Multiple Units.

Diesel and Electric.

The multiple unit in the railway world is described as a people mover, it has been designed for that sole purpose. Initially the idea was for a clean and smooth operation into and out of suburban areas, work on rural lines with a rail/auto coach, railcar.

Some auto coaches had the facility to carry light loads, mail, small boxes, milk churns and they appeared in the steam era. But it was the electrification of east/north-east and southern lines to overhead and third rail that introduced the first trains.

Today we have a plethora of types operating in the U.K and Ireland, from single railcars to two, three and four units trains, some are made up of two four unit trains that can split up to form two trains.

The introduction of the diesel powered units allow extensive operation across any part of the country. I hope to cover individual types and their operational working in the months to follow.

The night Sky.

The Moon and the Stars.

Humanity has always been fascinated with looking up at the night sky, that is because we have had to live with seeing it. We have the Moon that dominates our sky and then it is followed by various stars, which today we know as planets in our Solar system.

The Moon is the nearest object to photograph or film with any modern digital camera. The detail obtained can be very good. But you can also do much astronomy too, filming Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus.

I have made a couple of films of the Moon and plan to make a few more, when the clouds depart.

Construction Vehicles. Part-One.

Roads, Rails and Homes.

Where ever you live in the world today, you will come across some form of vehicle or machine being employed to help, support and construct. The construction machine has existed since the days of moving large stone blocks to developing cranes, these machines where not motorised as today. 

But then we had to start some were to progress forward to today. Mechanical diggers, JCB types, Tractors in all sizes, cement mixers, Tarmac rollers, Bulldozers. Before you start to lay a railway line, the area has to be cleared by these conventional machines. Track laying is now done as a one piece pre-assembled unit, but it still needs to be joined.

The good old engineering vehicles, which are bi-passed by many railway film makers are perhaps more interesting than the locomotives and worth further study.

Chemical Tankers.

Farming and Industry.

Chemicals are big business and what one nation cannot make, another can provide via tanker shipping or railroad tankers. We need chemicals for fertilisers in farming and also in industry for various processes from plastic polymas to nylon.

Many of these chemical formula's are top secret and can be used for both commercial and military use. The Tanker ships are roughly the same sizes as bulk ore/coal carriers and cruel oil super tankers.

In the United Kingdom many travel to Milford Haven and other terminal ports, such as Runcorn near to Liverpool. Unfortunately a recent visit to Tata steel in Port Talbot I missed filming a Norwegian tanker, who did not spend very long there.