Century Notes

I just returned from a ten-day video shoot that took us to New York City, Albany, NY and Washington, D.C. and had the pleasure of interviewing 15 individuals. Some of the interviews were with people who rode the train, operated it or worked on the train. Other interviews included sessions about the famous "Hudson" locomotives, childhood memories, and today's Lakeshore Limited. 

Randall Fleischer, senior vice president of MTA Capitol Construction (East Side Access) is ready for his interview in the Williamson Library in Grand Central Terminal.

Several interviews explored the reasons why the train was discontinued in 1967 and mentioned the replacement service over the same New York-Chicago route.

Michael Weinman (PTSI Transportation) is being wired for audio by camera person Marc Ricciardi. Michael worked for the New York Central Railroad, Penn Central and Amtrak.

On Sunday, October 4th we were fortunate enough to videotape two interviews in the beautifully restored Albany Union Station thanks to Richard Vanderbilt.

Walter Zullig (retired Metro-North Railroad) with ticket punch. Walter rode the 20th Century Limited several times including the last run of a working RPO before the U.S. Postal Service cancelled mail contracts on passenger trains.

 We have one more interview to conduct in Denver in the next week. Our next task will be to look at all the footage we've shot and start building a story line. 

Ninety-four-year-old retired 'Century' conductor is ready to share his memories of the days when he worked on the World's Great Train.

Interesting operational facts will be part of the documentary and described by television/movie actor Michael Gross, either on-camera or in voice-over narration. 

Jim Porterfield, author of Dining By Rail and Director, Center for Railway Tourism. Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.

When producing a documentary like this, it's a challenge to find people who rode the train, but a more difficult task is searching for employees who worked on the train. We found a GEM in 94-year-old David Spellman who was a conductor on the 20th Century Limited. My friend Walter Zullig arranged the interview.

Richard Vanderbilt during his interview inside the restored Albany Union Station in Albany, New York.

 In closing, many THANKS to all those people who agreed to be interviewed, gave of their time and best yet, brought their memories of the Most Famous Train in the World, the 20th Century Limited.

Editor's note: Kalmbach Publishing will release a documentary video on the 20th Century Limited, the most famous passenger train in America in early 2016. This is the first in a series of behind-the-scenes updates from award-winning producer Rich Luckin, who is creating the video for us. Details on availability and ordering will be released soon. 

Group shot in the Williamsom Library in Grand Central Terminal. Left to right: Dan Brucker, Metro-North Railroad; Michael Vitiello, Williamsom Library; Rassiel, MTA Capitol Construction; Randall Fleischer, Sr. V.P. MTA Capitol Construction (East Side Access).