Steam Dreams - Southend to Salisbury - March 15th

Looks like the new season is starting as it means to go on already, towing the dreaded things around.
By the the way Simon, NO I was not on it or went out to see it, but that does NOT ban me or anyone use from mentioning it. We are all entitled to our opinions. Despite what you may think as an "unofficial" mod.
Saying that, there is one mod on here who says anyone not on a tour cannot talk about it. Especially when it comes to timings or boxes. Unfortunately he got it wrong this week when he accused someone of not being booked on a tour when they were & tried to gag them.

 

Have I said people can't express an opinion? No. I just find some opinions puzzling and have a right to say so as you have to disagree with me.

 

Time for bed Simon. After all it's past nine o'clock lol

 

My Video:
Filmed at Kew East Junction and Whitchurch on the outward leg and Chertsey on the return.

 

I must have been standing almost opposite you (Mr. No One, that is) on the down platform at Fleet this morning. 'Britannia' looked superb in the spring sunshine. Unfortunately, I made a right porridge of my video, so went home and read the instruction book...

 

Tell you what, if you don't like my videos or video titles don't watch them.

 

You were unlucky then. I saw the train at Egham, where it sounded like Britannia was doing most of the work (though she shut off just before she passed me), at Abbots Ann, where 70000 was working hard, accelerating up the bank from Andover, with the 47 just idling, and on the outskirts of Salisbury on the return where again, the 47 was almost inaudible over the Brit's staccato bark.

 

Clearly, tho it seems quite few videos failed to capture the Brit working hard, it was unusually muted today.

 

From watching your video it seems the 47 is either idling or providing train heat, the 'lazy' exhaust doesn't exactly indicate a loco being worked hard.
But I suppose working with 47s for 25 years or so doesn't offer much background knowledge....

 

I take it you'd also be puzzled by someone who was disappointed by the outcome of a football match they didn't attend, or some other event of public interest they decided not to go out and see ?

If you have an interest in something, and a preference for the way in which it should be operated / managed, you don't have to be personally / physically involved to experience disappointment if it doesn't go the way you'd hoped, or preferred it would surely ?

 

I'm thinking this could be a post you're wishing you'd never made Simon ?

 

I like your videos a lot, when they get to the content, but suspect I speak for more than a few when I say they'd be a whole lot better without all the padding !

 

gawd blimey, talk about unfair. That one was 90 seconds long, and had 80 seconds of wheels going round!

 

Fair enough, but I wasn't referring only to that video. At the end of the day, we're the lucky ones that you choose to share your work. I'm just thinking you wouldn't do so if you weren't hoping for some feedback, good, bad, or in between ?

 

But one does not have to watch the padding. Just click forward to the action.

 

If you want to improve your quality I suggest you cut right down on the zooms and pans, and use a fixed tripod or hold the camera up against a solid object so it can't move. Then let the train do most, (but not all), of the action. I used a Vinten 5 tripod and it was a superb base for the camera. But I would rarely pan a shot unless I had time to set it up correctly and level and then practice the shot, especially making sure I got my feet in the right position. That is critical for a pan shot. Feet as they need to be after the pan.

I sold many thousands of videos when I was producing them in the 1980s and 1990s. And only ever had ONE returned, because I had included two loco servicing sequences. Different classes and different locations.

Any footage used without a tripod was rare archive stuff and mostly not taken by me. And my early stuff was just about OK.

I still get letters and emails imploring me to digitise my South African videos in particular. Sorry guys, to do it properly would take a lot of time and would be totally uneconomic.

 

And I too will comment on boxes being on the back whether or not I go on the train or go to watch it.

Because I want to travel behind pure steam. That is my interest, anything else would have to be incredibly attractive for me to give up a long day when I am doing so much else at present.

So I identify the trains I want to travel on and then watch and join in threads about them. And similar route/loco trains that I may not plan to go on but that I see as till relevant to what I want to spend my time and money on.

That is because I am a CUSTOMER, wanting to buy a specific product, and one who has an opinion to express. A concept that often get ignored here.

Because of boxes on the back and other reasons, (routes, locos and timings I did not want), I travelled on zero trains last year out of about between six to ten I considered.

No loss at all to those running the trains. A sad loss to me, but I'll live with it and wait. For the right train this year or next year. But I am not going to pay good money and spend a day sitting in a crowded coach with zero interest in the train running all day.

So I will continue to comment here on the issue as and when it directly impacts on my plans.

 

My video of the day at Salisbury, enjoy