120 year old, eastern US railroading.

[WoundedBear]

https://youtu.be/RWEmtADAFdU

Sid

[James in FL]

Good stuff Sid.
First time I have seen a Camelback under power. 

[Terry Toenges]

Love it.

[Trainman203]

This film is priceless.  I watch things like this for details of a bygone time.  Almost no one does layouts from this time.  It's just too hard to get all the information you need.  But a lot is in this film. It's going to take several viewings to get it all, and then still missing things.

In the first clip, it took 2 or 3 close looks to realize that the approaching engine is a camelback.  It passes so close to the camera it's hard to see it at first.  And even then, you have to know what you are looking for.

In the second clip, an ID sign at trackside clearly shows that this was a PR film being made.  The scene is wonderful with the distant onrushing train symbolized by the wonderful rising steam way off.  As the train gets nearer very quickly you can see the steam rising even more as the engineer frantically whistles for the slow moving section gang to clear.  You can see the boss and some of the gang waving handkerchiefs to try to get the last guys off the track.  Incidentally, you know this is a PR film because the gang has to be staged in a fake maintenance job.  No train would ever speed like that over track with work in progress..... even more so with the relative primitive track of the day.

In the third clip, the one car local crosses the wonderfully unprotected diamond in front of the approaching camera train, then speeds up making a run for it.  Right after that, and passing the station, a kid is racing the train on a bicycle.  You can see that he's going to run out of platform with a merging switch, but he does stop in time.  This was a time when steam engines were the fastest thing on earth and the excitement captured everyone, especially kids.... which my dad was at this very time.  He loved trains and told me a couple of great stories.... if only I'd pressed for more with a tape recorder running.

There's plenty, plenty more in upcoming reports.  There's so much to look at in this incredibly valuable and fortunately preserved film.  I hate to imagine what didn't get saved.

[Trainman203]

I forgot all the flagmen at every crossing in the third clip.  No automatic grade crossing protection then.  Crossing tenders were often guys with injuries that were able to continue employment with a light duty job.

In the 4th clip, the "switch engine" in the siding is obviously staging a planned race with the camera train. As it comes into view, it is sitting there with a full head of steam, pop valves wonderfully raised at the last moment.

Going to look further at the next clips.

[Terry Toenges]

I thought about the flag men, too. That's something I had seen in old movies but had forgotten about. It occurred to me that I have never seen a model layout with flagmen.

[Trainman203]

Addendums to second clip:  it's probably winter or late fall when it was filmed, because of the low angle sunlight and the heavily condensing steam exhaust indicative of cool temperature.  That engine is a camelback too.  Camelbacks could kill engineers.  I'm looking for the photo now.

Addendum to third clip:  the rail crossing is not unprotected as I first thought. The crossing one car local was waiting for clearance and hurried over as soon as it was given clearance because the U&D camera train was waiting.  You can see the U&D home semaphore drop to clear as the U&D train starts, maybe a moment too soon.  Also, past the depot on the right is a double blade lower quadrant train order signal dropped to clear in both directions.  The associated train order station, possibly a dispatchers office, is separate from the large depot. Also, see the huge crowds on the platform.  The train was the only way to travel then.  Or were they there because of the camera train?

[jward]

What I found fascinating is the footage of Horseshoe Curve, before it was four tracks. All of those Mine branches whose right of ways I used to access the tracks without going into the park are clearly shown, as is the long gone Kittanning Point station and water stop. I've walked past the ruins of alot of this stuff. The stations has vanished without a trace, but the main water tank still exists in the woods above the tracks. It apparently acted as a reservoir for the one trackside.

[ebtnut]

Re:  Flagmen - As recently as the late '70's there were two flagmen guarding the crossings in Perth Amboy, NJ on the Coast line.  They were likely staffed by injured railroaders working out their pensions.  The GG-1's came in and traded for diesels down to Bay Head.  You can probably locate some footage on Youtube.

[James in FL]

Third track was added to Horseshoe curve in 1898, the fourth 2 years later in 1900 when the film was made.
I count 4 tracks in the clip.

[Trainman203]

Jeffrey, I knew you'd have something to say about Horseshoe Curve so I waited for your comments.  😂

I didn't realize those were mine branches.  I thought it was merely a wye.

The depot looks like a freight house with the raised loading dock up against the main, why is that?  Milk trains?  Then right after that there's a water column and some kind of lightweight bridge trestle over the mains with little four wheel hoppers sitting on it, is that a multiple track coaling station?  Or do the little hoppers come from the mine that the branches serve, and dump into the bin at the right to load empty hoppers to ship out?   And right past that, over on the left, an oncoming heavy freight has obviously been waiting for the camera train to appear, and starts up shouting out the finest Matterhorn of coal smoke in the whole film.  Every curve in this clip held a surprise and an encyclopedia of long gone history.

[Trainman203]

And wasn't it on this stretch that the wreck of the 1262 happened?  Made famous in an old country music song.

[Trainman203]

The first verse of the song-

She just left the point at Kittanning
The train number 1262
And on down the mountain she travelled
So brave with her men in her crew

[Terry Toenges]

I had never heard of that one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRbez1ZMhqc

[Trainman203]

Continuing on with observations:

A little more about clip 3 in Kingston.   You can always tell what the engineer, and fireman, are doing by watching the exhaust.  In this case, the hogger on the West Shore local really pulls both the Johnson Bar and the throttle out to gun that neat low driver consolidation over the diamond; boy, that exhaust is blasting up with a fresh scoop of coal the fireman just put in the firebox.  Man that baby had to have really been barking loud.

Then, just as the camera train starts to move, look way down the track on the right. On the double bladed semaphore train order board, barely visible, you'll see the blade controlling the camera train drop to a clear aspect.

The depot-like building with the order board is puzzling, because the presumed "union" station is on the left, with passengers and baggage wagons all over the platform, yet no one is at the depot-like building.  I wonder if both lines originally had separate stations which the union depot replaced, with the U&D building still having an operator.

On the platform, everyone is waving at the camera.  It could have been staged, but motion picture cameras were a really big deal in those days, very big and attracting lots of attention.  You'll see the waving in other clips, especially white handkerchiefs being waved from train windows by passengers who knew the camera was coming.

Notice how many little railroad shelter structures are all over the place for employees like crossing tenders and switchmen.  So different from today where no railroad employees are out on the line at all.

As the train moves out of town into residential areas, I believe I remember the trees being bare, indicating late fall or winter.  The train curved under a road overpass with beautiful masonry abutments, more typical of English railways.  It took me a while to think of why the handrails on the bridge had high secondary solid enclosures but I bet it was to keep horses from being frightened by oncoming loud and accelerating steam engines.

Next time I'll revisit the clip with the racing switch engine, and, having already talked about Horseshoe Curve, move on to the clip with the fabulous international Ontario/Michigan Grand Trunk tunnel under the St. Clair River.