Neat Train films

[Anonymous]

Hey guys.

While searching for Train videos, I found a site called the archives. It has also sorts of uploaded old films and such. So I typed in railroads, and this is what I got- http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=railroads So I watched a few of them, and man, they were swell.

All of them showed a great deal on how the RR's played a major part of our postwar American lifestyle so much.(You can see why kids liked to play with toy trains so much!)

Very neat, I would recommend these films to evrybody who is a railfan.

[AntonioFP45]

I know this is an older thread but I just had to comment that I saw a couple of the videos and they were nice!  Some of the 1950s films are in color. On the Mainline USA film, there is plenty of EMD F unit action in color! Also appearances by Alco FAs, PAs, Baldwin Sharks and even the Aerotrain.  Don't blink, as some of these trains appear to be doing 60 to 70+ mph. 

Thank you for posting, Jerry! Very enjoyable

[Demon09]

I'm glad that people periodically bring back old posts like this one.  I was out of town when this post was made, so I never saw it until now....

I started watching some of the videos, they are very interesting to see what railroading was like in the 50's.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, after watching some of them, you can see why America was facinated with the railroad during the 40's and 50's. I would have worked on the railroad if I lived back then.

Now its all big conglomerate, unionized, stuck-up companies where everyone is to high up for anyone else.

If only,if only...

[AntonioFP45]

Yeah, after watching some of them, you can see why America was facinated with the railroad during the 40's and 50's. I would have worked on the railroad if I lived back then.

Now its all big conglomerate, unionized, stuck-up companies where everyone is to high up for anyone else.

If only,if only...

Jerry, actually the railroad unions were much more powerful back then when compared to today. 

I think I understand where you're coming from.  Remember that America has changed economically and politically since then. We're no longer the industrial manufacturing giant that we used to be.  Even during the industrial decline of the 1970s, we had a larger railroad workforce and nearly twice the railroad trackage and service facilities than now.  Because of the decline, the status quo was detrimental to railroads.  But it was still a great time for railfans.

During the early 1980s I could get cab rides or walk onto SCL railroad yards with a camera and be welcomed by working railroaders.  Those days are sadly gone forever.  Political correctness, frivilous lawsuits, deferred maintenance issues, stricter environmental laws, terrorism, and vandalism have contributed to some of the colder attitudes we see today from transportation companies, especially the railroad industry.  Add to that many parents today no longer place the strong emphasis on manners and ettiquette that at one time was "mandatory" in nearly all public schools.  Don't be suprised if we see even colder corporate mentalities a decade from now.

 A business' atmosphere, large or small, is a reflection of the society that it's located in. 

[Wisconsin Railfan]

I like the wayback machine onthat site, where you put in a website, and you can go back in time to see what it use to look like