just North of Quorn station by Brandon Morley.

 

It is very interesting to note that, 12 hours from posting the above picture, it has had the biggest number of "Likes" on this thread for over a year! Obviously the image of mineral wagons hauled by steam locomotives, passing each other, has struck a chord....we are not alone!...and well done the GCR.

 

As a semi-regular videographer and frequent sound designer/editor, in your bemusement you are overloooking one key issue. Many promo videos for railway preservation are shot outdoors. Ever watched a video with wind noise all over it?

Unfortunately a lot of videographers make the mistake of putting a lot of effort into making the visual production look spectacular, but nowhere near as much into the sound production. You can close mic presenters relatively easily with wireless lavalier microphoness for clear sound, but including ambient location sound for atmosphere is fraught with peril. Even having invested in good quality mics with high quality dead cat windshields for ambient sound (which many railway pres videographers probably don't), a gentle breeze can cause issues. Wind noise is very difficult to EQ out of a soundtrack without losing the low frequencies you want to keep.

So they take the easy option of removing the real ambient sound, wind noise and all, in post-production and replacing it with music, believing it will add the necessary 'atmosphere'.

Even indoors, while shooting an interview in a space like an atmospheric waiting room with the fire roaring in the background looks ideal, videographers often overlook that such spaces have a lot of hard, flat surfaces, which produce multiple sound reflections of varying short durations bouncing around the room, picked up by the interviewer/interviewee mics with very unpleasant-sounding consequences. I've seen (heard) more than one video shot in a GCR waiting room that I found unwatchable (unlistenable) because of this.

(Yes I am a professional creative and available for audio consultancy. Please PM )

There has always been something very wrong with the music industry. The whole structure of it has seen artists being ripped off for decades. As someone once said, the music business is 10% music, 90% business. Back in the late 80s I didn't pursue the dream of being a professional musician for precisely this reason.

Now, did someone mention the GCR?

 

A gloriously historical re-enacted scene, the effect of which is slightly spoiled by the guard of the train on the left...!

 

Well done to the GCR for their evocation of mineral traffic but it's not history; as with most heritage railway activity, it's a pastiche. I rarely got to the old GC line, but I well remember the Ferme Park - New England empties slowly running around the back of Wood Green Station, my usual spotting point. The trains were often around 100+ wagons with a 9F or sometimes a WD. The banging and crashing as the trains sometimes slowed to a stand before accelerating slowly away when given the road, is impossible to recreate with a short rake.

 

Enterprise makes a good point but the GCR has operated much longer freight trains for special occasions. The 50 wagon 50th Anniversary event in 2023 being the most recent. In regular traffic, it operates 12/14 wagons plus two brakes (equals six coaches), as that is the signalling limit for running round the loop line at Loughborough Station.
Given the Mixed goods, Vans, Tanks and two Windcutter rakes plus the PW wagons the GCR can put together 100+ working wagons. Mind you "banging and crashing" is not what you want to hear having spent many thousands of hours getting them into, and keeping them in, running order!

 

Your post @Enterprise takes me back in an instant and prompts me to digress somewhat. I lived as a child about a mile from the ecml and sometimes weather dependant, used to identify the diesels (Deltic and 40s were most obvious) passing whilst laying awake in the night / early mornings but the sound of clanking wagons at night on that same section of line you mention, has stayed with me.

 

I was born after the end of steam, and unbraked freight had gone by the time I was aware of rail operations. My strongest acoustic memories are similar to those of @misspentyouth62, of late night trains carrying over quiet streets.

I really value what the GCR does with freight vehicles, and am glad this aspect of the railway is preserved. Yet, at the same time, I find my heart strangely unstirred by the sight and sound of them when I see them. My hunch is that, whether or not made to look "loaded", they serve no practical purpose and are just a recreation - hence my agreement with @Enterprise that they are a pastiche.

I will also note that I feel equally unstirred by heritage railway "recreations" of named trains and/or previous railways (e.g. S&D themed galas).

Perhaps I read Paul Theroux's "Kingdom by the Sea" and his comments about "playing trains" at too impressionable an age!