Pretty cool ...

... flying through the smoke/steam.  On those steamers, I think I prefer the ground level where you can see all the valves and rods in motion.  

Thanks for sharing.  

Cool

That is a great video, and music. Nice job!

Terry

Nice

My Video

Thanks for commenting guys. I had a great time at SRI Sunday!

WOW!!! That was awesome.

WOW!!! That was awesome. Great view from the copter. Really cool, really really cool. 

Great View

Hi Michael,

I like the shot too. I am getting a lot of thumbs down on this video. I'm thinking a former employee is up to that but who knows! It would be nice if folks would comment on why they are giving thumbs down.

If I understood the

If I understood the implications of your opening post, this video was shot with the knowledge and cooperation of the engineer/railroad.

Flying a drone at low altitude directly over a train WITHOUT that permission and cooperation is definitely asking for trouble and would certainly be a good reason for downvoting it.

Flying a drone at low altitude

I was flying 30 ft off the ground. That gives plenty of safety zone between me and the train, I talked with the railroad prior to the filming.  I see a general bias toward "drones" due mostly to a media frenzy to demonize them. As you noticed, I do have a close tie with SRI. I have an excursion set for March 14 2015 using PM 1225 as the motive power..Thanks for commenting.

View from the ground

I was shooting with three cameras. Here is the ground shot.

Nice

I was suprised you flew through the steamers exhaust.  A little worried the copter might lose control, and crash.  So that was entertaining.  The ground shot was great too.

Next, a squadron of drones to capture multiple angles

Loved the ground shot ...

... even blew the whistle for ya!  

Not sure why someone would have actually given the drone shots a "thumbs down" ... but, if I were to guess, they don't like banjo music?  

The bias against drones....

is being caused by "fringe" users who are not following the rules. Unfortunately, as usual, the actions of a few ruin things for all of us. Responsible RC enthusiast,as I'm sure you are, are not the ones causing the problems. I fly "regular" RC aircraft such as planes and single rotor helis and in recent years I've seen the proliferation of  so called "park flyer" type aircraft that  the average Joe can buy and fly with very little experience make it a lot harder on the rest of us. I've yet to get a multirotor drone although I want one. Enjoyed the video!

Michael

Park Flyer

I guess I fall into the "Park Flyer" category. That being said, These quad copters are  so easy to fly I was confident after just a couple minutes in the air on my first flight. I have only used it to video a few trains after practicing in the front yard a few times. I dont have " First person view" and I fly by line of sight. The problem comes when folks don't use common sense. I think that goes for anything in public and doesnt really matter if its a ball or a drone or even a car. Life is dangerous and everyone has a responsibility to be safe.

Thanks for the comment.

Music

Could be the music, the alternative is worse though.

Stability

Stability is really good on these copters. I don't think the exhaust affected it at all. I'm going to take a close look at the original video to see if I detect any change in the flight.

As long as people fly responsibly....

...I have no problem with it "park flyer"  or otherwise. In re reading my previous comment I may have come across wrong.  I did not mean to suggest everyone who flew a "park  flyer" was at fault, just that because the aircraft have become available to a much larger group of folks and can be flown with relative ease that the potential for misuse has become greater.

Michael

Well I just joined the "club"

Just got a quad and after I learn to fly it I'll take it with me on some train viewing trips.

I am not a flyer of these

I am not a flyer of these things so the novelty of the flight through the exhaust stream is not of particular interest to me as it might be to other fliers. As to the thumbs down from above one the music is not real pleasant so it quickly became silent. As to folks giving it a thumbs down it might have to do with content of the video. The title is video of a locomotive from a quad copter and it is mostly the tops of passenger cars and the inside of a steam cloud.

I would suggest possibly a better shot could have been had with the copter off to the side so something other than exhaust and a headlight could have been filmed. Same altitude just offset maybe the same distance as the height so that the more colorful sides of the cars could be viewed as well as more of the locomotive in addition to the steam cloud. It would surely have portrayed the subject in the title line better and also given a very unique view of the loco and train. Just an idea for your next video with your flying camera, it might meet with better ratings if that is important to you and it would capture more of your subject.

Two Thumbs Up

Rob, I actually like the overhead, multi-rotor shot better than the trains side video. It reminded me of standing on the viaducts in Knoxville and watching L&N and Southern trains run through. Nothing like being there and being wrapped in a cloud of steam (actually water vapor and soot).

I was surprised to hear that you were not flying First Person Video. For a non FPV video the framing and stability are very good. I found that I could not get the shots I wanted until I went FPV.

Keep the aerial videos coming.

Indeed ...

I would never have guessed that!  My goodness, you are quite good, or very lucky!  

All valad points

Hi Rob,

Those are all valid points. I'm learning as I go and will try to keep your suggestions in mind on my next video shoot. Thanks for the input.