VINTAGE RAIL JOURNEY is a great documentary of Passenger Trains in the U.S. the way they used to operate in the 1950's... Check out this Editorial Review in the APRIL-2017 issue of "Model Railroad News", they have written telling about this outstanding production from Greg Scholl Videl Productions.


Vintage Indeed!

Review by Tony Cook
Greg Scholl Video Productions
Vintage Rail Journey
#GSVP 108, MSRP: $29.95
Greg Scholl Video Productions
P.O. Box 123
Batavia, OH 45103
513-732-0660
www.gregschollvideo.com


GREG Scholl Video
Productions’ Vintage Rail
Journey is an excellent time
capsule of railroading in the 1950s
and 1960s. The program, presented
on standard-definition DVD, provides
views originally captured on 8mm
movie film. The material comes mostly
from Victor Shattock’s home movies.
The narration informs the viewer
that photographer Victor Shattock
worked for Southern Pacific. These
movies are the results of a number
of trips Mr. Shattock made across
America following World War II and
before the coming of Amtrak. Subjects
are frequently passenger trains, but you
will also see freight trains.
The program is divided into sections.
First up is, “All Across America.”
As this initial part of the DVD began,
the views were of California Zephyr
(CZ) operations on Western Pacific
and Rio Grande. This is great stuff,
and I never will say no to seeing a Rio
Grande roll into Moffat Tunnel with
the CZ in tow. This video doesn’t disappoint.
The heavily soot-covered West
Portal of Moffat
Tunnel greets an
eastbound CZ early
in the 95-minute show. However, the
CZ is far from an obscurely documented
train.
The program’s second section,
“Back to the Midwest” opens with a
run on Baltimore & Ohio’s (B&O) St.
Louis-bound National Limited. Next
are 1953 views of trains backing into
St. Louis Union Station and images
of Gulf, Mobile & Ohio’s (GM&O)
Ann Rutledge traveling north toward
Chicago. An eastern trip follows
with early Alco switchers and a quick
view of a Boston & Maine BL2. More
Midwestern footage continues the
show with Illinois Terminal’s (IT)
streamlined blue and stainless steel
electrics working from Edwardsville,
Illinois, into St. Louis. You enjoy a
cab-ride view of the IT’s right-of-way,
as well as bridge crossings into St.
Louis. More St. Louis views include
B&O, GM&O, Pennsylvania Railroad,
New York Central, and Wabash. Power
includes early E-units and Alco PAs.
The shots of trains working into and
out of St. Louis Union Station provides
inspiration for adding a stub-end passenger
terminal to any layout. Leaving
St. Louis, Chicago & North Western
F-units on the former Litchfield &
Madison receive attention, followed
by Wabash passenger trains in central
Illinois. A visit to Springfield, Illinois,
shows the dead line of Chicago &
Illinois Midland steam locomotives.

Additional
chapters take the
viewer to Texas
and later over Tehachapi (California)
on a Santa Fe passenger train with a
rare Erie-Built in the motive power
consist. Southern Pacific gets into the
program with Daylight-attired Alco
PAs pulling matching streamliners in
California. The next sections, “More
Around Chicago” and “More Eastern
Railroading” show South Shore Line
interurban services working around
Chicago, as well as Illinois Central
and Rock Island commuter trains.
Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk &
Western passenger trains represent the
eastern part of the show.

Finally, “West
to Seattle” documents Burlington
Northern running its final North
Coast Limited. The
mix of Burlington,
Great Northern, and
Northern Pacific
equipment shows the
rainbow era for Burlington Northern
that would serve as an example of what
was ahead for Amtrak’s early days. In
this run west, you pass U25Cs working
a coal train with radio control helper
equipment.
Each segment opens with a title card
and may be accessed directly via the
program menu or by skipping forward
or backward through the DVD.
The narration provides good factual
information along the way. Whether
you know the territory on screen or
not, the narrator’s audio guidance will
keep you posted on where you are, what
trains you see rolling by, and important
notes about the locations and railroads
involved. The original color 8mm
film appears to have been silent. Greg
Scholl Video Productions provides a
musical score with narration throughout
the program. Keeping the original
aspect ratio, the video presentation is a
square-like 4 x 3 format. From my experience,
transfer quality for 8mm film
to video can be difficult to make look
good. Victor Shattock seems to have
taken excellent care of his originals,
and Greg Scholl Video Productions did
an admirable job preserving this material.
Considering
that some segments
date to the early
1950s, these movies
look very good for
going on 70 years old!
I’ve now watched a number of Greg
Scholl releases, and I must say Vintage
Rail Journey is among the most enjoyable.
The variety of railroads and locations
is amazing. For the rail enthusiast
and modeler both, this DVD is well
worth the price of admission. I believe
you’ll find yourself watching it again
and again.
In addition to great passenger train scenes, you’ll see a number of freight trains.

[www.trainvideodepot.com]




Cheers.

KRK