Anybody else here using Vimeo yet? I learned of this site just last month and finally got around to uploading some video to try it out. For those of you who've never seen it, think YouTube but with a much nicer uploader, bigger video window, links to download the clips, and support for 720p HD (1280x720). Since all of my footage from March 2007 onward is HD that last part definitely caught my attention.

Here then are my first two uploads to Vimeo, taken from my trip to Ashland, VA this past Saturday. The original clips are 24fps 1080i HDV (1440x1080) encoded to 720p MPEG-4 for uploading. The player's default full-screen setting is to scale the picture to fit (which introduces some blockiness), but if you turn the scaling off it shows at the original quality. Fair warning, if you don't have a high-speed connection you might want to let the clips buffer before starting the playback, and the downloads are in the 60MB+ range.

First up is a northbound intermodal, led by ES44DC 5395 and C40-8 7557. I had moved to a point across from the station to get a wider view, standing on a narrow brick 'platform' between the track and the street. I was so absorbed in the passage of the first train that I almost didn't notice the other headlight bearing down...

What you don't see in the video at the point where it crossfades is the camera swinging about wildly on the tripod as I frantically move over as far as I can without stepping into the street (which wasn't very far), and then brace for the wind blast as ES44DCs 5279 and 5467 tear past with a southbound intermodal. Since I had been standing with two legs of my tripod squared against the curb next to the ballast, I don't want to think about what the footage would have looked like if my back had been turned. A little bonus was the long string of Tropicana empties headed back to Florida on the back of the southbound.

Intermodal meet at Ashland VA August 2, 2008 (HD)


The northbound Juice Train usually passes through Ashland between 2 and 3pm - USUALLY. Here it is running a teensy bit behind schedule on August 2nd, passing at 7:30pm behind ES44DC 5369 and C40-8W 7693. Looks like the engineer had the hammer down as far as the town speed limit would allow:

Late Northbound Juice Train, Ashland VA August 2, 2008 (HD)

Hi

Good quality and I wouldn't want to be that close ;-)

What camera model? ... did a nice job although there appeared to be some audio overload as the locos passed.

GaryG

It's a Canon HV20; the footage from August 2nd I shot in 'PF24' mode. Basically it's Canon's way of letting you record HD in 24p, although you have to do a pulldown removal after the capture to make it so, otherwise it's just 29.97fps with a bunch of extra frames inserted. The other gotcha is not that many software packages can handle 24p HD at a reasonable price point; Sony Vegas is about it unless you want to break the bank. I'm playing around right now with a trial version of Vegas Pro 8 and might have to retire Ulead VideoStudio in favor of it once I've saved enough pennies.

Yeah, there was a bit of overload on the mic...then again, at that distance the sound of passing locos will overload you no matter what. I need to play around with the attenuation a little more and find a better setting.

A clip from my first outing to Ashland, shot in conventional 30fps HD. ES44DCs 5420 and 5380 lead the Tropicana Juice Train northbound through Ashland in the aftermath of a cloudburst on March 22, 2008. :

Easter OJ

Another 24p clip from August 2nd. ES44DC 5397 leads AC4400CWs 475 and 474 on a southbound coal drag:

Southbound Coal at Ashland, VA

Seems their upload system is borked at the moment or I'd have more to post...

Finally got another clip uploaded successfully, this one also from my August 2 outing.

This would have been just another Amtrak Regional service stop, but as it pulled away the last car caught me by surprise. Bringing up the rear was the Pullman 'Mount Vernon', originally the Union Pacific's 'Pacific Island'. It served Amtrak up to the mid-1990s, then retired, changed hands, and began private charter service as the Mount Vernon after undergoing a restoration in 2002. Two of the passengers witnessed the departure from the rear vestibule as the train continued north.:

A Surprise Ending

MrFuzzums

Audio didn't seem to be clipping so I assume you did some adjusting. Nice video - the young lady with the teddy (bear) had a great location.

GaryG

Actually I didn't, just the difference in the locomotives and the distance from them I figure.

I'm a little bit frustrated with Vimeo's upload system at the moment...several times the videos will post there, but the video will freeze while the audio plays on at some point, usually 2:59 or so. Once or twice I've re-uploaded the exact same clip and it will go through, other clips I've tried 3 or 4 times and still can't get it right. The Amtrak clip was one of the lucky ones, it went through on the first try.

Worked around the upload issues for the moment by encoding with Vegas' MainConcept instead of x264, every clip I've uploaded since then has run flawless on the first attempt. Go figure.

ES44DC 5307, SD50 8620, GP40-2 6062, and GP40-2 6121 haul 153 cars of general merchandise northbound on the afternoon of August 2:

Heavy Northbound

I left in footage of the long approach into town on this clip to illustrate the 'dip' that can sometimes fool you into thinking you didn't just see that headlight a second ago. Also, about 0:33 in you can hear the engineer blowing for the last crossing before the quiet zone begins. The zoom compresses the distance quite a bit and tends to make traffic look like it's crossing much closer than they should. Among the other cargo, the long strings of tank cars were split fairly even between molten sulfur and phosphoric acid.