Swipsey--
I've been looking at the little helicopters for the past three years now. The price on the one you show (the most popular one right now) has fallen considerably. The camera is probably a GoPro which shoots video or stills. The combined cost for both is now something like a thousand bucks, which is certainly in the affordable range. I have not yet bought one because: (1) I've been buying vintage Leica equipment (not cheap!) and (2) the wind out here is often way too much for the little helicopters to cope with. (Over the past four days it's been 20-40 mph virtually non stop.)
Last Friday I drove out to extreme southwest South Dakota, for rifle/antelope season. I didn't have a lot of time to spare, but I did manage to make it over to Crawford Hill in Nebraska, on the BNSF Powder River Sub. The line there is double track and gets extremely heavy use. The trains are pretty much nonstop. This line funnels coal trains in/out of the WY coal fields, 24/7. The hill there is very long and steep, so there are helper units (multiple) working there. I saw a couple of stack trains and one manifest while out there over the four days, but I'd say about 90% of the traffic is coal shuttles. There's a nice little bridge over the tracks at the crest of the hill, and it shakes like a leaf when the heavy trains go under it, notched to the max! Most loaded trains had about 6-8 engines on it, including helpers. I also followed the line north into Wyoming a ways, and found some spots I'd like to return to. It's typical wide open antelope country!
First shot:, an empty train is n/b as a loaded s/b heads away. The helper units have cut off and are waiting for dispatch to clear them and they can go back north for the next train. Second shot: a loaded s/b is thundering up the hill at a crawl despite being notched out. You hear these trains LONG before you see them. Third shot: the only tunnel in Nebraska, now abandoned. The hill was notched out and double tracked immediately to the west. (visible in 2nd shot) Fourth shot: the country is so open you can photo an ENTIRE coal train at once in numerous places. Fifth shot: SD/WY border on one of the typical roads I was driving looking for antelope.
I would include Crawford Hill as one of the "10 wonders of Foamer America." It's more impressive than Horseshoe Curve and is in fact a double horseshoe. Access is good, and you generally have the whole place to yourself. The trains are very impressive as they thunder and smoke up the hill, and crews are railfan friendly. I do have to wonder what will become of this line as the use of coal drops. Without coal, I have to wonder if the helper units would still be around, or if the entire line will still be there. Today the action is nonstop around the clock, but twenty years from now, who knows. If you are a hard core railfan looking for the best, this is a spot you need to check out at least once while you can. The area I'm talking about is very remote, but worth the effort.
Kent in SD
