Green Frog Presents, The Wabash Railroad
Green Frog Productions
Format: VHS Length: One hour
Locations: Detroit, Ft. Wayne, Oakwood yard, Windsor ON, Toledo.
Time Period: 1952- 1966
Source: Emery Gulash
The Wabash Cannonball is one of the most well-known trains ever. The real Wabash was merged into the Norfolk & Western in 1964. The 2 mainlines are featured; Chicago to Kansas City, and Detroit/ Toledo to Kansas City. The Windsor, Ontario side is visited. The ferry, Canadian National, and views of Detroit are seen here.
There are a ton of trains in this 60 minute video. Original bluebird paint scheme, solid blue and post merger Norfolk & Western locomotives are on the point. The Ann Arbor RR is shown switching cars with some Alco FA locos. Identical to Wabash paint, except for the logo and name. Actually, this is now DT&I owned as explained by the narrator.
The F7 locomotives dominate the trains. Bluebird paint scheme is the common one here. Solid blue sightings grow, as the timeline progresses. Fairbanks Morse Trainmaster checks in, as the rare locomotive. GP7 units are seen. GE U25B class, with the picture window. A nice set of Canadien National F7’s in green/ gold look great. DT&I is another connecting road, that is shown. Ann Arbor GP35 units appear, in DT&I inspired paint. Near the end of the program, and the end of the Wabash, Norfolk & Western appears, in ever increasing numbers.
Wabash was a very colorful railroad. The caboose fleet has some brightly colored repaints. N&W cabooses trail the trains in ’65 – ’66. I like the flag logos on the freight cars.
Quality. This is the usual high quality Gulash 16mm shot film. Train sounds are present. Professional narration is informative. Little bits of history are interspersed in this program.
Rating: 5 stars
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