Chicago 1970

Producer: Herron Rail Video

Timeframe: 1969 – 1971

Locations: Chicago area, Milwaukee, Griffith, St. Louis

Length: 54 minutes

Source: Robert Bullermann

Here is a collage of mostly Chicago area rail action circa 1970. Bullermann filmed passenger trains before the nationwide consolidation to form Amtrak. Multiple railroads and into early Amtrak in 1971. About an even split with passenger and freight trains in this show. Some lines were recorded in Wisconsin, as well.

Featured railroads: Amtrak (early), Burlington Route, Burlington Northern, EJ&E, Erie Lackawanna, Grand Trunk, Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, Milwaukee Road, Missouri Pacific, Penn Central, Rock Island, and Santa Fe.

Additional paint: Great Northern, C&O, Illinois Central, New York Central, Northern Pacific, Pennsylvania, Soo Line.. There are even more.

A single DVD. All film is 16mm color! No main Chapter menu. There is a hidden chapter advance. Train sounds and a good narrative on the soundtrack. Picture quality is excellent overall. Some maps are included. Narration by Robert Morse.

Locomotives are predominately Electromotive of LaGrange. General Electric U-boats. An occasional, Alco, Baldwin, and even Fairbanks Morse.

To the Trains…

Starts in downtown Chicago with a variety of railroads. Pennsylvania switches at Union Station. More passenger traffic at 21st Street Junction.

Plenty of Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio is shown. ATVR bonus information… F3A 880B continued in Commuter Service well into the 1970s. This vintage Electromotive chicken wire diesel served on The Plug. Willow Springs and Joliet were served by this train.

Joliet is an area hotspot. A real mixed bag of paint and models on a Santa Ge freight.

Burlington Route leads at the long gone West Hinsdale station. 1423 ms. OR 1507 California Zephyr. More early BN in 1970. This segment doesn’t include any freight trains.

Milwaukee Road is highlighted. Seen at Brookfield Station. Their yellow and gray appears to be Union Pacific at a distance. Making these the least interesting historical scenes. Many E8 Milwaukee Road passenger trains in Wisconsin.

Twenty-two minutes to see a freight train. Illinois Central trio of GP40 engines in the classic Green Diamond livery. Hauling a Piggyback.

Back to Wisconsin in the infancy of newly formed Amtrak. A myriad of ex: Burlington Northern equipment with some fascinating random equipment on these passenger trains.  Still stuck in Wisconson. Back to even more Milwaukee E8 units.

You know this part is old by the brand. The Schlitz Circus Train! Milwaukee Road 1001 (GP30) is very clean. Even flying flags for the occasion.

Traditional Great Northern paint on SD45 engines. Hustle Muscle is the 3rd unit, needing a wash.

C&O 7429 across the PC at hotspot Griffith. He keeps calling it along with B&O as Chessie. These films should predate that merger and only blue engines are seen.

Grand Trunk 9010 resembles Canadian National colors. These F units are at Griffith.

Erie Lackawanna Alcos led by 2458 (in early gray scheme) stop and meet an EL SD45 pair on an opposing train. Surprising amount of EL traffic at Griffith A bunch of various EL locomotives are shown here. EJ&E with unimaginative, plain orange paint travels their own rails, as well.

Chicago 1970

This was filmed during an intriguing time period. Pre and early Amtrak for a bit over half the program. Freight trains in abundance. Pre-merger and early Burlington Northern is great. Many more are still not yet a part of the later large mergers, which began in 1972.

The show looks really fine. Excellent soundtrack. Narration is well done.

Griffith, Indiana is a highlight. Some Eastern Railroads converge at this location. Adds that pop needed for varied freight traffic.

Bullerman deviates further from Chicago, but not unreasonably far. Southern Wisconsin with Milwaukee suburbs. St. Louis briefly at the end.

  For the most part, it was a fine visit to the Chicagoland area from 1969 to 1971. Although one would imagine a glut of film in the market. It’s not as plentiful as one might think. So, it gets a bit of a bump upwards for offering all of this film in a single show. This is all 16mm color film.

Rating: 5 Stars