Producer: James Herron
Locations: Kentucky, West Virginia
Timeframe: 1940- 1971
Length: 76 minutes
Sources: multiple
Old and rare Chesapeake and Ohio films from various sources. Contains black and white, to color films.
Lexington subdivision covers Louisville to Ashland line. The Logan sub and more.
A regular DVD on this one. Main Chapter Menu. Maps and diagrams are included. Narration by Danny Harmon. On/ Off narration choice.
Film quality varies by years. The early black and white footage is fair to good. Color is better. Audio is dubbed with train sounds and music. Script is excellent with many details and history. Still photographs and plentiful maps augment the program.
To the Trains…
C&O 2737 arrives at Central Station in Louisville. Kanawha 2734 2-8-4 is the power. The year is 1951 for this rare scene. IC plus B&O are also shown, along with more C&O locomotives.
C&O Mikado 1166 was one of the 2-8-2 class usually assigned to freight duty. Arrival of Train 295 from Louisville passing MN Tower. Nice mix of freight and passenger moves.
Color is a major step up. The steam in color is hard to find.
In 1959 a rare BL2. This #1841 is a substitution for the regular C&O E8 power. The George Washington train.It arrives at Frankfort, Kentucky.
Electromotive only sold 59 units. This model was a modified F3 design. Several of these Chesapeake and Ohio units were equipped for passenger service. The BL2 was a predecessor to the highly successful GP7 and similar road switchers that followed.
They were traded into EMD for GP30 locomotives in 1962. Probably cut up at neighbor Pielet Brothers.
Over to Lexington. Train 23 at Lexington yard office. The area is visited with many trains.
The last L&N led by 607 pulls into Lexington Station in June, 1956.
Train 21 departing Lexington en route to Louisville in this pre-Amtrak scene from 1971.
C&O EMD GP7 5815 brings freight to the L&N yard. Note the modern livery.
B&O 1465 backs it’s consist into Louisville Station in 1969 on a cold day.
L&N GP7 404 at MN Tower in South Louisville.
Eastbound #93 freight is behind engine 610 as it leaves the Ashland Yard. Additional 1950s steam engines are in color at Russell, Kentucky and beyond.
The 2716 is donated to a museum in Louisville May, 1959.
Reflections of the C&O Volume 1
First. Vintage C&O film is rare. Not much in the marketplace. Generally, there were few filming trains South of Ohio in the East.
This collection is fairly extensive with ten film sources. Several of the mainline stations have highly detailed visits.
Film quality is source dependent. Much is grainy or soft focus 8mm. Especially the black and white footage. Some brief scenes in color are very good.
Danny Harmon is the smooth announcer on Herron Video. He is their best man.
Vintage Chesapeake and Ohio was seldom filmed. Especially steam era. This railroad was difficult to access in most places. Bad automobile roads in those days. Easier to cover railroads like Baltimore and Ohio or Pennsylvania Railroad were the popular choices.
This show provides an interesting look at assorted C&O as advertised. Well paced and constructed. It moves along quickly. The main caveat is the overall film quality. Historical value is paramount here. Vintage Chesapeake and Ohio is one of those hard to find railroads. Herron has done a good job, considering the old film sources.
Bump this up for the scarcity factor.
Rating: 5 Stars
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