Greg Scholl Video Productions

Through the 16mm films of Everett Rohrer and Perry Becker we can enjoy Burlington Route Steam from the upper Midwest to the states of Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. Regular service operations include Burlington's ancient 4-6-0 number 919 on mixed train service from Cheyenne to Sterling, CO in 1956, and several Colorado and Southern steamers in Colorado in switching service. Colorado excursions are covered with C&S 2-8-0 #647, as well as 2-10-2 number 902 which later has the Great Western 2-10-0 #90 take over the train at Longmont. Several trips with 2-8-0 #638 are shown including its last run in December 1962. The big steam stars on The CB&Q(Burlington), are 4-6-4 Hudson number 3003, 4-8-4 #5632, and 2-8-2 #4960. There are many trips with 5632 and 4960, which were the last steamers in service on the Burlington. Action with 5632 is mainly out of Minneapolis into Wisconsin, but there is one trip in Colorado. 4960 is seen in Colorado, Nebraska, and on the circus train in Wisconsin a couple of weeks before 4960's final run in 1966. All this is steam-era action with Colorado & Southern, and CB&Q under the umbrella of Burlington Route Steam. Historical action footage of a bygone era of steam railroading in the United States. 72 minutes

In the early 1950's steam locomotives were being replaced rapidly by diesels on most railroads and Northern Pacific was no exception. Fortunately photographers like Mr. Maynard Laing, of Bellevue, Washington chronicled many of the final days of steam in his area including the famous Casey Jones excursions with some of the last NP steamers in the Seattle area.

This second volume is more of a variety tape in that it covers lines and engines other than just former Norfolk and Western livery. One of the highlights of the video is the four day Independence Limited from Bellevue to Roanoke with Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 double-heading with N&W 611. Engine 587 led the first day to Muncie on former Nickel Plate trackage, and 611 led the way the following days with overnight stops in Cincinnati, and Bluefield before climbing Christiansburg grades west slope and arriving in Roanoke where we see 1218 at Shafer's Crossing Roundhouse in the foreground as the doubleheader goes by. Then a few weeks later 587, 611 and 1218 triplehead to Lynchburg as part of a one-way move to position the engines for further trips. This is a rare sight indeed, especially at Blue Ridge, VA. Next we see a trip from Lexington, KY with Louisville and Nashville 4-6-2 #152 (leased by NS) on a trip to Stearns, Ky. This unusual trip had engine 611 for the return trip to Lexington in the afternoon. You'll also see N&W 611 on selected shots on the Cincinnati to Lexington, Kentucky section, and interesting set of comparison shots showing 1218 and 611 at the exact same locations on the Cincinnati to Portsmouth (Peavine line) route on different trips. There is a ton of unique material here and a very exciting show of never to repeated performances. 60 minutes

Our day of shooting Ohio Rail Diamonds begins in Fostoria, where we see CSX trains primarily, including ones from Toledo connecting to the east-west mainline, and trains on that line going both directions. Then we move east to a rural diamond at Attica Junction where the same CSX mainline toward Pittsburgh and Cleveland crosses the Norfolk Southern's line that goes between Columbus and Belleview. Then we return to Fostoria to see some action at the western Diamond where NS crosses CSX at the old B&O depot. The former Baltimore and Ohio Line crosses the former Nickel Plate here. Then we head west to Deshler Ohio where the east-west line toward Chicago crosses the Toledo Subdivision that runs from Cincinnati to Toledo. Trains also connect to the east-west line here as many trains head east from Cincinnati or south from the east. Our next stop is at Leipsic Junction located south of Deshler. This is the crossing of the former B&O Toledo-Cincinnati line, with the former Nickel Plate(now NS) line between Fostoria and Ft. Wayne. An abandoned Tower guards the diamond. We see a nice variety of motive power and trains for this day long shoot which takes us back to Deshler to end the day, as we see a transcontinental container train that is two miles long cross the diamond as another train diverges along side it.

Enjoy contemporary action with CSX and Amtrak trains at the hot spot locations of Ashland, and Doswell, Virginia. Located on the busy former Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac north-south mainline, you will see a great variety of railroad action.

Former Southern Railway 2-8-2 number 4501 is the star of this program as we begin with historic film footage of 4501 as engine 12 on the Kentucky and Tennessee Railroad in the early 1960s. Then we see 4501 in early Southern Steam Excursion service along with a few other Southern engines. The majority of the program was shot in 1991 and includes a short freight run from Salisbury, North Carolina to Asheville including scenes at the Loops on the Old Fort line. Then we follow the train to Knoxville, which includes a cab ride from Newport, Tennessee to Knoxville. Other trips include some coverage of the return trip of an excursion from Oneida to Chattanooga and some scenes of a southbound portion of a Cincinnati to Lexington run. The 25th Anniversary part of the title stems from the 25th Anniversary of the Southern and Norfolk Southern Steam Excursion program which took place in Chattanooga in October / November, 1991. We enjoy a 4501 trip west from Chattanooga, then the capper is the tripleheader as 4501 leads 611 and 1218 on a run. Later they all split and we get a few more shots of 4501 on a passenger train. This was interesting as about 3 years later the NS steam program was disbanded, and this was one of the last runs of 1218 since it went in the shop that winter, and never ran again. 4501 is privately owned and may operate again in the future. This tape has something for all steam fans to enjoy. 60 minutes