Waverley West, Princes St Gardens and Haymarket MPD

[Waverley West]

Top class work there Dave, you've raised the bar again...

 

One small observation - the LED's in the signals on the video appear to flicker at times.  I'm sure they don't flicker all the time on the layout - is that an issue with video recording generally, or just down to my computer settings?

 

Looking forward to seeing more videos as well as your signature photography.

 

Best regards,

 

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. Great to hear from you again. No, the signals don't flicker at all to the naked eye. I think it's to do with the frame rate of the video, which I'm still experimenting with, as there are various options on the camera. Hopefully I'll be able to eliminate it as it's better at some rates than others.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Waverley West

[Waverley West]

It's well into the 1980s by now, but two 26s can still be found working hard on an Edinburgh to Inverness service...

 

Edited April 7, 2018 by Waverley West

[45156]

These clips are great Dave, and show up the quality of your trackwork very well indeed - as well as the excellence of the rest of your layout.

[SHMD]

Parts of that last video were just like being on the train hanging out the window "bashing it".

Superb memories being brought back to life.

 

 

Kev.

[russ p]

They are awesome Dave.

Is the camera on a vehicle being pushed along?

I had a quick look at Bluetooth cameras but wasn't sure how they worked but that is fantastic.

Was it expensive if you don't mind me asking?

The flickering of LEDs is something to do with frequency if you photograph or video a 68 the lights play tricks and they are LED

[Waverley West]

Cheers Russ.

 

In answer to your questions...

 

Is the camera on a vehicle being pushed along?

 

The camera's currently running on my match wagon which normally runs with my 03. The camera has a magnet under it which means it sticks nicely to the wagon. I'm hoping to experiment with different setups though. One idea is to place the camera so that it looks like you're hanging out of the window, as Kev mentions above. This is a bit tricky though because of clearance to lineside signals in particular. I tried it with the camera looking sideways to mimic a passenger's view but the distortion from the wide angle lens was just too much really unfortunately.

 

Plenty of experimentation lies ahead though. One idea I have is to use a redundant end from my 150s (following the cutting and shutting of 150001) as a cab window frame to look ahead down the line through. A bit of experimentation will be needed though to ensure it's in focus.

 

I had a quick look at Bluetooth cameras but wasn't sure how they worked but that is fantastic. Was it expensive if you don't mind me asking?

 

It's under a £100, which I thought was pretty good considering its size and HD quality.

 

Here's one on amazon...

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polaroid-Lifestyle-Action-Camera-Stabilization/dp/B011OUTBSG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1523180936&sr=8-5&keywords=polaroid+cube+camera

 

You use your mobile phone (fairly ancient in my case) to control it and then download the video files onto your computer afterwards. The connection between the phone and the camera is susceptible to dropping, but I've found that deleting the connection and then reconnecting seems to solve that pretty quickly fortunately.

 

The flickering of LEDs is something to do with frequency if you photograph or video a 68 the lights play tricks and they are LED

 

Yes, a bit more experimentation is needed here but so far I've found that the slower video frame rates (30 frames per second) seem to produce less flicker.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Cheers

Dave

Edited April 8, 2018 by Waverley West

[russ p]

Thanks Dave

That's something I may get oncevmy scenery is done

[colin penfold]

Hopefully constructive Dave, it would be great if you could find a way to avoid seeing above the backscene. It's something you do brilliantly with your stills and mobile phone videos. It really helps suspend reality and believe you are actually there.

[russ p]

I think the only real way to do that Colin would be to have a back scene on the front too which isn't really practical

[MarshLane]

Hi Dave,

Nicely done as ever!

 

One small observation - the LED's in the signals on the video appear to flicker at times.  I'm sure they don't flicker all the time on the layout - is that an issue with video recording generally, or just down to my computer settings?

 

Thanks Tom. Great to hear from you again. No, the signals don't flicker at all to the naked eye. I think it's to do with the frame rate of the video, which I'm still experimenting with, as there are various options on the camera. Hopefully I'll be able to eliminate it as it's better at some rates than others.

 

 

The problem with LEDs and video is that LEDs dont have a constant power - they flick on and off many times a second.  If I recall rightly, the shutter speed of a camera needs to be below 1/60th second in order to see them on permanently.  Above this, the camera is better than our eyes, and is seeing the 'on-off' sequence, hence why when you take a photograph of a '68' for example on a 1/1000th of a second shutter speed, one or both headlines can appear off - the shutter speed is so fast captures the 'off' sequence of power.

 

I dont know anything about the Polaroid cube, but if you can get the shutter speed to 1/50th or 1/60th second you should be ok - and at model railway speeds I dont think that should cause much if any blurring of the picture.

 

Rich

[colin penfold]

I think the only real way to do that Colin would be to have a back scene on the front too which isn't really practical

Take your point Russ, good thinking. Perhaps if I understand Dave's idea with the 150 cab window, he might be able to restrict the angle of view to minimise the number of off-scene glimpses.

 

I do know I am proposing gilding the lily as what Dave has produced is excellent as usual.

[russ p]

Sorry to hijack just looked up the cube but is there such a thing as a camera you can Bluetooth link to a phone?

Not sure if such a thing exists but would be good

[Waverley West]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Much appreciated, and I take the point about the background. It is something I'm aware of but not necessarily that easy to do anything about. I've been experimenting with camera angles, by lowering the camera to take in more of the foreground and less of the sky. The fish eye wide angle lens complicates things though. Will post some more cab ride videos with this approach soon.

 

In the meantime, here are some lineside shots taken over by the depot..

 

First up is D200 passing with a service to Dundee, followed by Railfreight 26025 on a PW train...

 

 

Large Logo 56084 passes Haymarket MPD with an oil train, followed shortly after by D200...

 

[Waverley West]

Hi folks,

 

Just a quick update on a recent purchase. I try to keep my impulse purchases to a minimum, mainly by generally limiting myself to stock that would have passed through Waverley in the 1980s, but every now and again my self-control goes AWOL. This happened at Glasgow MRS earlier this year, when I saw a Dapol Regional Railways Class 122 and just thought "I want one". Well, I got one. It jumped the queue of projects waiting for me to get a round tuit and has now emerged from the Waverley West Weathering Works. All that remains now is sound-fitting.

 

Here are a few shots of it on my photographic plank, looking pretty clean but not ex works.

 

The only significant work I do on these units other than the usual weathering is the partial removal of the roof ribs which are a little prominent I think. I would much prefer to do this than have manufacturers produce smooth roofs though, as the ribs look just about right to me after they've been pared down with a square-ended knife. Not too prominent but not invisible either.

 

During the weathering process, I did my usual clumsy trick and managed to break one of the exhaust pipes. This has now been replaced with a bit of plastic-coated wire. I've actually bought some spare ones since then, but as I don't really think you can tell them apart, I'm going to leave it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it would look very nice making up a 4-car Regional Railways set with Bachmann's Class 117 when it eventually emerges.

 

Cheers for now,
Dave

Edited April 9, 2018 by Waverley West

[brylonscamel]

Hi folks,

 

Just a quick update on a recent purchase. I try to keep my impulse purchases to a minimum, mainly by generally limiting myself to stock that would have passed through Waverley in the 1980s, but every now and again my self-control goes AWOL. This happened at Glasgow MRS earlier this year, when I saw a Dapol Regional Railways Class 122 and just thought "I want one". Well, I got one. It jumped the queue of projects waiting for me to get a round tuit and has now emerged from the Waverley West Weathering Works. All that remains now is sound-fitting.

 

Here are a few shots of it on my photographic plank, looking pretty clean but not ex works...

 

122 4a.jpg

 

122 4.jpg

 

122 1.jpg

 

122 2.jpg

 

122 3 Closeup.jpg

 

I think it would look very nice making up a 4-car Regional Railways set with Bachmann's Class 117 when it eventually emerges.

 

Cheers for now,

Dave

 

I just stumbled on these photos - what a great bit of work, the lighting really helps (that's a very nice real-life  backdrop you have available to you!) and the work on the bogies, chassis / engine etc. is beautifully done - really convincing paintwork!

[russ p]

Dave, the weathering you do particularly on the underframes is probably the best I've ever seen

Keep it up mate!

[Waverley West]

Dave, the weathering you do particularly on the underframes is probably the best I've ever seen

Keep it up mate!

 

Thanks Russ. The quality of mouldings is so good these days that underframes are just crying out to be highlighted.

 

 

 

 

And here's a close-up which hopefully shows what I mean about the roof ribs...

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Waverley West

[mudmagnet]

Great videos!

[P.C.M]

Hi Dave.

Loving the latest video's. The bubble car is a nice model too, though I notice in your last post there is a hole in the axlebox on the front bogie with a hole just above on the chassis. I think this would be for a speedo cable. There might be one in the box.

 

Cheers Peter.

[keefer]

Wonderful videos Dave, seeing the layout from 'cab' level really brings out the detail and also makes it seem much larger.

You do realise that you're now going to have to model the platform concourses/shops/traveller's fare etc. now we can see right inside the station!

(just remember that it was John Menzies in the 80s, not WH Smith)

 

Lovely work too on the bubble car, understated but all the more realistic for it

[Waverley West]

Hi Dave.

Loving the latest video's. The bubble car is a nice model too, though I notice in your last post there is a hole in the axlebox on the front bogie with a hole just above on the chassis. I think this would be for a speedo cable. There might be one in the box.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Thanks Peter. I was in two minds as to whether to fit it because of possible derailment problems but it would probably be worth a try at least.

 

Cheers

Dave

[Waverley West]

Wonderful videos Dave, seeing the layout from 'cab' level really brings out the detail and also makes it seem much larger.

You do realise that you're now going to have to model the platform concourses/shops/traveller's fare etc. now we can see right inside the station!

(just remember that it was John Menzies in the 80s, not WH Smith)

 

Lovely work too on the bubble car, understated but all the more realistic for it

 

 

Thanks keefer. I've often wondered how to go about modelling the platform concourses, especially given the sharp curves under the station roof on the layout.

 

One idea I have is to fit lights underneath the station roof so that it looks like the lights are shining up through the roof from the platforms below. They're quite visible on the prototype and might be a nice addition.

 

There's certainly no shortage of detail that could be added under there, but no one has ever really been under there before, until I bought that camera, that is!

 

Cheers

Dave

[russ p]

Thanks Russ. The quality of mouldings is so good these days that underframes are just crying out to be highlighted.

 

122 6.jpg

 

122 7.jpg

 

122 8.jpg

 

And here's a close-up which hopefully shows what I mean about the roof ribs...

 

122 5.jpg

I did quite a lot of work on that unit when it was loadhaul

Used to leak loads of oil!

As at the same time I was a volunteer on the North Norfolk we actually pooled our spares for this one at thornaby and the 117 we had in Norfolk

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Dave,

 

Smashing updates with the videos, it looks great and has given a totally different perspective, the 4 track section through the gardens is excellent.

 

The weathering on that 122 looks superb and I agree about a 117. They were still in use when I first moved up here and you could tell when one was about as the blue haze from the exhausts rose up.

 

I really liked the bogie tanks as well, I knew they looked good in the photos when you did them but the weathering on film is so effective. Plenty of grime but the shiny spills show up well in the light when running. Will enjoy the next instalments.

 

Thanks

Mark

[Chris64B]

The Bubble Car looks great Dave - tempted by one myself! The weathering you've done looks spot on!

 

I asked a question about your figures a little while back but it got lost in the excitement of the new videos so hope you don't mind me asking again - "Where are your figures from? They are very realistic. And are they all fixed in position or just balanced so you can move them around?"

 

Cheers,

Chris