Year: 2015
This video takes us to Minneapolis-St. Paul in the spring of 1970 and to Chicago for scenes from 1966-1970. We see many of the long gone railroads that we remember from our younger days and some that we never heard of.
In the MSP area are: Soo Line; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; Burlington Northern; Chicago & Northwestern; Rock Island, and Milwaukee Road.
In the Chicago area we will see: B&O; Belt Railway of Chicago; Burlington Northern, Canadian National; C&O; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; Chicago & Eastern Illinois; Chicago & Northwestern; Chicago Great Western; Chicago River & Indiana; Chicago, South Shore & South Bend; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Erie Lackawana; Pennsylvania; Grand Trunk Western; Great Northern; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Illinois Central; Indiana Harbor Belt; L&N; Northern Pacific; Seaboard Coast Line; Soo Line; Wabash; and the earliest days of Amtrak.
Not much needs to be said about this video. Reading the list of railroads that will appear in the video should stir something inside the hearts of rail fans. This DVD gives us a good look at old locomotive types that were commonly used in the late sixties and early seventies, including some Fairbanks Morse, Baldwin, GP series, SD series, and U series. Seeing the old locomotives proudly wearing the paint schemes of those long gone railroads is a trip back in time.
The image quality is representative of the technology of the time but is still good enough to make it a joy to watch this video.
I think you will like this one.
– Bill Grady
Well, glad to be back in the loop again. I would like to thank Steve Miller for stepping up in my absence and conducting the meeting last month. The only problem I have is picking up from where I stopped in May. I did receive a report from Blair that our organization had agreed to have the Christmas party on Monday, December 7, 2015 at Brothers Barbeque in Madisonville. I have stopped by the restaurant to make the reservation and Monday the 7th was already taken. So, I had to pick another date. The new reservation is for Tuesday the 8th. If the membership decides to hold the party on a different date, other then the 8th, we can change. We will have to move our meeting time to 6:00 because Brothers closes at 8:00 in the evening.
I don’t know how far we got on the club membership cards in the last meeting but it is something we need to work on. If you have your NRHS membership number please bring it with you on the 17th. I think Ricky has been trying to get the membership numbers from national without some success on their part. Some how we will get this project finished by the time we start a new year. It is hard to believe that we are talking about a new year approaching rapidly and we still have two major issues to address by November. One is liability insurance and the other is the review of the NRHS Bylaws. We can handle the insurance in the next meeting and set up a committee for the bylaws.
We still have lots of room on the wall of the waiting room of the depot for train artwork. If you have a picture that could be placed on display is the station please brings it to the meeting on Monday. All the artwork is on loan by you, to our chapter and you can take your pictures home anytime.
Remember for the next meeting we need “Show & Tell” items along with raffle material. We need to thank Bill Thomas for the refreshments and Jim Pearson for the excellent program in the last meeting. This month’s refreshments and program will be sponsored by Tom Johnson.
Bill Farrell, President
Western Kentucky Chapter/NRHS
Tom’s DVD of the Month Review July 2015 |
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| Title | Norfolk Southern Heritage Fleet Vol. 2 |
| Producer | C. Vision Productions |
| Format | DVD Wide Screen |
| Playing Time | 2 hrs. |
| Purchased From | Trainvideodepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 6/1/15 |
| Price Paid | $27.95 |
In 2012, to commemorate their 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted twenty new GE ES44AC and EMD SD70ACe locomotives in the colors of the predecessor railroads that became part of their system. Ten of these units were shown in Volume 1 and this video shows the ten units that were not shown in Volume 1. It is presented in wide screen format and the videography is excellent.
First shown is the Heritage Unit that was the first one created in the series, the 8098 Conrail ES44AC unit. The 8098 is shown as the lead unit on NS trains in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia.
Next up is the 8103, an ES44AC painted in the blue and yellow colors of the Norfolk & Western. The first looks at this locomotive were at locations in Illinois that are outside of the NS System. We see the 8103 beginning its pull in a yard at Butler, WI, just after a crew change. Finally, we see the 8103 in Virginia and Tennessee. The 8103 is lashed-up with a Pennsylvania RR Heritage Unit in one of the scenes in Virginia.
This brings us to the bright red Lehigh Valley ES44AC number 8104. We see the 8104 in several Indiana locations and finally in New Jersey.
We next see the Erie RR Heritage Unit 1068, an EMD SD70ACe. This locomotive is dark green with a light green band down the middle bordered in gold. We see this unit leading a unit steel coil train in Michigan and then we see it in Georgia and Tennessee. We get a nice close-up view of 1068 pulling out of a siding at Apison, TN. Our last look at the Erie RR Heritage Unit 1068 is from Virginia.
Up next is the Central of New Jersey 1071, an SD70ACe. The colors are blue and orange. We are given a couple interesting facts about the CNJ’s history: they were the first American RR to require that their employees wear uniforms and one of their locomotives set a world speed record in 1892 of 105 MPH. The 1071 is shone in scenes from Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Michigan.
We move on to the ES44AC Central of Georgia Heritage Unit 8101. We see the 8101 crossing the Mississippi River at Little Falls, MN, pulling a unit oil train of empty cars to the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota. After several locations in MN, we then move on to Chicago, IL.
We are next presented with ES44AC 8102, a Pennsylvania RR Heritage Unit. This locomotive is shown in scenes from Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
The Heritage Unit commemorating the Illinois Terminal RR is the next one we see in the video. This is an EMD SD70ACe, number 1072, with is bright green paint job with yellow trim. We see this locomotive in action in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. In the Indiana and Ohio scenes the 1072 is lashed-up with the Conrail Heritage Unit 8098.
Up next is the Penn Central Heritage Unit 1073, an SD70ACe. The 1073 is shown teamed up with the Illinois Terminal 1072 and operating as foreign power on BNSF trackage in Chicago on a unit crude oil train. This pair of locomotives is also seen in Minnesota and Wisconsin pulling unit crude oil trains. We see the 1073 doing some street running in Warsaw, IN, and then the last scenes with this locomotive were shot back in Illinois on a unit crude oil train with the NYC Heritage Unit at the rear of the train serving as a dpu.
This served as a good lead-in for our final Heritage Unit, the SD70ACe 1066 New York Central Heritage Unit. We are shown this unit in scenes from various locations in Indiana and then we see it leading unit crude oil trains in Illinois and Minnesota.
We are shown some vintage F7 A and B units as a bonus at the end of this video.
This is a very enjoyable video and it should be in your collection. The wide screen format, high quality image, good narration, and interesting subject matter make this video a “keeper.”
Where has the time gone? I would guess it goes fast when you are having fun. It seems like we were at the Christmas Party in Madisonville just last month. Talking about the Christmas Party it is already time to talk about that is our next meeting. We need to talk about where and when to hold the party this year. Last year we were close to Christmas and some members could not attend, I would like to suggest the first week of December this year. Then we have to decide where to hold the party, at a restaurant or a member’s home. We can talk about this in the July meeting.
Other business that needs to be covered is liability insurance for the chapter membership. It looks like if we decide to purchase coverage it will cost the chapter about two hundred fifty dollars per year. This might be a small price to pay for peace of mind. The other business is NRHS member numbers. Ricky is working on this and as soon as the national convention is over we hope to get a list of numbers and membership numbers from NRHS. All our members have received a membership card for this year from NRHS; on that card is your number. If you bring the card to the next meeting, you can give the member number to Wally or Ricky. Once we have the membership numbers we can start printing membership cards.
In the June meeting we talked about covering the walls of the depot with train art. If you look around at the walls of our meeting room they are bare. Ricky made contact with someone from the city and we have permission to hang picture related to railroading on the walls. If you have a nice picture (framed) which we can hang, on loan, bring it to the next meeting. At the present time we have pictures from Betty Knight, James Kemp, and Bill Farrell. Remember all the pictures, will be on loan to our chapter and you can take yours home as desired. Betty Knight has agreed to be our curator and she will select the location for the pictures to hang. I will have stickers for the backs of the pictures denoting who the picture is on loan from. Blair Terry will bring the stickers and some pictures with him to the next meeting.
Steve Miller will run the July meeting in my absence. I will be out of the state for several days. Steve, as Vice President will conduct our business meeting and what ever needs to be done. Jim Pearson will have the program and Bill Thomas will bring the refreshments. Bill, do you hear me? You have the refreshments for July. LOL.
Bill Farrell, President
Western Kentucky Chapter/NRHS
CSX Q029 has his train in the wind at 50 mph at South Breton, KY on “WKNRHS Train Day”. June 13, 2015. – Bill Grady
Two BNSF GP60M’s work the La Mirada Yard in La Mirada, CA on June 6, 0215. A little irony in the graffiti in that the photo was taken digitally on my iPhone. – Matt Gentry
Thomas Bryan, Keith Kittenger, Steve Miller and Jim Pearson talk with a CSX employee at the new Casky Inspection Yard. – Rick Bivins