Intercity XPT

[Pete_W]

Here is the Sydney-Melbourne XPT, passing through the small township of Gerogery in southern NSW. It would have been travelling around 120kph at this location.

XPT at Gerogery by Peter Watters, on Flickr

 

[1971_M5]

Cool. XP2012 "City of Tamworth" (info from Wikipedia). Push-pull. Or Pull-push? I'm only somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to trains (I have more expertise w/aircraft from my piloting days in the 1990's) and I've always been interested in understanding the "power-coordination" in a push-pull arrangement. Can the operator in the front (or back) "feel it" when things are "off" or is it imperceptible and only "visible" via instrumentation? How does it work? Really nice vantage point and friendly clouds in the sky. I will try to get a pic of a passenger train here locally -- but they are typically moving (unless they're at a station... obviously). Need to hang-out by the tracks a little longer (patience) and it takes a bit more skill to get a good shot. Several years ago I used a ND filter and panning technique in an effort to get the blurred-background (speed) effect -- only moderate success. I tend to take shots of freight trains... usually just sitting (idling)... waiting for their picture to be taken! LOL.

 

[Pete_W]

Cool. XP2012 "City of Tamworth" (info from Wikipedia). Push-pull. Or Pull-push? I'm only somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to trains (I have more expertise w/aircraft from my piloting days in the 1990's) and I've always been interested in understanding the "power-coordination" in a push-pull arrangement. Can the operator in the front (or back) "feel it" when things are "off" or is it imperceptible and only "visible" via instrumentation? How does it work? Really nice vantage point and friendly clouds in the sky. I will try to get a pic of a passenger train here locally -- but they are typically moving (unless they're at a station... obviously). Need to hang-out by the tracks a little longer (patience) and it takes a bit more skill to get a good shot. Several years ago I used a ND filter and panning technique in an effort to get the blurred-background (speed) effect -- only moderate success. I tend to take shots of freight trains... usually just sitting (idling)... waiting for their picture to be taken! LOL.

The XPT has only a single driver so the rear locomotive operates automatically in tandem from the controls in the front loco. I am guessing the instruments in the cab would alert the driver if the rear locomotive had any kind of fault or wasn't working the way it should.

A number of freight trains are now operated this way, i.e. a loco at each end and cabled such that the rear locomotive is remotely controlled the same as if it was attached at the front.

This particular XTP runs from Sydney to Melbourne twice daily in each direction. I have a few iPhone apps that allow passenger trains to be tracked so even if it's running late (and it often is) I can still schedule to be trackside and not have to wait for too long.

Getting sharp images of a moving train at this kind of speed requires a decent shutter speed (I usually go now lower than 1/800s) and I try to shoot at f/8 or higher to get as much of the train sharp, so this can mean pushing ISO up depending on the available light. On a bright sunny day, no problems!

I've never tried any panning shots but remember some good ones posted on the DPR Landscape forum but HAMADA-san. I must try this one day!