Large Scale Central

Campo Creek Viaduct

Prototypes
#1

Last Monday night I drove out to a place near Campo, CA to photograph the Campo Creek Viaduct. This is a large, steel railroad trestle that crosses old highway 94. It was built by the San Diego & Arizona Railway and was completed in 1917.

I got a few photos of the bridge from below, and also shot some time-lapse video with the bridge silhouetted against the night sky.

Then I found a trail that took me up into the hills near the tracks, and camped out just a short distance from the bridge. In the morning I got up early so I could shoot some pics and video right after sunrise, the “golden hour” for photography. Got a couple pics of myself with the bridge, too.

Here are a few aerial photos:

Enjoy!

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#2

#3

Great photos, Ray. I look forward to each of your adventures. Thanks for sharing.

#4

Great Pics !

Now build it Ray !

#5

Have not been down there for a bit ( 3 years ago ). Nice area to visit. Would be NICER . . . if there were trains running on that line !

#6

I wish someone would at least repaint the trestle before it rusts beyond repair.

#7

Great pictures Ray, that drone is proving to be well worth the money spent with those great pictures. Doesn’t hurt that you have a great eye for photograph. I have been through there a few times in the big truck , keep them coming

#8

Ray Dunakin said:

I wish someone would at least repaint the trestle before it rusts beyond repair.

Well Ray, do you have anything else planned for the next few years? (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#9

David Maynard said:

Ray Dunakin said:

I wish someone would at least repaint the trestle before it rusts beyond repair.

Well Ray, do you have anything else planned for the next few years? (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Be more like the Golden Gate, by the time they finish, it’s time to start again! But on this one it’s more like by the time it’s sanded …

#10

Last time I went out to the Campo Creek Viaduct, the moon was nearly full, and the sky was partly cloudy. So I couldn’t get the kind of night shots I really wanted. I went back there Sunday night to try again. No moon, no clouds, lots of stars!

That second shot was from a series of time lapse photos. Each shot took 15 seconds, with another five seconds between shots. So it took nearly two and a half hours to get enough for 12 seconds of time lapsed video. Unfortunately there was frequent traffic on the highway under the bridge, and every time a car went by the headlights would light up the bridge. So the resulting video is not what I was hoping for.

These shots of the Milky Way were taken on top of the hill near one end of the bridge. I got some very nice time lapse of the Milky Way moving across the sky; however I had to cut it short when some damp air rolled in and fogged up the lens. I was up until 3 a.m. shooting all this stuff:

In the morning I flew my drone again and got some shots I’d missed the last time.

I’m still working on getting the video from both trips edited - and trying to get some vintage pics to include with it.

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#11

Great shots Ray.