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net and I hope this review will encourage him (and others) to create more of these types of photo CDs. Great value for money here! — FRANK GARON
Video Review
N&W 611 Reborn Volume 1: Return To Ro- anoke & Manassas Excursions; N&W 611 Reborn Volume 2: Blue Ridge & Christians- burg;
SteamTrainVideos.com, James Parfrey, P.O. Box 2562, Blaine, WA 98231-2562; www.
steamtrainvideos.com; DVD or Blu-ray; 76 Min- utes. Each DVD is $20.00 or each Blu-ray is $25.00 plus $3.00 domestic shipping. Your loyal reviewer here is writing this re- view just over 24 hours after returning home from chasing Nickel Plate 765 with our es- teemed editor from Jim Thorpe to Pittston Junction, Pa., and back. Having these two DVDs arrive in my mailbox today was the perfect complement to a weekend of some se- riously impressive mainline steam and made for an enjoyable evening of viewing. I consider myself more of a diesel and
electric fan, having grown up alongside the former Pennsylvania Railroad electrified mainline in New Jersey. Having said that, your editor introduced me to the joys of riding and chasing mainline steam back in the ear- ly to mid-1980s. Those were great days to be trackside, and I soon found myself falling in love with the likes of Chesapeake & Ohio No. 614 (my favorite by far), Southern’s C&O No. 2716, SR No. 4501, and the star of these two disks, none other than Norfolk & Western No. 611 herself. In fact one of my all-time best ever railfan
trips was the weekend Steve and I started out chasing 611 out of Alexandria, Va., on a Saturday morning and finished watching her cross the Ohio River at Kenova,
W.Va., at sunset Sunday. Two glorious days of chasing were followed by a 500-plus mile drive home and two short hours of sleep before dragging myself off to work Monday morning. Heady stuff for a young man of 18. They old adage says “you can’t go home
again,” but these two DVDs sure helped take me back to those heady days of my youth. It seemed like mainline steam was back for good and we had no way of knowing that 611 would soon sit out the better part of two decades. Thanks to the good people at the Virginia Museum of Transportation and equally good people at Norfolk Southern, 611 does indeed live and is back bigger and better than ever. These two DVDs put us right in the front row for her triumphant homecoming to Roanoke and the subsequent excursions that followed in early June of this year.
Volume 1 opens
by teasing us with a short clip of 611 lay- ing down smoke on the S-curve at Vil- lamont, Va. I found myself saying “oh baby!” out loud and I sat up a bit straight- er after that scene. And it only gets bet- ter from there. The trip up from Spencer, N.C., to Roanoke is first cov-
ered in great detail. Our cameraman caught
her in at least 12 different locations, and we’re treated to a nice variety of lineside and overhead views. Highlights here are watching all the people trackside — railfans and locals alike — waving their arms off at 611 and her train as she rolls by. You can almost feel the collective energy and excitement. Next we see the ferry move to Manassas,
Va., followed by the first weekend of public fantrips from Manassas to Front Royal. This was our old stomping ground back in the day, and it was really fun seeing how little has changed down that way. General stores, friendly people, and a slower and better way of living are still alive and well. Unfortu- nately I can’t say the same thing for the for- mer Southern style of signals that I grew up with — they’re being replaced with the same “Darth Vader” signals that we see up here on NS in eastern Pennsylvania. It makes for an interesting contrast seeing this streamlined steam engine rolling past one of these new signals, that’s for sure. Also, in the years be- tween the 1980s and today, the sleepy Front Royal Branch (as it was called) has morphed into the B-Line, a busy connection for NS be- tween its ex-Southern mainline at Manassas and the Shenandoah Line near Front Royal. Thus, No. 611 can stretch her legs more now than she did back then.
Volume 2 covers
the July 4 weekend trips out of Roanoke east to Lynchburg, and back to Roa- noke, with afternoon trips up the Chris- tiansburg Mountain grade. This is one of my favorite lines in the world to railfan, and seeing 611 tack- le the 11-mile-long hill makes for some enjoyable viewing.
All too soon we are two disks and three
hours into things, and the credits start to roll. I guess there’s nothing left to do but hunker down for the season and hope the good people at Norfolk Southern allow No. 611 and com- pany to grace their rails again in 2016. These two discs are loaded (and I mean
loaded) with excellent footage shot from a variety of angles. The Blu-ray disks have the colors literally jumping off your screen. Set a fire in your nearest coal stove while you watch these discs and it’ll almost be as good as the real thing! You can buy just Volume 1 or 2 by itself
if you like, but I’d like to give you two very strong recommendations: 1) At only $20.00 a volume, why choose
only one? Buy both and you’ll have twice the awesome 611 action in crisp, clear color and outstanding audio for a very reasonable price. 2) For only $5.00 a volume more, buy the
Blu-ray versions. You really can see the dif- ference, and if you haven’t tried the Blu-ray format yet you really need to. It really is amazing technology. In summary, I’d like to say 611 rocks, James
Parfrey sure knows how to put out high-quali- ty railfan disks at a very reasonable price, and you and I both need to get trackside to see 611 do her thing next year if God and the Norfolk Southern allow. That is all. — FRANK GARON
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.
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Seaboard Coast Line IN FLORIDA
Seaboard Coast Line arrived in 1967 following the merger of Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line, ushering in a modern era of railroading in the southeast. From unit phosphates to Florida orange juice, from long passenger runs and special circus moves, you’ll enjoy 116 pages of quality black and white photography.
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