Friday, February 22, 2008

NBEC 403 - 21 Feb 08

Thanks to Steve Boyko who was able to give me a heads up on 403's departure from Miramichi I was able to catch it at Dalhousie Jct at 1900, exactly the time I figured it out to be.
I was waiting at Dalhousie Jct for no more than ten minutes when I heard the crackling on my scaner 403 had passed the defect detector, all I picked up was "Detector at mile post 153.(?) .......Total axel 83......Detector out!" My scaner isn't the strongest so I can only pick up so much however it has no problem picking up static or other nonsense.

From there I caught it again at McLeods and again in Campbellton, I tried to get it at the Andrew street crossing in Campbellton however we were delighted to Campbellton's annual "Sno fest" and the parade of lights instead. My Daughters were not only treated to the 403 but to a parade as well, which they very much enjoyed. At a crossing in McLeods the trainmen decided to give me a good dose of the horn as you will hear in the second video which by the way there are three and all three are posted on Youtube. I do apologise for the second and third video's I didn't have my tripod out, I was in a bit of a hurry to all three locations and as usual my Daughters are heard in the background. In the second video I came to realise how good the mic is on my camera it sure can pick up everything really good and even the slightest words uttered. HAHA! Word to the wise...Bring spare batteries when your out chaseing trains.

Again I didn't catch all the engine numbers however the lead power on tonight's 403 was NBEC 6902 two SD40's and two Alco's I think I got those right correct me if I'm wrong. I'm still learning engine types.

Again Thank you Steve for the heads up and hope you all enjoyed the videos I'm not a big fan of shooting video at night but it's better than nothing.

Oh and one more thing I also got 591 arriving in the Campbellton yard (As usual) That's posted as well.
Chris.

4 comments:

Canadian Train Geek said...

I'm glad you caught the train, Chris.

Night video is definitely a challenge. I went through a phase when I shot a lot of it, but I'm generally not satisfied with my results. I find using the car headlights for light helps but my camera has trouble focusing at night.

clam502 said...

I'd like to get my hands on a camera that has night vision, they're actually not as exspensive as it may seem. My camera has a hard time to focus at night as well but it's better than nothing at all I guess.

NBSRFAN said...

Trying a location with some street lights near the tracks can sometimes help. Also try presetting your focus manually before the train comes would keep it from hunting for the right focus.

clam502 said...

Unfortunatly my camera is all "autofocus" I use a digital camera to be more precise I use a Kodak Easyshare C875. 5X optical zoom at 8.0 mega pixels. Though useing it at night is not ideal for my camera in the day time it's no better to use it for long distance zoom (In my opinion) but for the not so distance image it's pretty good and takes really good pictures.