Montreal’s Machines, Last Stand of the 251 Volume 2

Producer: Broken Knuckle

Locations: Smith’s Falls and Quebec

Timeframe: 1988-1990

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Source: Tim Wakeman

Volume 2 features MLW/ Alco locomotives on the Canadian Pacific’s Quebec Division. Besides the title, Canadian National, VIA plus Roberval & Saugenay are visted.

A single DVD-R. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Live environmental audio.

Main Chapter Menu. On-screen graphics. Limited maps. Narrated by Ken Buckman. A horizontal distortion bar is present on the bottom of the screen throughout.

To the Trains… 👉

M636 4709

Start at Smith’s Falls, Ontario, on the Canadian Pacific. The Smith’s Falls sub route is to Ottawa. A hotspot for CP Rail and VIA. CP 4709 is on the lead. Stops for a crewman to board. M636 display with an overlay listing locomotive specs. Nice pacing sequence follows.

Saint Germain

Canadian National in 1987. A freight led by three MLW units and one EMD lead at Saint Germain.

St. Germain

VIA FPA-4. The Frontenac in 1987. Originally, they were built for CN.

C-420 quartet

Northern Quebec in 1988. The Roberval and Saguenay. These ex: Long Island C-420 locos were on duty.

Drummondville

Cab ride over the Drummondville sub. North out of Foster. April,1988. CP Rail 1839, RS18u. A modified chopnose. The 1839 performs assorted local switching at Drummondville. Some good industrial scenes for Model Railroaders.

Racey

A four engine lash-up of CP Rail MLW at Racey. 4714 on the point. April, 1988.

M630 leads

M630 on Intermodel at Orford Station.

Intermodal at Bury

CP M630 4558 leads these six MLW locomotives at Bury.

Sherbrooke

By 1989, the large Alcos are scarce. A quartet of RS18u diesels become the chief focus. Still keeps the 251 theme, although less variety now.

CP Rail caboose

The late 1980s were still a good time to see cabooses. A slideshow and informative wrapup with updates begin to close the show. A lengthy credit outro.

Montreal’s Machines Last Stand of the 251 Volume 2

Tim Wakeman’s videography is excellent. The source tapes are very clean. It’s much better than the usual for the era. Live sound is fine overall. Some occasional wind noise and video flaws, but not too bad.

The narrative allows the train sounds center stage. Could have used some map assistance on the multitude of rural locations.

Overall, it is a solid release featuring Canadian Montreal Locomotive Works.

Rating: 4 Stars