RAILBASTARD

Now I've got this new fangled scanner thingy, I just can't seem to stop myself Doc. The black and whites in this section are scanned direct from the negs and despite most ofthem being close to 20, and some even over 30 years old, this is the first time I have ever seen them as anything more than a neg.

In March 1989, a Paddington bound HST set passes ealing broadway. This spot is now completely ruined with overhead wires for the Paddington-Heathrow service.



Again taken in March 1989, this is Hither Green Shed in South London, which 20 years earlier had been a major stamping ground during my spotting days.



In November 1977, on the former Midland main line, a St Pancras bound express behind a Class 45 'Peak' nears Harpenden. Another spot now ruined by overhead catenary.



A parcels train at Paddington in March 1989



Paddington again with a local DMU service waiting to depart for Reading



On the Settle and Carlisle line in March 1989, two 2-car DMU's on a Leeds to Carlisle service



September 1977 and Gresley A4 60009 Union of South Africa is stabled at Perth station before working a return steam excursion back to Glasgow that evening



And finally a couple of catenary shots to satisfy TLD's fetish, both taken on the 1500v DC Manchester Sheffield line a few montsh before closure in 1981





Stick that one up your arse!, Bing

And have I ever mentioned my perway fetish? That last shot had me damned near typing one-handed. The poms are good at beautiful and complex pointwork.

Nice work all round, br Bing.

Nice scanning Bing!

Sorry about my late discovery of your scans, but I was wondering, is it done with a scanner specifically for slides, like the old slide boxes you could get for putting in front of a camera lens for copying slides? And obviously it can reverse polarity or whatever to give you a positive image?
And, where do you get one?

Here you go:- Epson V700

Do not by a scanner with a low optical density rating!

Those shots are worthy of grand acclaim...

and p'raps an Honorary Railbastard Degree in the offing.

marvin
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Loved the clock in mid-frame at the Hither Green Shed in South London. And the splendid isolation of the DMU's on the Settle and Carlisle line. Not to mention the ironwork structures of Paddington. Well shot, Bing.

They are jolly good, wot?

What DPI do you scan these at?

I dont have any fancy editing software. I use Arcsoft PhotoStudio 5 - real entry level stuff. Scan them in at A4 or A5 @300dpi, then apply unsharp mask. Resize them down by about a third, do any further sharpening, tone adjustment or colour balance necessary then resize them to 900 pixels wide @72 dpi (Cos pooters display anything more than 72dpi) and maybe one more light shapren for luck.

Bing

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

I'm using the el cheapo Epson which is the V200 flatbed scanner which was $249 at Officeworks about six months ago. It works well with black and white negs and Kodakchrome and has even spruced up my slightly heat affected Agfa CT18. However it does struggle with colour negs and the results from my E6 processed Fujichrome have been less than impressive, to the point I wouldn't put them up here.

Funnily enough I sat down with the scanner for a couple of hours today, the first time in a few months, and started scanning some B & W negs taken in China in 1988. I just have to find out how to manipulate my newly acquired web space and I will post some of them.

Stick that one up your arse!, Bing

These pictures are fantastic, Bing. (Must dig some of my SA/VIC ones from the 1980s out and scan them one day. (even though they aren't as flash as these you have put on this thread))
This may of been answered in a forum far, far away from here but what do the English do for headlights on the locomotives?
The two locomotives shown in the second photo appear not to be fitted with any lighting.

Manchester? I know where that is!!!!!1111one

Nah seriously, that last shot reminds me of one particular trip I made from Piccadilly to some place not far away with "black" appearing in the name if my memory serves - and the train was through-routed to Buxton. One of you poms can tell me the name I'm thinking of.

Anyway, the first time I went there I was on a 142 Railbus and the ride was rougher than anything I've felt outside of a tourist railway! I thought it was due to the fixed wheelbase but the next day I did it on a Sprinter and it was just as bad. There's a section of track there that's worse than anything I felt in Adelaide and that's quite a statement.

Thanks for that comprehensive reply, Bing.

I will have to try it when I rescan some of my old photos - I get annoyed my the loss of sharpness when you scan an old print