To any fans of WCML-N

[transadelaide]

Nice one, I love cab ride vids! That one is unique as it looks like it's filmed from a head-cam on the driver! Most cab vids are either shot from the secondmans side or from a tripod at the back. That one is a true drivers eye view.

This one is mounted as well. Notice in the first long tunnel there is a reflection of the driver in the windshield, so you can see the camera is not on his head. It is a very nice view, nonetheless, and a great video.

To me (the user of a Contour HD 1080p camera) the dead giveaway that it's mounted is the lack of movement. It was obviously mounted in a position behind and above the driver. It also looks like it was recorded in around 2001-2002, well before head camera technology became remotely practical.

Now that the technology has matured and the units have become smaller/lighter, the only potential issue with using a wearable camera like a Contour, GoPro or Drift HD170 for a cab-ride video these days would be whether the driver would be willing to wear it for such a long period of time. Using high definition technology like that would have the potential to take new cab ride videos to a completely new level in production, because many cameras could be attached in the leading cab, trailing cab and multiple external positions, all recording in 1080p full high definition. Publish it on Blu-Ray and you could have the option for the user to switch views at the touch of button, just like in TS2012, and choose whether they wanted commentary on the route or not. If one of the cameras used was a Contour GPS, then an overlaid map could easily be added as well.

... A real good find and surprisingly good quality video.

Oh, agreed, it's very nice quality, indeed.

As I said, I use a Contour HD camera myself, sometimes on my helmet and sometimes on a handlebar mount, so my reaction to the video quality was more along the lines of meh. I'll put together a bit of a train-themed video some time in the next week (in between beta testing for the WCML scenarios) just to give anybody here a bit of an idea around what a modern camera can do!

[lenfish]

Judging by the stop at Watford Junction I'm being far too cautious on my approaches to stops at stations!

Regards,

Len

[JasonM]

Judging by the stop at Watford Junction I'm being far too cautious on my approaches to stops at stations!

Regards,

Len

I agree that was a great stop, well done driver.

[firetrap1]

bump!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LugDN_ZuWKw

chris

[220389]

bump!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LugDN_ZuWKw

chris

Thanks for posting that Chris.

Chris

[stevee630]

Nice video, i've not seen a cab vid before. The fact that i recognized aspects of this like the approach to wembley and watford itself is testimony to the guy that created Thames Mersey for Ye old msts....

[firetrap1]

Ahh. Nothing like a good cabride.

chris

[47traveller]

Very interesting cabrides.

Now we just need a class 87 for Railworks (along with the Euston end of the WCML)

[ckmemphis]

What I'd love to see, but can't find anywhere, is a cabride video of a freight train,maybe a 86 or a 66, just to see how these guys actually handle their trains. My freight handling in TS12 leaves much to be desired, but I love freight and I wanna get it right.....

[transadelaide]

What I'd love to see, but can't find anywhere, is a cabride video of a freight train,maybe a 86 or a 66, just to see how these guys actually handle their trains. My freight handling in TS12 leaves much to be desired, but I love freight and I wanna get it right.....

I would hazard a guess that it would be like a loco-hauled passenger train, but with every process (acceleration, braking, releasing brakes, etc) being slower. The engineering of the infrastructure would help a lot because British lines are so easy. It stems from the tight loading gauge historically making for little low-powered engines, which in turn made it a requirement that lines have shallow gradients outside of a few very short isolated spots like the Lickey Incline where manpower-intensive banking operations could be arranged.

It's not like they have properly long and heavy freight trains in Britain that need triple-headed 3000+ kW locos (each one much more powerful than a Class 70) with the driver having to deal with factors like the front of the train being over the top of the next crest while the rear is still yet to reach the bottom of the previous valley. There's also dynamic braking to deal with as well for drivers of properly heavy freight trains, historically not a factor in British diesel-electric locos because the tight gauging and insistence on double-cab locos meant there was no space for it.

[firetrap1]

Not great quality but here is a class 37 one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQEopOQVQHg

chris

[firetrap1]

And a 91 on the ECML:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAedBF6huos

chris

[firetrap1]

And another 87 in winter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZKPDgXK9GY

chris

[styckx]

The snow line at 4:07 was rather interesting.

[bigvern]

What I'd love to see, but can't find anywhere, is a cabride video of a freight train,maybe a 86 or a 66, just to see how these guys actually handle their trains. My freight handling in TS12 leaves much to be desired, but I love freight and I wanna get it right.....

Try googling Locomaster Profiles, they have a number of "Wired for Sound" cab rides including some freight - 37's, 47's and a hellfire 56 up the N&W on a South Wales to Deeside steel train.