Green Arrow

[61070]

Chaz: I think that could well be the signalman you've spotted on the boarded crossing. If it's not, whoever is in the 'box seems not to be in much of a hurry to put the home signal back behind the loco!

Manna: Leicester's post-war 'new' roundhouse must have been one of the shortest-lived engine sheds. It was built in the late '40s or early '50s, replacing two older, smaller roundhouses, but when the 1973 photos were taken it had already been demolished - or else part of it would be visible in the right background beyond the type 2. It only lasted 20 years or so. It's possible that the departure of the preserved locos in 1970 was precipitated by its imminent demolition. The two MR engines went to a small railway museum in a former tram depot on the outskirts of Leicester. I will desperately try to stay on topic for the forum by saying that that they kept company there with NER Bo-Bo electric No.1, it being a product of Brush of Loughborough.

StevieG: yes, those pictures were scanned from 35mm Kodachrome sildes. I have a Nikon CoolscanIV ED film scanner and the slides were scanned at its maximum resolution, which is 2,900 pixels per inch. I bought it 4 or 5 years ago - if you were buying an equivalent film/transparency scanner today I think 4,000+ ppi is the norm these days. Mine gives tif (uncompressed) images from a 35mm original of around 30MB colour, 10MB b/w, with pixel dimensions about 4,000 x 2,700.

To reduce the file size to below 500KB while maintaining the pixel dimensions ('resolution') I open the tifs in Photoshop and re-save them as jpgs. During the save a box appears called 'JPEG Options'. It offers you a range 0 to 12 of image (quality) options which enable varying amounts of compression. Choosing '2' (low quality) reduces the Leicester North view from a tif of 32.4MB to a jpg of 427KB. The pixel dimensions remain 4025 x 2747, so the resolution is unchanged. For comparison, selecting the highest quality jpg of '12' (lowest compression) gives a file size of 5601KB.

Comparing the 32.4MB tiff and the 427KB jpg on screen at 100% size there's really only a marginal difference in appearance in this case. The original slide, though, was taken on a decent, but hardly professional quality, camera (Voigtlander Vitoret). I expect if you started with a really top quality image (e.g. a high resolution scan of a negative my father took with his Leica on fine grain film, or a direct digital image from a good modern camera) the difference between the compressed and the uncompressed images would be far more apparent.

I'm self-taught so far as scanning and optimising slides and negs is concerned, and this has been quite frustrating at times. You keep discovering new tweaks that give better results, which is pleasing until you realise that all the scans you've done up to then are not as good as they could have been! It can easily take an hour to scan, adjust and clean up a negative or transparency - and much longer if it's badly scratched or otherwise damaged. Still, it generally beats decorating and shopping!

[StevieG]

Many thanks 61070: most comprehensive. I think I follow all your info., though I'm probably on the same learning path, but a little further back, nearer the start.

[chaz harrison]

Beautiful photograph, twa_dogs.

Something must be done!

Chaz

[manna]

G'Day Gents
I'll second that, a terrific photo Twa_Dogs, pardon my ignorance, but where was it taken?--ECML, during single line working
manna

[Flamingo]

Looks like the Severn Valley Railway, just coming out of the tunnel between Kidderminster and Bewdley (don't know the name of the tunnel). The SVR is one of the few preserved lines with a rake of LNER teak coaches.

Re the scanning of older slides and negatives. I second the advice given by 61070. It is time consuming but the results are worthwhile. Digitising old pictures really breathes new life into otherwise inaccessible photographs. For anyone tempted to try it, be prepared to invest in a decent quality photographic scanner, not a flat-bed document scanner or one of the budget price photo scanners often advertised in magazines and newspapers. Those usually only accept one film format, generally it is 35mm, and they may lack the options of saving scans in different image formats such as .tif or ,jpg. Saving in .tif fomat preserves the maximum amount of information contained in the original photograph, but at the expense of a bigger file size which takes up more space on your hard drive or removaable disk. If like me you have older negatives on roll film of various sizes you need a scanner which comes with special frame holders for various image sizes. My scanner is an Epson 4990 which does the job well enough but even so it is priced at the low end of what you can expect to pay for the sort of quality that is really needed.

[61070]

Yes, a really lovely shot - what beautiful countryside some of our preserved lines run through, and how well kept the permanent way is (to the untrained eye at least).

One advantage of photographing on most lines today, main and preserved, is that there are no telegraph wires or posts to get in the way, sticking up above boilers etc., thus ensuring that shots like this can be very clean and effective. One could quibble that this is not historically authentic, and there is no doubt that bits of infrastructure like poles and wires add character to many historic shots. However, I expect that pole routes are not there these days, even when traditional signalling equipment is in use, for the good reasons that they would be both expensive to maintain and vulnerable compared with other options for telecom links. But I wonder whether any of the preserved lines has maintained a section of traditional lineside pole route? I remember being mesmerised by the dipping wires seen through the windows of a moving train - as much a part of railway travel experience as the trail of steam and the sound of rail joints.

[StevieG]

Re pole routes in photos, see one pic I've just posted in this section under the new title of "Pre-modernisation Scene". [No Green Arrow though ((no locos!)].

[52D]

As mentioned earlier compare pics of models in Hattons advert to the real thing.

[manna]

G'Day Gents
Living in the far away colonies, things can take a while to filter down to us, can anyone let us know what is to become of 'Green Arrow' and where is it now???
manna

[hq1hitchin]

G'Day Gents
Living in the far away colonies, things can take a while to filter down to us, can anyone let us know what is to become of 'Green Arrow' and where is it now???
manna

Done her bit for a decade or two, I think - needs quite big money spending to get her back into traffic again:

http://britishrailpics.fpic.co.uk/p57670616.html

[third-rail]

G'Day Gents
Living in the far away colonies, things can take a while to filter down to us, can anyone let us know what is to become of 'Green Arrow' and where is it now???
manna

Done her bit for a decade or two, I think - needs quite big money spending to get her back into traffic again:

http://britishrailpics.fpic.co.uk/p57670616.html

i believe the biggest item is the three cylinder mono block which also incorperates the smoke box saddle,that is apart from any boiler work that will be needed looks as though it will be stuffed and mounted for a considable time..

[52D]

Not if i win the lottery

[60041]

The problem is indeed the cylinder block, this is complicated by the fact that one of the main reasons that this particular loco was preserved was that it retained its original monoblock casting, whereas most V2s had been fitted with the improved 3 piece casting. The NRM are reluctant to sanction the replacement of the cylinder as it would compromise the originality of the loco.
So I'm afraid that it will be stuffed and mounted for some time if not for ever.

[manna]

G'Day Gents
Thanks for that, stuffed and mounted, a sad end for the Finest mixed traffic engine ever built in the UK, lets hope technology can lend a hand in the future
manna

[chaz harrison]

Yes, my understanding is that the NRM will not rebuild the V2, because of the (mistaken?) view that the originality of the loco is paramount. Maybe someone should explain to them that the boiler is certainly not original etc etc.
How do they square their museum attitude with the fact that 4472 has a double chimney and smoke deflectors yet is painted in LNER livery?
If, as I suspect, it's really a question of money then OK, ask the enthusiasts. I would be more than happy to contribute to an appeal to repair this iconic loco.

Chaz