Large Scale Central

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2012

Videos
#1

Friday I left the house at 03:00 and got back at 19:00 . 920 kms later and over Eagle, Rogers and Kicking Horse Passes both ways. But it was fun! Railfanning in the Winter is a different ball game. The best shooting spots sport “NO STOPPING! AVALANCHE AREA” signs, the mounds of snow along the road are getting higher by the day and daylight sure doesn’t last. Oh well, such is life. :wink: :slight_smile:

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/55739394[/vimeo]

If the weather holds I’ll be out tomorrow, heading down the Thompson and Fraser Canyons. There’s supposed to be fresh snow over night, could be very pretty.

#2

It looks like it has an aquarium car, just in front of the passenger cars, the one with the three hats.

Also, why is the locomotive flying the “Stars and Bars,”… er… I mean,… The “Stars and Stripes?” For a moment there, I forgot who won that little fracas.

#3

Beautiful scenery up there in winter. Would liked to have seen the train lights in the dark, but I suppose if it’s moving that doesn’t film very well.

#4

@ Steve,

I’m not sure but I believe they use both flags since they started running a Holiday Train in the States.

@ Jon

Wellllll, originally I planned on also filming between Golden and Revelstoke, but on the east slope of Rogers Pass the train is on the other side of the valley. Which is also the side that is completely in the shade this time of year. Night running is one thing - check out http://www.vimeo.com/34205825 for the night running portion last year - dusk considerable distance and lots of zoom … hmmmm a bit of a problem.
The West slope would be better, but the good spots are all in avalanche areas.
Last year they had the train go over Rogers in daylight, but … the train and the road traffic were held up because they were clearing/triggering avalanches on a daily basis.

If things work as planned tomorrow there could be some night shots after the show at North Bend.

#5

Very nice work, Hans… You do great videos.

(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/noelw/Baby%20Goofy.gif)

Merry Xmas from Calif.

#6

That was outstanding. It was great to see the train since all we get to see anymore are unit trains!

The stereo separation is very good. What kind of camera are you shooting with?

This is the first movie I’ve watched since we got all the DSL problems fixed yesterday. I never knew computer sound was so good – and NO REBOOTING!

#7
Doug Arnold said:
That was outstanding
It sure was :) Ralph
#8

Thank you Gentlemen.

Cam is a Panasonic HDC-TM90 with a Azden SMX10 shotgun mike, mounted on a 20+ years old Manfrotto 190 video tripod.

PS On that trip I planned down the canyons, didn’t happen. the TransCanada Highway has been closed for at least two days this week because of extreme avalanche hazards between Boston Bar and Lytton. Which is the section with all the good spots, naturally!

#9

I’m very pleased with my Panasonic HD-V500. No external mic input, but the onboard mic is very good.
Ralph

#10

I guess that’s the “new and improved follow-up model” :wink: :slight_smile: and looking at the specs they fixed a few of the items that were left to the user to fix e.g. wind noise. OTOH I really like the 28mm wideangle lens. The Azden mike comes with a wind screen and SWMBO made one of the fuzzy variety to go on top of that. A very nice sound improvement over the built-in mike (which was good, but not that good).

BTW when I started looking for a HD cam one of the must-have was the Mic input. My SD Canon FS100 doesn’t have one and the wind noise is terrible, especially when panning a shot where the direction of the wind changes. I can eliminate some of it with CL WaveEditor, but I’m happier to have really good sound to start with.

#11

I’m looking for a second camcorder with remote control. I saw a couple, but don’t remember who made them :wink:
Should have bookmarked them when I had a chance.
Ralph

#12

The only ones I’ve seen so far use IR for remote (like my Canon FS100), but that’s not very handy outside.

#13
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
The only ones I've seen so far use IR for remote (like my Canon FS100), but that's not very handy outside.
Ohhhh........that wouldn't do at all. You would think by now they'd have Blue Tooth or WiFi remote. Ralph
#14

Have a look at this http://camcorders.about.com/od/reviews/fr/Jvc-Gz-Hm550-Camcorder-Review.htm

#15

Thanks HJ.
You steered me in the right direction. It’s JVC. They have a WiFi equiped camcorder that can be controled by a smartphone.
The WiFi camcorder is quite reasonably priced, compared to the Bluetooth camera :wink:
Ralph

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=834564&is=REG&Q=&A=details