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Post by GoldenSpike53 on May 22, 2007 16:55:30 GMT -5
Hello, everyone.
At the SVLS spring meet this past weekend, I did some video of the famous Cab Forward model as it steamed around the track. I'd edited it into a nice little video, but it's about 4½ minutes long and 191MB in MPEG-2. Any ideas for a place to post it for those who would like to see? (It's a pretty impressive machine to watch in operation!)
Dale Dennis
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Post by Harlock on May 22, 2007 17:28:47 GMT -5
If you send it to me I can re-compress it using MPEG 4 so it takes up much less room and will still look great, and I can host it for you. I sent you a PM with the FTP server location where you can upload the MPEG-II file. It sounds like you're up at around 11 mbits / sec on that file which is overkill for the web.  |
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Post by GoldenSpike53 on May 23, 2007 9:39:14 GMT -5
Thanks, Harlock...but I noticed that my software will do MPEG-4. I've just never used it before! I'll try that compression here first and let you know. If I can't get that to work, then I'll certainly take you up on your offer! I may still want to have you host it in any case, if you're willing....
Dale
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Post by Harlock on May 23, 2007 13:56:44 GMT -5
GoldenSpike: That's fine. On the MPEG-4 compression, use Quality VBR mode and try 85% quality. See how that comes out size vs. image quality.
If it's mostly handheld footage it will generate a larger file size than with tripod footage. (because the entire image is changing drastically from frame to frame when the camera is shaking)
--Mike
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Post by GoldenSpike53 on Jul 6, 2007 10:47:39 GMT -5
Well...I've finally got the MPEG-4 up and viewable. It can be seen by going to the Sacramento Valley Live Steamers website at www.svls.org and clicking on Videos. The MPEG-4 encoding seems to have blurred the image a bit, but it's still fun to watch.... ;D It was all shot hand-held, so there's a fair bit of camera shake, but I tried to edit it down to get rid of the really bad parts and make it a video with fairly good continuity. Hope you all enjoy it!  Dale Dennis P.S. Because of the file size, it may take a couple of minutes to download to your computer before it plays, so be patient.... |
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Post by Harlock on Jul 6, 2007 13:05:17 GMT -5
That's insane. That's even more insane than the GS2 and the GS4. I see that all the controls have been remoted to the back of the tender. The whistle sounds very nice, I wonder if it's a resonator whistle, which allows you to get a deeper sound out of a shorter throat.
I wonder how many cars loaded with people it could pull...any idea how much it weighs?
Very nice...very nice.
The softness in the video is due to the data rate fighting the handheld camera footage. With shaky handheld footage, the compression has to keep up with all of the movement. With tripod footage or very steady handheld footage, not as many of the pixels are changing drastically at any given moment. There are adjustments to overcome this, but it would involve increasing the file size.
I think that the compression ratio is good for the length of the movie - the download time is reasonable on a DSL modem. If you want, you can upload that several-hundred-megabyte version to vuze.com. That's where I've been putting all my hi-res videos as of late. Sorry it didn't work out with my server, I'm not sure where the problem lies in the FTP login, it's been working for me just fine.
In any case...wow. I need to make it up there at some point. Maybe a combined visit to the Railroad Museum.
--Mike
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Post by GoldenSpike53 on Jul 6, 2007 18:59:24 GMT -5
Hi, Mike. I don't know if the whistle is a "resonator" or not; it is mounted underneath the cab going from side to side. (Some designs have the whistle mounted under the running board to look like an air tank, but this one is completely hidden.) When the whistle sounds, you can see the steam coming from under the cab. We have a guy at the club who has a steadicam for small cameras; he said he's loan it to me next time I want to shoot some video at a meet, so maybe this October.... (Of course, I can't guarantee that the cab forward will be there. Usually we have two Daylights that show up, which double-head in another video.) I'm glad you liked seeing it; pretty impressive, I agree. The guy who built it did the model completely from scratch; he went to the museum and meticulously measured everything. That's even more insane than the video!  As you noticed, the controls are all at the rear of the tender. There's no water glass; just a sensor that turns on a light to tell you when the water is low, and an electric pump that you turn on until the light goes out. I have no idea how much it weighs, but with the tender included, I wouldn't be surprised if it's around 1,000 lbs or more. And if they wanted to haul passengers, I suspect we could put all of the clubs riding cars on that one train and it would pull them easily, and still have strength to spare. But I was so impressed with it the first time I saw it that I had to do some taping the second time. I hope others enjoy it as well. Dale |
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Post by Harlock on Jul 6, 2007 20:05:39 GMT -5
Hi, Mike. I don't know if the whistle is a "resonator" or not; it is mounted underneath the cab going from side to side. (Some designs have the whistle mounted under the running board to look like an air tank, but this one is completely hidden.) When the whistle sounds, you can see the steam coming from under the cab. Yea all the nice deep ones are like that. Need a certain chamber diameter and length and it's completely out of scale. On the big engines you can hide them well. Those two Pacifics also have similar sounding whistles. They are always at Bitter Creek as well. That would definitely help, especially with the walking shots. What you ought to try to do is if there's some double track, get someone else to let you tape the cab forward while you're riding next to it on another train. I figured he went to the museum since it was convenient. I'm not sure but I think that's the only cab forward left in existence. Well that makes it nice and simple, but not actually seeing the water level would scare the pants outta me. I guess since I didn't build it I don't know how reliable the setup is. I'd be curious to know what kind of sensor trips the light. i.e. is it a ball level that trips a contact or something else. --Mike |
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Post by GoldenSpike53 on Jul 9, 2007 10:48:55 GMT -5
Yes, I've been told that the Cab Forward in the Sacramento Railway Museum is the last one in existence; all the others have been scrapped. Of course, since they worked over the Sierra, and no where else, it's appropriate that it's here in Sac town.
I'm not sure what they use on the model for a sensor of the water level. It does make operation simple, but I agree that it seems troubling no to be able to see the water level in a sight glass. If I think of it, next time I see it there I'll ask about that.
Dale
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Post by doug on Jul 9, 2007 23:43:45 GMT -5
Yes, I've been told that the Cab Forward in the Sacramento Railway Museum is the last one in existence; all the others have been scrapped. Of course, since they worked over the Sierra, and no where else, it's appropriate that it's here in Sac town. Dale Dale, Just for a point of information, the cabforwards ran in quite a few places. The AC-12 sized engines ran up to Eugene, Oregon through Klamath Falls and Dunsmuir, Ca. They could be serviced at Eugene, which was the largest facility north of Roseville. They also ran on the Modoc line from Klamath falls to Reno. The group of AC-5's were based at Bakersfield, and ran over Tehachapi. The smaller engines ran over the Siskiyou line for a while, until they were stopped at Ashland, and turned to go back north. The 4-6-6-2's ended up running between eugene and Portland. The locos ran other places as well, but you get the idea. I'm glad they saved one! Doug |
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Post by Harlock on Jul 10, 2007 1:07:05 GMT -5
Doug, if you ever get a chance, I reccomend visiting the museum. Every locomotive in there is in pristine display shape, and they've a few operational ones as well. The Cab forward is simply mind boggling to behold. From what I was told, for a while during its heyday, the cab forward was the major engine on the scene here in Mojave, making those runs over Tehachapi. Imagine one of those steaming up the loop with a long rake of cars, or blowing by at full line speed past Tehachapi near the cement plant. Zowie. 40 - 60 trains per day here...and all of them diesel. Zzzzzzzz. --Mike |
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Post by Harlock on Jul 10, 2007 13:34:03 GMT -5
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Post by Harlock on Jul 11, 2007 0:50:01 GMT -5
Ok, I ordered it.  |
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Post by doug on Jul 11, 2007 7:37:51 GMT -5
Doug, if you ever get a chance, I reccomend visiting the museum. Every locomotive in there is in pristine display shape, and they've a few operational ones as well. The Cab forward is simply mind boggling to behold. --Mike Thanks Mike, I have been to the museum over the years, but it has been a while since I have been there. I think the last time was Railfair in 91. I highly recomend it to anyone interested in RR's, especially steam. Another I enjoyed was the Nevada St. Museum near Carson City. Much smaller, but every bit as spit and polish. Fwiw, last time I went through Dunsmuir in the 90's, the mallet shed was still standing in the yards near the turntable. The round house was not large enough for an AC class loco, nor was there room enough to put a long stall along side of it, so a corregated steel building was built paralell to the main line for serviceing the articulate power. I'm not sure if it is still there. The last time I saw it, there were no tracks into it, but it I found it interesting that it was still standing 40 years after it last had serviced a cab forward. Doug. |
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Post by Harlock on Jul 11, 2007 11:43:21 GMT -5
Cool. Still awaiting announcement of the next railfair. They want to finish the new railroad technology museum first, which is housed in part of the old Sacramento Shops complex. (the erecting shop...maintenence facilities are now in the old boiler shop)
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