Memories of the Lehigh Valley Railroad: Volumes 3 + 4
Mark 1 Video
Format: DVD
Length: 60 minutes
Time Period: 1946-1956. 1966-1976.
Locations: New York Harbor, Mauch Chunk, Lehigh Gap, Sayre, Wilkes- Barre,
Sources: Volume 4: John Briggs, Guy Wickshall, Joe Zook. Volume 3: Louis Buehler, George Leilich, Don Van Court.
Here are two volumes of Lehigh Valley on a single DVD. They cover completely different eras, and the subject material is unrelated. Lehigh Valley is another one of those hard to find railroad film subjects. Was seeking some pre Conrail era LV to review. It turned up, on this combo DVD from Mark 1 Video.
This is another railfan only program. Paper route maps and on screen location (sometimes a date) graphics are the only informational sources. No narrartion is included Too bad, there is much that could be told and really enhance the shows. A combined chapter, and program map can be a little tricky at first glance. A bit clumsy, but it works.
Volume 3 is mostly, black & white steam era film. 1946-1956. Begins with some bits in color. LV carfloats at NY Harbor. Alco PA led passenger trains. Black and white film of Vulcan brand steam engines built for Turkish Railways. Didn’t appeal to me and no backstory about what amounts to an overly long curiosity feature. Some massive train wrecks are seen, and nothing else is offered. A 1946 Santa Claus Special in grainy film. Color at Buffalo, NY. A 50 ton hopper on a Rotary Coal Dumper is featured. Again, a wasted opportunity from a historical standpoint. A short, color cab ride on an EMD FT goes from Croxton to Sayre to Towanda. There is more, of course.
Volume 4 is the title that caught my interest. The LV final decade, 1966- 1976. Colorful locomotives at the height of the diesel era. Things are much more interesting in this show. Distant and trackside views show trains close-up and from afar. All types of weather conditions are presented. Traveling thru the various years take us on a whirlwind tour of Lehigh Valley Railroad. Scenic locations as: Easton, Lehigh Gap, Sayre, and Mauch Chunk are a few of many.
Alco Centuries. Gray/ Yellow C-420. Snowbird C-628 and red ones. Cornell Red RS2, RS3. General Electric’s new U23B units are here. Baldwin switchers can be seen too. Also, EMD: F7,SW8, SW1200, GP9,GP18, GP38 in various red schemes. It was surprising, at how much variation was in the red schemes.
The freight cars of the 60′s and 70′s are a nice, built-in bonus to view. Do enjoy those classic Northeastern LV cabooses!
Locations are well marked on the ‘mainline’ paper route map. Crude, but adequate location awareness. There are many more on screen markers in this volume. Train action is nonstop. This exciting show is worth the price of admission alone.
Quality of the film has a high percentage of good to very good. Volume 4 in particular, is generally in the very good range. It is nicely shot on the whole. Some rough quality spots, most in volume 3. Soundtrack has had much attention. The dubbed sounds work well and match the action pretty good. Some big band music is present in volume 3 as well.
The Lehigh Valley Volume 4, from 1966-1976, is a memorable look at a railroad that was packed with some fascinating diesel power. Volume 3 really didn’t do much for me. There is enough fine action on the diesel show to make this a program worth owning.
Rating: 3 Stars ( the combined set)
