Wallin’s Wonders

Producer: Ron McElrath

Timeframe: 1960-65

Locations: Ill, MO, TN

Length: 50 minutes

Source: Dick Wallin

Dick Wallin film collection of the headliners. All color in 8mm. Various locations as listed below. Unrestored and silent sourced.

Typical, Revelation Video production. Keep your expectations low. Bootleg type quality. If this was an audio concert, in comparison. Nothing equals the nice cover picture.

A little usage of : timetables and printed map. Odd choice, but does the job. None for Rock Island though.

There are plenty of scarce items within, to be seen. Too much to get everything here.

The original cinematography ranges around the good marker. Variable lower production quality, of course. Drags it all down.

Viewing ranges from fair to nearly good. Downward to rude. Yes, I said rude. You will see for yourself.

I believe that Ron McElrath himself performs the narration. Covers the scenes in an adequate fashion. Updates certain details to 1994. Knowledgeable man.

Dick Wallin shot some film right from his home. GM&O tracks out across his backyard. Springfield, Ill. According to a graphic.

GM&O wore a classic paint scheme. Rock Island had an ugly straight maroon with various decals and stripes at this time. Later Rock Island themes were highly improved.

Rock Island is added in the 2nd half. This works out just fine. The show is put together in a logical way. Split about half between the two roads. Not counting the other railroads that are present.

A musical soundtrack is the background. Most of this is Classical. It sounds good.

Some effort should have gone into post production imagery. This is my chief complaint. I understand some limitations of source reels.

However, in this modern age. Why are we looking at these rude green bands?

Is some basic color correction too much to ask?

He said this is the lone Fairbanks Morse locomotive. Hard to identify, given the bleak image.

Other producers are meticulous in these areas. Seems that some level of attention, could be given to visuals. Apparently, zero restoration here.

Gulf, Mobile & Ohio is one of those hard to find roads. Small pieces are around. Rare in any sizeable quantity.

These Alco FA units are why Dick travelled. To record them, before GM&O traded them in to EMD. Corinth, MS. and Middleton, TN. are the Alco FA locations.

St. Louis is where the passenger train action was in the 1960s, for Mr. Wallin. The Abraham Lincoln appears several times, along with other GM&O. Some other roads passenger trains are also shown there.

Plenty of additional connecting railroads make cameo appearances. Illinois Terminal is shown on the long trestle in the above scene.

Rock Island is readily available, in high quality everywhere else. So the only purchase factor here is rarity. Yes, this show has some goodies. Above is a rare BL-2.

Plenty of Rock around Silvis. A major facility in the heyday. More trains at Blue Island and Joliet, Ill.

The Rock Island F2A leads a freight. A wide assortment of builders and models, demonstrate why they were called a rolling museum. As far as locomotives were concerned.