I've been on assignment this week for Mendip Rail Ltd (The people I work for). We bought some new wagons a couple of weeks ago and the powers that be decided that they would like to have a photograph of these shiny new wagons on their first trip out from the Mendips. So, as the unofficial company photographer, I was given the task.
The Boss wanted a photo that would show off the wagons and also show the corporate identity, so they could be used in publicity material.
So, a location was sought and, eventually settled upon. A place called Berkley, just outside of Frome. There were good vantage points from two bridges and a curve to the track. The result was this.
Not bad but too train-spotter-ish (No offence to Train-Spotters intended). So another location was sought and eventually we settled on the Great Bedwyn area. It was felt that the Kennet & Avon Canal, that ran along-side the track here, would add something to the picture. Next step was a location scouting mission.
So, Tuesday morning at 8am I headed off to Great Bedwyn. Once I arrived and found somewhere to park I headed straight for the canal and walked along the tow-path looking for possible sites. It was a beautiful day and the scenery looked fabulous.
The canal was almost still, giving off wonderful reflections, and the trees were an abundance of colours. Unfortunately, it was the trees that were the problem. Wherever a view looked promising, the rail track was hidden by the trees. "Blast" I thought. I ended up walking miles in an attempt to find the view we were looking for. Eventually I found two possible locations. Test shots were taken and, once I arrived back home, the pictures were studied until a final decision was reached. Although I liked the first picture the trees would hide too many wagons, as you can see below. So, with site location decided upon, I had an early night in readiness of my early 7am start the next day.
Wednesday arrived and I set off once again towards Great Bedwyn. Once there I parked up and headed off down the tow-path to find my picture spot. The train had been planned to be at Bedwyn around 10:15am. By 09:30 I was ready and waiting, camera ready, my finger poised. 10:15 came and went, as did 10:30, 10:45 and 11:00. Although I didn't expect it to be on-time, I didn't expect it to be this late either. A call to the MRL office told me the bad news. It was running 2 hours late. "Blast" I thought again. By now my back had stiffened up, caused by me standing still for too long. So the next 30 minutes were taken up by me doing silly walks, in an attempt to get my spine mobile again. The minutes ticked by like hours but, eventually, the train did appear. As it passed by my spot I snapped away as quickly as I could to make sure I'd captured the moment and then, that was it. It was all over. A day and a half of planning and waiting and it was over in less than a minute. All I hoped now is that I managed to capture what my Boss had wanted. He's on holiday for the rest of this week so I won't really know for a few more days yet.
The last picture posted is more or less what I ended up with. More or less in that I can't post the actual photo as that belongs to Mendip Rail, but it gives you some idea.
That will have to do for now as it's getting late. Just a quick line to tell you the Somerset3d updates are of Withyditch and the 4th Amiens page is now active.
Thanks for reading. More next week.
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