Here’s my story. I’m shooting a super short Super 8 (old silent film) movie. I need a train in the background.
I live in Elm Mott, TX, about a mile from some UP tracks. There is a couple trains a day that pass, but I’d rather not stand outside for hours waiting on a train so I can get a 30 second shot.
I could see a trains timetable being gaurded for saftety, or terrorist reasons.
Is there a way to obtain some times when I might catch a train passing?
Freight operations while ‘scheduled’ are not scheduled to the extent you can set your clock by their movements. Ask the locals when the observe movements and base your trek off the information they supply.
Radio scanner - beg, borrow, buy, or rent one for a few days - program it for the UP’s channels there, and then listen for when trains go by. That ought to give you an idea of the pattern/ schedule and variability, and maybe a “heads-up” for a specific train on a selected day, etc.
And in the time you hunt down a scanner or track down some locals you could have just very well sat by the tracks for a few hours and gotten your train. Trainwatching rule #1? Patience!
Write the railroad’s PR or legal department and explain what you are doing and why…there may be a problem depciting their train on public flim that can be pardoned with a signature in advance…plus you might get good cooperation from them for a perfect shoot!