I do like a steam train, and the frenetic challenge of photographing them is completely at odds with the peaceful and considered landscape photography I normally indulge in. Google seems to know about this and has taken to telling me when such iconic rolling stock is steaming around the rail network. Which is what brought me – at short notice – to Arnside.

The Royal Scot was charting a course from the Midlands up to Carlisle and back, and after some studying of the route I settled on Arnside Viaduct as the backdrop for the attempt I was to make at getting some shots of it passing over, while at the same time as flying the drone about for a nice video of the wider vista.

A quick message to my friend Dave revealed that he was glad to get out and about for the evening, and so we head on up there with the camera gear.

On arrival it seemed there were a fair few people lining the promenade and wandering the sands in anticipation. There wasn’t much time to spare before the train was scheduled though, and it soon became apparent that there was a tidal channel to cross in order to get anything like a decent composition, so with shoes and socks off we paddled out and began to set up. On some quicksand…

Don’t imagine us up to our waists in Morecambe Bay though, that only happens in the films. It was more like standing on a jelly, but with the tripods on stable ground and the cameras pre-focussed and set to Manual, we were ready to go.

A man and his dog asked us if we knew what was coming. “It’s a steam train” I answered, before realising he was hoping for more of a trainspotter’s answer than that. His camera battery had already run out, which must have been vexing – more so to see us with two cameras and a drone ready for action.

A lady in a short summer dress wandered by for a chat, before attempting to cross another channel and realising that the short dress wasn’t short enough, as she grabbed it and hitched it up while stumbling through the thigh-deep water. I hope she ended up with a good view…

“It’s coming!” somebody said nearby, the steam from the engine visible on the coast-hugging line from Grange-over-Sands. It was late, I thought to myself, before realising I was ankle-deep anchored in the sand. If I’d known I had time to play with I’d have put a graduated filter over the lens to bring down the sky and bring up the shadows. As it was, the evening sun had burst through the leaden clouds and I knew the image was going to be contrasty and require much work in post-processing. Realistically 1/200 of a second at f7.1 was far too slow but you never know how fast these things are going to come at you. I wish I’d increased the ISO sensitivity and doubled the shutter speed, and with flying the drone around as Dave took a burst big enough to create a timelapse of it going over the viaduct, I only ended up with one still image. Just one.

It’s nice enough. I’d have liked it to have been sharper and to have got the dynamic range a little closer in camera, and I’m including it here more for blog purposes and a lesson learned than as a portfolio piece. But I captured a scene that is a keepsake of a memory. It was nice to get out with some company and the adventure is as important as the images you come away with.

We head off watching the sky turn a vivid deep pink while rain started to fall and night descended. The next day, Dave had updated his blog before I’d even unloaded my camera…

If you missed my earlier (better) steam train captures, take a look at these two Black Fives over Ribblehead and these shots from around Fort William.