I’d been thinking for some time about digitising my slides and negatives, to see what gems have been hidden away in the dark for decades.
After exploring a few options, and on recommendation of Mark Bau who hosts the Victorian Railways website, I had a look at equipment from a US company, Negative Supply.
While Mark has been scanning his large format negatives, they have a wide range of different options for almost any type of negatives, and 35mm slides.
So after some deliberation, I bit the bullet, and invested in some equipment to see what I could achieve.
Some local suppliers had parts of what I wanted, but the specific package I wanted was only available directly from the US.
This meant a longer wait for delivery, a lot longer than initially expected, but it eventually turned up, and I’ve been pretty pleased with early practice shots.
I’ve paired the Negative supply gear with my Canon 5D, and a currently borrowed 100mm Macro lens, which is great - I might have to purchase one!
It was interesting grabbing a couple of random boxes out of the cupboard and seeing what was there. - a 1995 Steamrail end of year Tait trip in the double ended motor 470M. K 190 on a transfer to the now defunct, and lifted South Gippsland Tourist Railway.
R 761 visited Wycheproof in November 1995, the streetscape hasn’t changed much, but the number of people who turn out nowadays has.
A few other shots around Bendigo, I’m really keen to see what else I find.
Steamrail Victoria transferred K 190 to the South Gippsland Tourist Railway for a while in the early 90s, seen here climbing Beena Bank.
The sign on 470M gives the location, but there’s nothing railway related in this scene that remains, the station now being elevated as part of the Level Crossing removal works for Bell Street. Coburg was an interesting location, it was double tracked either side of the station by 1959, but until 1995 only had one platform. The signals were still kerosene lit until February 1996, with all the mechanical signalling disappearing in the early 2000s.
R 761 on a very empty Broadway, Wycheproof. Only a few onlookers, you can barely move when steam visits there these days!
These are just a start, I’m looking forward to refining my workflow, and sharing more gems with you!
Regards,
Scott
