DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Pilbara iron ore train

MAvic_South_Oz

Well-Known Member
Premium Pilot
Joined
May 25, 2017
Messages
8,491
Reactions
7,976
Age
61
Location
South Australia, the great southern land
After seeing a couple of train vids here, though some members might like to see an outback Australian iron ore train.
These are usually 4 locos, and about 2.5km long.

We were in the middle of an epic 5 week, 5 state Australian 4WD trip, and Western Australia was the focus.
We'd camped the night near the rail line, oblivious to the fact these things trundle along slowly all night on the ~300km journey from Newman to Pt Hedland, where the ore goes by ship to industry worldwide.

I sped this up 2x in a lot of it, edited a lot out, and still could only just come under 6 minutes !

Took off in near darkness (bit grainy at the start) as I heard this one coming up the line, and managed at the end to catch the surrounding hills light up red as the sun peeked up over the horizon.

 
Last edited:
great video thanks for posting
That; was fun. Thanks

Thanks fellas, that was the pretty much the first trip I had really used the Mavic to such as extent, always learning little tricks on how to fly smoothly etc. I don't think you can ever not keep improving in that way, so many creative people out there with videos you can learn from.

Very nice video, I liked your editing.

Thanks :)
I am still only using iMovie, then DJI Go4 for adding music.
One of these days I'll learn how to add other sounds, and music from the freeshare sites, and get that side of editing better.
 
After seeing a couple of train vids here, though some members might like to see an outback Australian iron ore train.
These are usually 4 locos, and about 2.5km long.

We were in the middle of an epic 5 week, 5 state Australian 4WD trip, and Western Australia was the focus.
We'd camped the night near the rail line, oblivious to the fact these things trundle along slowly all night on the 170km journey from Newman to Pt Hedland, where the ore goes by ship to industry worldwide.

I sped this up 2x in a lot of it, edited a lot out, and still could only just come under 6 minutes !

Took off in near darkness (bit grainy at the start) as I heard this one coming up the line, and managed at the end to catch the surrounding hills light up red as the sun peeked up over the horizon.


Which Mavic (Pro, Air, Zoom, etc.) and in which Mode did you fly?
 
Mavic Pro ....not MAVIC 2 Pro ? just wondering due to clarity of video ....though Im impressed with the video ...thanks

Yes just the Mavic Pro . . . I think I would have removed the ND8 I usually had fitted, as it was pretty much still dark when I took off.
I shoot video in 1080 auto, use the right scroll for balance adjustments, as seen i the early part of the video after taking off . . . was wanting to get over and 'catch the train' at the time, not so much focused on the settings like usual :)
 
After seeing a couple of train vids here, though some members might like to see an outback Australian iron ore train.
These are usually 4 locos, and about 2.5km long.

We were in the middle of an epic 5 week, 5 state Australian 4WD trip, and Western Australia was the focus.
We'd camped the night near the rail line, oblivious to the fact these things trundle along slowly all night on the 170km journey from Newman to Pt Hedland, where the ore goes by ship to industry worldwide.

I sped this up 2x in a lot of it, edited a lot out, and still could only just come under 6 minutes !

Took off in near darkness (bit grainy at the start) as I heard this one coming up the line, and managed at the end to catch the surrounding hills light up red as the sun peeked up over the horizon.


Kewwlll!
I belong to a Facebook group and a few of the people post train videos taken with a drone.
Nothing as nice as yours, though .... especially the choice of music!
Well done!
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAvic_South_Oz
Nice video
Can't imagine being in a car stuck at the train crossing.
No graffiti on the carriages? Do any trains in Oz have graffiti?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MAvic_South_Oz
Kewwlll!
I belong to a Facebook group and a few of the people post train videos taken with a drone.
Nothing as nice as yours, though .... especially the choice of music!
Well done!


Thanks for that, I’m still very raw at editing, and music is standard tunes on the Go4 app editor.
I am going to try using music and other sound effects from various free share sites sometime soon.
Will make them more entertaining I feel.
Thanks again and happy flying.
 
Nice video
Can't imagine being in a car stuck at the train crossing.
No graffiti on the carriages? Do any trains in Oz have graffiti?

Thanks for the comment.

Ha yeah we thought that and I bet closer to the main towns there would be some crossings . . . or maybe they run the rail beneath roads as it would simply be too disruptive !
They seem to run probably every hour or two loaded up or returning.

Yes, sadly graffiti is a common problem in Australia too, like most western countries.
Trains around metro areas (including freight train carriages etc that run interstate) are subject to masses of it too.
In a past occupation, I actually removed graffiti for a living, about 5 years, and we did a lot of train graffiti removal for a couple of rail coys.
We’d do mostly locos and passenger carriages,
They must have had another contractor to paint freight carriages.

This location is simply so remote the vandals really don’t have access to the trains and carriages.
Plus I suspect they are used so much, and under more supervision, that there is simply too much trouble and risk to graf them.

Cheers [emoji4]
 
Last edited:
Beautiful video Mavic_South_Oz..

I play with these trains for a living - heavily involved with one of the mine company's automated train systems. ( Think of the one whose name is Red River.. ). Sitting down in Perth you sometimes forget what an amazingly beautiful country we live in.

Level crossings in rural areas are just a fact of life.. fortunately, there is not a lot of vehicle traffic - I don't think non-Australians ( or for that matter, even city dwellers ) appreciate the remoteness. We have been stuck by the side of the road for 2 days with no one passing us. Recently a guy went missing on a motorbike in this area - it took an organized search party a week to find him.

Loaded the cars are around 140tonnes.. empty they weigh about 20. There's normally 230-odd cars in a consist ( or train ).. between 2 - 4 engines, depending on location / route. Max travel speed is 80km/h.. and it will take up to 3km to come to a standstill.

Safe flying
~rokster
 
Beautiful video Mavic_South_Oz..

I play with these trains for a living - heavily involved with one of the mine company's automated train systems. ( Think of the one whose name is Red River.. ). Sitting down in Perth you sometimes forget what an amazingly beautiful country we live in.

Level crossings in rural areas are just a fact of life.. fortunately, there is not a lot of vehicle traffic - I don't think non-Australians ( or for that matter, even city dwellers ) appreciate the remoteness. We have been stuck by the side of the road for 2 days with no one passing us. Recently a guy went missing on a motorbike in this area - it took an organized search party a week to find him.

Loaded the cars are around 140tonnes.. empty they weigh about 20. There's normally 230-odd cars in a consist ( or train ).. between 2 - 4 engines, depending on location / route. Max travel speed is 80km/h.. and it will take up to 3km to come to a standstill.

Safe flying
~rokster

rokster, good to hear from one of the Perth remote rooms (?)
I know it’s been happening a while with one of the big iron ore mine coys.

For those that don’t know many of these trains are going driverless, all controlled by operators in a control room over 1000km away in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia.

Glad you liked seeing that video mate.
We heard them all through the night, lol.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
131,052
Messages
1,559,332
Members
160,033
Latest member
dronewithdeshaun