Tehachapi, BC

[Scottl]

It looks like lots of clearance and room to compose the scene too. 

[James Costello]

P.S.  Does "used to" mean there is no longer ISO traffic over the Loop, James?

Not sure mate, I haven't kept a close eye on traffic movements in the last 12 months and it has probably been that long since I've watched my dvds....

[James Costello]

Seen this Gary?

http://youtu.be/bLb_99f_JSE

[Coxy]

The future is just wonderful!!!

[GaryHinshaw]

Seen this Gary?

http://youtu.be/bLb_99f_JSE

Yes!  Mark Dance had sent me that link, though I just watched it again now in full screen/HD and it was much better (first time I saw it, I was in a hurry at the airport).  Now, if we can only filter the drone noise and add gyro stabilization, we'll really be in business.

I wonder how the BNSF crew felt about this?  Note also that this was taken in the post signal bridge era.

[Scottl]

There are new Arduino-based stabilizing auto pilots for r/c helicopters that we are using for aerial photography now.  They can keep the aircraft essentially on station in 40 kmh winds. 

The video is neat for me because it gives a sense of the actually landscape better than any photographs I have seen (and having not been there).  I really got a sense of the mountain the line is crossing.

What is the white cross on the hill for?  A construction memorial?

[GaryHinshaw]

These will probably become standard rail fan accessories within a few years...

I think the cross is put up by the family that owns the Loop Ranch, but I'm not sure.

[Coxy]

Cross is a memorial to the SP crew members who lost their lives in a runaway accident at the base of Cajon Pass in 1989. It was placed there by SP employees.

http://www.trainweb.org/KernJunction/cross.htm

[Scottl]

Thanks for the information and link. 

[C855B]

I had some exposure to RPVs back when I interned at NASA a zillion years back. So from that experience I pursued RC planes big enough for a Super-8 camera payload as a railfanning toy. Never bore fruit - $1000+/per in the mid-'70s was a big chunk of change. Not to mention that the crude controls and lack of self-stabilization meant the possibility of total loss if it was let it out into the wild. NASA could afford to lose a couple when they glitched. I couldn't.

Of course, now we insert all the recent hand-wringing about "drones". It's already resulting in a bunch of state legislation; I suspect it will culminate in definition of property rights extending the air space to a specific altitude high enough to make private drones impractical (that is, until the technology takes another jump). Then there's liability - all it will take is one instance of a bystander getting hurt or property damage from a drone run amok to put an end to the fun.

I have a real love-hate thing going with drones right now. The railfan potential (and other fun stuff) is off the charts, just like that video proved. But the loss of privacy in circumstances where you expect it even for just a few seconds - such as ducking behind a bush for... uh... "relief" - is daunting.

[ednadolski]

Dang, that was amazing!   Never saw the loop from that POV.

I doubt that the BNSF crew would have even noticed.

Ed

[Scottl]

Drones are pretty useful, if you forget about all the security uses that get peoples shorts into a knot.  We lift full frame SLR cameras in them and do detailed topographic mapping from low level images.  They use them in mines for tailings and pits.  I know some one doing it for CN along the right of way to determine slope movements and bank erosion.  Cool stuff, and the price of a serious kit has dropped to under $10K in recent years.  We have students make them for a few thousand from RC and open source control parts.

[3DTrains]

OK, enough watching TV - what news of the layout, Gary? Details, man! Details! 

Cheers!
Marc - Riverside

[GaryHinshaw]

OK, enough watching TV - what news of the layout, Gary? Details, man! Details! 

I got nothing...  Sadly, what little hobby time I've had lately has been relatively futile.  They say things come in threes -- here are my three:

1) MBK annonces that new USPS regulations prohibit them from shipping First Class to Canada.  The next cheapest option roughly triples shipping costs.  WTF?  Minor but irritating.  I haven't been buying too much lately, and mostly I've bought locally or from Chuck.

2) Lee English at Bowser announces that he's giving up on the "Full Throttle" Z scale couplers.  That was like a blow to the gut when I first heard it.  Since then, he has said he might be back in the game, but no definitive word yet.

3) A disk crash on my laptop has caused me days of lost time (mostly work time) while I recover and reorganize my files from backups.  So far, the only file of any value that I haven't been able to recover is my CAD track plan for Tehachapi BC.  I do have an older copy from about a year ago, but many additions and some improvements have been made to the plan since then.  I have been successful at recovering some thought-to-be lost files with special software, but not this one yet.

Model Railroading is Fun.

-gfh

P.S. I have been doing some tinkering in the garage: over the past few weeks I decided to go ahead and paint and ballast the track that is laid.  For the concrete tie track, this means painting the Pandrol clips before ballasting.  To date, I estimate that I've painted about 7,000 individual clips by hand.    I find it pleasantly mindless after all the other frustrations, and I'm pleased with how it's turning out.  I'm also pleased with how the ballasting is going, especially with the effort to get a semi-manicured ballast ridge between the rails.  I'll post a pic when it's further along.

[basementcalling]

How's the manicure and clip painting looking?