Producer: Green Frog, Canrail
Timeframe: 1950s- 1970s
Locations: Hamilton, Dundas sub, Aldershot, Burlington, more
Length: 103 minutes
Sources: John Spring, Ken Spring, Bill Mathews
An amazing collection of all color films. Hamilton, Ontario Canada area. Vintage 1950s to 1970s. Rarities and everyday scenes; including, steam and diesel locomotives. Heavy on freight trains. Passenger trains. A fantastic variety of roadnames.
Official Subtitle is: Railroading in Hamilton during the 50’s – 70’s. Some extra information. Originally was filmed by Canrail. A 1956 Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo chapter. 1967 Railfan Trip. 1977 Snow Plow. 1972 EL Reroute. 6218 Fantrip. More…
A single DVD-R. This new 2019 release includes a detailed Chapter Menu. No maps. Everything has an informative graphic. No narrative.
Digitally processed. Clean images. Many scenes appear to be 16mm film. Vibrant colors, overall. Some overcast weather, is duller. It is a great vintage film collection. All color!
Audio is excellent. Train sounds with some Environmental audio. Good levels. Some occasional wind noise, but sensibly leveled.
Strongly would have preferred a narrated show. The trains are coming at a fast pace! Explanation on certain rarities would have added value. Information in general, could have been extremely beneficial. An odd decision.
The films are excellent! Great colors. and balance throughout. No small feat. This is a motherlode of Canadian trains! Spanning two decades. Three film sources.
The on-screen graphics denote trains, locations etc.. Solid information. Wish there was more. Without a map, no reference point to nail the given locations. However, these vintage scenes are worth owning.
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo in 1956. An NRHS fantrip, behind a steam engine. See and depart the roundhouse area.
Canadian National F units, on a Queen’s train.
Canadian Pacific, in the Maroon and Gray. Factory fresh paint above. Both, block and script lettered units are found.
More steam action than expected. Regular service, fantrips, double-headers and this triple-header! Comes at the viewer, like a blizzard.
Steam is present. Big and Small. Dead or Alive. In service, on display, or at the yards.
New York Central is commonplace. If memory serves, I believe that Penn Central later had a Canadian division. Connections at, Detroit and Buffalo, more or less.
Canadian National Fairbanks Morse diesels are a rare sight.
Canadian National is all over the place. The Alco designs in the CN wet noodle, are memorable.
Ontario Northland has a few different paint schemes on their F units.
GO Transit appears in some early versions.
CN, CP and TH&B
Green Frog has a fantastic release here. Really deserves a narrative. The strength of the quality vintage films makes it a must have for Canadian Railfans. There are enough items of general interest, that should appeal to all Railfans.
Rating: 4 Stars
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