Phenominal New York Central Steam Footage with Actual Sound!!

Thanks for posting that. Although I've seen it a number of times previously, it has to be on of the very best NYC stem videos ever! One simply can't watch it too often.

Agree with Jack, I keep forgetting about that video, …..rare to see A2’s in action, and J class Hudsons bumped all the way down to freight!…thanks Rick!…

Pat

Yes RICK,,, that HUDSON sure is digging in…heavy chuffing…👍👍

@laz1957 posted:

Yes RICK,,, that HUDSON sure is digging in…heavy chuffing…👍👍

Actually that is what was known as LOUD, SHOT-GUN exhausts, i.e. not "chuffing". Those NYC Hudsons were really good.

Wow!!! Thanks for sharing that, Rick - absolutely amazing. Two things that intrigued me… first, around 9:47, it looked like there was a baggage car in the middle of the consist - could that be the beginning of a section that will be broken out somewhere during the journey??? And around 9:59, in the doubleheader, does it look like the first tender is facing the wrong way???

Other than the incredible sound, I love seeing passenger trains with a mix of different types of cars in the livery instead of the uniform matching cars… have to try that when I get a chance.

Those are good vintage action shots. There are all excerpts from the Pentrex video The New York Central. I think the cameraman was a gentleman named Fred Beach. (?)

@Chuck Sartor posted:

Those are good vintage action shots. There are all excerpts from the Pentrex video The New York Central. I think the cameraman was a gentleman named Fred Beach. (?)

Some of those are from Fred Beach’s collections, …..Mr. Fred Beach was the in house cinematographer for the NYC’s public relations department……My grandfather and Fred became fast friends, and I had the privilege to meet him on more than one occasion…..During the war, Mr. Fred & my grandfather did double duty working as hostlers with the man power shortage. Grandad was one of those rare cats that could work the roundhouse & the electric shops, as he was qualified for both. He was also a master pipe fitter, and one heck of a mechanic……….

Pat

I don't know if I have seen that video, but I do recognize some of the locomotives in some of the footage. Particularly the one with the man holding the stop sign in the 4 minute area at the crossing. I do realize that some footage may be in other videos out there, which may be where I have seen that one before. Great post Rick.

Great video and really sharp and clear.

Can anyone read the tail sign on the obs in many of the scenes?  I think, judging from the landscape and the makeup of the train, it's "The James Whitcomb Riley" somewhere out in the mid-west. The only other consist  that I can think of that featured  a mixed bag of heavyweight and streamlined cars including a parlor-obs was "The Laurentian" between NY and Montreal and, clearly, this is not  that!

I loved the video. I was a little kid, but remember vividly the Hudsons and Niagaras at Rochester NY.

Joe S

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Safe to say it was west of Cleveland. Many post 1952 autos and by then there was very little steam east of Cleveland.

Pete

@Norton posted:

Safe to say it was west of Cleveland. Many post 1952 autos and by then there was very little steam east of Cleveland.

Pete

To add to Pete’s reply……, hardly any main line steam east of Cleveland at that time frame. Some small steam survived on branches, short lines, & used to cut cars, but road traffic would’ve been handled by diesels,….

Pat

This video showed up tonight called The Water Level Route: The New York Central 1900s-1970s.

I googled Valley Junction on the NYC.  Result was Cleves, OH. which is northwest of Cincinnati, so that is definitely Big Four territory.

Wow. Great stuff. Question - what is being carried in what looks like tanks or casks on a flatcar behind the tender at about 6:23?

Thanks,

David

NKP Muncie wrote:   Wow. Great stuff. Question - what is being carried in what looks like tanks or casks on a flatcar behind the tender at about 6:23?

Yes, I was wondering about that also, any clues.

russ

@pennsyfanman posted:

NKP Muncie wrote:   Wow. Great stuff. Question - what is being carried in what looks like tanks or casks on a flatcar behind the tender at about 6:23?

Yes, I was wondering about that also, any clues.

russ

Maybe cement.

RickO,

Many thanks for posting. Simply a great NYC video.

Jerry

I learn something on OGR every day."Actually that is what was known as LOUD, SHOT-GUN exhausts, i.e. not "chuffing"." I was going through my collection of TMCC sound cards recently looking for a large steam sound. The one I picked at least for now is for a CV hudson. loud raw double tone exhaust sound! I am sure its not right for a 2900 SF Northern but what a sound.

Richard

@Hot Water I had thought cement before seeing it pass by, then was just confounded. I tried looking up what it could be on the web, and that of course was a no win situation.

Some of these scenes of passenger train flying at low speeds, you're tempted to think the frame count is off (as in fewer frames taken, opposed to the speed of the projector). But looking at everything else, I think they're really going that fast.

While the NYC was never my favorite railroad, I completely understand it's appeal and I share the view that many have that it was so wrong for them to scrap almost every steam locomotive they ever had instead of allowing some to go into preservation. Imagine getting to see even a stuffed and mounted NYC Hudson in a museum somewhere...

Well at least there are a couple of Mohawks still with us.

Enjoyed seeing the various roadnames on the boxcars, old films usually focus on the locomotives cutting away quickly as they pass the camera.