THE WEST HIGHLANDER

Is there anyone who could supply updates for this tour?

 

Is there a way to send updates when you're not registered with the railtour-live system? I'd happily send some text updates, if you give me the number I need to send it to and the code I need to prefix the text with. Otherwise, I'm sure there'll be plenty of updates on the gen section of scot-rail.co.uk.

 

No you have to be registered, but the registration is 100% free. So there is really no reason not to register.
If you have some concerns, please feel free to contact me on 07816232172
And we can have a chat.

 

OK, cheers.

 

The tour left Bo'ness loopon time
Video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYMLBlTnjlw

 

A video if them leavIng Bo'ness loop on time

 

For the record 61994 and 45231 left on time from Bo'ness loop..
Video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYMLBlTnjlw

 

All seemed to go well today with the steam leg of the tour running to time (at least as far as Rannoch Moor when I last saw it). Locos stormedup the hill onto the moor. Usual highland mix of sun & showers.

 

Sadly not on the moor. They caught the sun on the Rannoch side of the snow shelter, but not up by the sword loch. We were quite happy though as it'd been raining until a few moments before. The early morning shots were worth the trip and arguably better than Rannoch in harsh midday light anyway. Still, it's hard to beat the experience of a walk up onto the moor for steam so certainly a day to remember.

 

Evening chaps,

three of my photos from yesterday. Sadly the photo I took at 5.20am at Inverkeithing ( Jamestown Viaduct ) didn't come out great due to near horiontal wind blown steam basically obstructing any sight of the carriages....so, the best from yesterdays quick nip up to Tyndrum area:


SRPS West Highlander Railtour At County March by JonathonAG, on Flickr


Steam On The Horseshore Curve by JonathonAG, on Flickr


Steam On Beinn Dorain by JonathonAG, on Flickr

Hope yous like them, starting to think I should upgrade to a Nikon D90 soon, this Fuji Finepix S5600 is starting to feel life expired....

 

It must have been a privilege to be in such a gorgeous area. The shots after the horseshoe are great Jonathon.
Henry

 

Thanks Henry, I only live two hours from Crianlarich but I feel I'm not up there enough! Always enjoy my little forays in to the West Highlands, the scenery there is unrivalled!

 

The middle one, in particular, is lovely. I'd be very pleased with that.

Any reason why you're thinking of a D90, as despite still being in Nikons range, it's essentially obsolete? Having owned cameras with the same sensor as the D80, D90 and now the D7000, I can say that the new sensor in the D7000 and D5100 is superb. I wasn't that impressed with the D90, it had better high ISO noise than the D80, but I didn't reckon it was as sharp despite having a few more megapixels. I bought a D5100 a few weeks ago (same sensor as the D7000) and the image quality is a significant step forward from the previous models. If you're thinking of Nikon in that price range, I'd definitely go for either the D7000 or the D5100, depending what features you want.

 

Jealous. But then I'm only 2 and bit hours drive from Dawlish and yet never photted steam along the sea wall...

That part of the West Highland line is epic though and as I was driving that way back from Fort William last year I could imagine what an amazing spectacle steam would be on that part of the line. The middle photo in particular is lovely - the train is totally dwarfed by the landscape. I just wish I lived a bit closer than the 450 odd miles to have a crack at that myself!

 

Regarding the Nikon D90, yeah, my price range just now is £700, and I was advised by many photographer friends that the D90 would be the best option. Been checking reviews, stas and the sort. Yes, was quite surprise that the images on the D90 are slightly less sharp than the D80, but overall, the D90 seems to be a great camera. High ISO levels without much noise distortion, high megapixel and from other D90 photos I've seen, the photos do come out pretty decent as an end result. But I may look in to the other cameras you have mentioned Paul.

 

I certainly would recommend doing so. So far, I've been amazed at the quality from the D5100. It has a depth of detail in the shadows that wasn't there on the previous models I've owned and the sharpness is as good as I could expect. The D7000 will stretch your budget by a few hundred pounds, but the D5100 falls into range. It depends on the features you need though, the D90 is a bigger, more solid body, and can autofocus with the older AF-D lenses, so if you need that you either have to pay more for the D7000, or get the older model and accept a slight loss in image quality.

 

Had a great day on board on Saturday,superb tour thanks to all involved for the succesful operation,great weather over the tops of the highlands in both directions.

Only now with visiting the north of Scotland 4 times in a month have I realised its not a great deal further than Dawlish which is a regular journey south. I shall certainly have to try and make the Highlands a more regular drive north!

Cheers,
Mark

 

A fantastic day out. From the train point of view, we seemed blessed with the weather, which apart from a few spots of rain, managed to stay dry and bright for the most part. The charge across the moor was something special, as was the run past Loch Treig. Absolutely fantastic scenery, and I was extremely happy with the fact that I managed to capture the Corrour summit board with my camera whilst on the move at around 30MPH! Would certainly like to go back again, particularly if the trip is done the reverse-way round at the end of the Jacobite season.

 

Sadly it's something that the railtour department of our society haven't looked in to as far as I'm aware, but maybe the success of running it this year may prompt a kick start in to yearly railtours at the start and end of season, which I believe used to happen years back. The route itself is amazing in scenery, and is always a joy behind steam or watching from the lineside. I think it would go down well, complimenting our "Forth Circle Railtours", and maybe help breathe more air of steam in to our railtour programme.