Tuesday 29 June 2010

Far Too Hot For This Hobby Today!...

Hi everyone. Well, as you will all know, today, like yesterday, was HOT! In fact, it was far too hot today for my liking but I still soldiered on and ran the Garden Railway for the day, as well as creating a short 8-minute or so film. The day begin by 'opening up' and cleaning the track as normal. With the sun already high in the sky, even the slighest amount of effort seemed hugely difficult to provide! I just feel so drained when trying to work this weather and, seeing as my railway takes around 60-90 minutes of preparation to get it up to "filming standards", it was a particularly laborious process! Once prepared I got out the camera and made a few on-the-spot decisions as to where shots would be taken from and the scenario. Today, I opted to portray a simple daily steam service (for the summer season) on the Garden Railway. Two locomotives were in action; Hornby 4-6-0 No6862 "Derwent Grange" and my Bachmann Pannier Tank, No5775. Down on the turntable, a handful of my other locomotives were on display (this always delights the family; it's their favourite feature!). Below, the Class 08 has picked up Austerity No68075, and has just been turned... The video is simple in filming terms, seeing No6862 collect the day's stock before running to the terminus at Chilvers. No5775 then takes over for the return trip. Many different, including some new, locations were chosen for the video and I am very happy with the result; if a little short. However, I always seem to get a better reception from simple, 1-part video's than the great, long 2 or 3-part ones! For this video I also chose to do something that I haven't done for a very long time; I added steam sounds! Fair enough my 'dubbing' isn't fantastic, if I do say so myself, but I believe that the desired effect has been achieved and that the trains are given a certain element of 'comic realism' with the sounds! I must admit though, 'dubbing' takes forever; especially when you're trying to compete with speed levels and stopping/starting. "Where did you get the sounds?" I hear you ask. "Well"...the sounds were taken from video clips that I have on file of real loco's. In the video, what you hopefully 'believe' are the sounds of 5775 and 6862, are actually the sounds of none GWR loco's! All of the sounds are taken from my video's of the 2010 Great Central Railway "Winter Steam Gala" (named "Lostock and A Few Smoking Barrels"; see seperate posts). The sounds include 8F No48305, Standard 2 No78019, Jinty No47406, Stanier Mogul No42968, Black 5 No45231 and No70013 "Oliver Cromwell"! So, "No", they aren't GWR loco's but the sounds "sort of" fit! I hope you enjoy the video, simply click "PLAY" to video below...

Outside the filming I was also enjoying a good day's running session and trains finally ended operation at around 6pm. After packing up and locking everything away, I headed for home. Though it was still very hot, a nice breeze sprung up as the sun began to set, resulting in "Yes"; a very pleasant walk home. Thanks for reading everyone. "Next trip(s) out?"; "Well"...on Saturday I'm off to the RPMR (owned by CMES) at Ryton and then on Sunday I'm due to crew B1 No1306 "Mayflower" at Shackerstone! Look out for those posts as they happen! Have a pleasant evening...

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