blood pumping and have you wishing it was September already. Starting with the September 27 “Schuylkill
Haven Borough Day” trips, we see 425 doing what she does best. And that means putting out some impressive stack talk along with a really nice-sounding whistle to go along with it. We get to see 425 posing with restored Cen- tral Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 113 before she heads south and blasts through the small towns of Auburn and Landingville. A spe- cial bonus is seeing R&N’s newly purchased GP39M (sorry but it’ll always be a GP30 in my book) 2530 providing power for the re- verse move back north. The September 28 trip is a real gem —
Duryea, Pa., to Jim Thorpe including the climb out of Pittston Junction up to Solomon’s Gap. The stack talk (and occasional slipping) starts immediately. Alternating between in- cab footage (shot right behind the engineer) and trackside, we get to see 425 slip twice at Pittston Junction and again at an exceptional- ly well-done scene at Duryea. I especially en- joyed the Duryea footage here — we see plenty of railfans and locals standing trackside as 425 blasts past and scatters a fair-sized flock of geese. Great stuff and excellent camera work. We then see in-cab footage at track speed
as we roll along the former Lehigh Valley Railroad’s Mountain Cutoff. Next it’s an over- head view as 425 rolls through Solomon’s Gap and we’re treated to a direct hit from her ex- haust stack, another bit of excellent footage here. From there we see her enter White Hav- en Tunnel (shot from above the tunnel portal) and then another great shot of her crossing the Lehigh River just south of White Haven. Some very interesting footage of 425 be-
ing serviced on the turntable at Jim Thor- pe follows, and then it’s back north blasting through the rock cut at Glen Onoko. 425 does her all to blow the leaves off every tree, and bugs and birds alike run for their lives as she rolls by. Passing through White Haven, we’re treat-
ed to a quality runby that ends with listening to her fade off into the distance. This is by far one of this DVD’s best scenes (and there are many). Special thanks to SteamTrainVideos for not turning the video camera off after the locomotive passes. A really nice touch here. The October 11 trip sees 425 running from
Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and back. One of the highlights here is watching her work her way up the 1.4 percent grade north of Tam- aqua. A great slipping sequence follows as she rolls through Barnesville. Think loud. The return trip had two scenes that real-
ly impressed me. The first one is 425 rolling through Nesquehoning and under the Route 93 overpass. The second one is a long, slow, and loud scene (four minutes worth) as 425 climbs Hometown Hill unassisted. Loved, loved, loved this scene! The October 12 trip is another Port Clin- ton-to-Jim Thorpe jaunt, and we are treated to some more excellent in-cab footage. Depar- ture from Port Clinton is impressive, and the following scene of her rolling through the fog at New Ringgold is another winner. Several more trackside scenes follow and then a bo- nus — 425 stops literally right next to us as she completes her run to Jim Thorpe. The return trip to Port Clinton features an- other spirited climb up Hometown Hill (both
in-cab and trackside), as this most enjoyable DVD finishes up and leaves us wanting more! (A recommendation if I may — you should
really spend the little bit extra and get the Blu-Ray title here. My review copy was DVD format and the sound was fantastic. I can only imagine how good the Blu-Ray version is. I’m certain you won’t regret it.) I’m happy to give this title 4.5 stars. Excel-
lent camera work here and I really enjoyed the varied camera angles. The cameraman clearly put some thought into showing 425 in con- text as she passed through some of northeast Pennsylvania’s nicest scenery. All that com- bined with minimal, yet informative, narration and a very reasonable price makes this one a no-brainer for anybody who loves today’s steam scene featured in all it’s glory. Nice work, Mis- ter Parfrey and company! — FRANK GARON
CD Music Review
“Cannonball” Paul! by “Cannonball” Paul!; 7201 York Avenue South #1017, Minneapolis, MN 55435; 952/297-4097; paul@cannonball
paul.com. Audio CD, 12 tracks, 35 minutes. $20.00 includes all tax and postage. Of all the modes of transportation in the United States, perhaps none has had more songs written about it than trains. Railroad songs have been a large part of the blues, folk,
and country catalogs since before Jimmie Rodgers put the first tracks to acetate in Bris- tol, Va., in the 1920s. This 12-song collection from “Cannonball”
Paul! has a definite Appalachian feel to it, despite being recorded in Minnesota. Instru- mentation would be best described as “blue- grass,” with Paul! on Banjolele (you can figure out which two instruments form this hybrid), backed by bass, fiddle, piano, and guitar. Opening the album is “Night Train To Memphis,” a very familiar tune. Even more famous is the album’s second track, “The Wreck of the Old 97,” describing the harrow- ing events on the Southern mainline at Still- house Trestle in Virginia in 1903. Not quite as well-known is the album’s
third track, “Glendale Train,” which is fol- lowed by the gospel train song “Life’s Railway To Heaven.” We’re back in very familiar ter- ritory on the fifth track with “Wabash Can- nonball.” “East Bound Freight Train” sounds very
much like the version recorded by Grandpa Jones, while “Rock Island Line” is a more traditional rendering of the song than, say, Johnny Cash’s narrative version. Next is a visit to the Jimmie Rodgers catalog with “Waiting For A Train.” The ninth track is “Working On the Rail-
road” (as in “I’ve been...”) followed by “Stream- line Cannonball.” Perhaps the most famous of all train songs, “Casey Jones,” is the album’s 11th track, while “Smoke Along the Track” rounds out the collection. With its stripped-down arrangements
and straight-ahead interpretations, this album should appeal to anyone who is a fan of bluegrass or “old-time” music, as well as connoisseurs of railroad tunes. — STEVE BARRY
TO HAVE YOUR NEW railroad books (except fiction), calendars, and videos considered for this column, please send review copies to RAILFAN & RAILROAD, P.O. Box 554, Andover, NJ 07821. For UPS/FedEx please send materials to RAILFAN & RAILROAD, 5 Lenape Rd. #554, Andover, NJ 07821.
27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70