Here you will find our travel videos from the past couple of years. Since retiring as a professional videographer and now traveling for pleasure I've been recording our many travel adventures. Our interests find us going to places to botanize, bird watch and to enjoy wine where possible. Hope you find something of interest here and know that we had a fabulous time collecting these memories.
I love this, I remember a train that passed through the OUACHITA NATIONAL forest in Mena ARKANSAS, I think it was called the # 9, it was very old probably a steam engine, the old people would ride it just to hear the whistle blow, my son inlaw's grand mother was from Salisaw , Arkansas close to Mena, mena had a resort "Queen Willamina" i think this train passed through here, i remember the whistle, and the bell chiming on it, very old early 1900's, it traveled a scenic route.
This is a very impressive video, about a very impressive videographer. Nicely done, Dan! I'm glad I was able to play a small part in the success of the 2765 video. Oh...one more thing... *you're welcome!*
Your work with Pentrex (and now being shown on C Vision) has been an definite inspiration to me when it comes to railfanning with video. I still need to work with editing, but as far as looking for the right angles and positions has largely been from watching your footage in all those shows.
Wow! Thanks for the compliments. It makes me feel quite satisfied people like yourself are taking notice of my work from so many years ago. Keep on working to find those angles that best show the action.
Ex excellent music and video ! I remember the L&N in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. 😢 😢😢. Shed a tear for those great Fallen Flags : Atlantic Coast Line , Seaboard Air Line , and our great L&N.
In 1968 I got a job as fifth cook in the diner on The Canadian. The train was operated by Canadian Pacific and used its own line instead of the Canadian National line which VIA now uses. Part of the CP line passes along the scenic and rocky north shore of Lake Superior and is far more interesting than the CN which goes through northern Ontario. There's not much to see on this line except trees and a few lakes.
CNW had a manual interlocking about every 10 miles on average from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa. The first manual tower after leaving CPT (westbound) was Western Ave. (controlled by the Milwaukee Road) then Kedzie Ave. Tower. Next tower was JN Tower, then HM Tower. CNW used abbreviated names, I believe, from the days of telegraphy when that was how dispatchers communicated with the towers down the line. A lot easier to tap out two letters instead of a full name like Elmhurst, or West Chicago. By the time I hired out in 1974 nearly ALL those old towers were gone, only a distant memory, with the advent of CTC and other more modern dispatching and control mechanisms.
I was lucky to visit the CNW's Lake St. Tower many years ago when I was working a hostling job at the Chicago Passenger Terminal (CPT) at Madison St. The year escapes me but it was before the UP/CNW merger n 1995. Lake St. tower had the old "pistol grips" to throw switches on the plant. There were 16 tracks in the CPT, a fuel pocket, and 3 stub tracks just east of Lake St. Tower called the mail pocket tracks. They used to store and sometimes fuel engines there. There were about 4 to 6 leads that the 16 tracks merged into: 3 for the Geneva Sub. and 2 or 3 for the Harvard Sub. The Harvard Sub. divided at Clybourn Jct. about 2 miles distant from Lake St. interlocking, with Kenosha Sub. heading north and Harvard Sub heading northwest. If the interlocking machine at Lake St. is still in use, it is probably THE oldest manual interlocking still in use in the U.S. and probably one of the most complicated. Every time it snowed maintainers would go out, turn on the gas, and light the burners to keep the switches from freezing up and it looked like a scene from Dante's Inferno!
At Santa fe Mission tower back in the early 1990s at the beginning of metrolink, there were 5 railroads the operators controlled. Santa Fe, Southen pacific, Union pacific Amtrak, and Metrolink. Not one second of quiet, 24/7 365. Absolute mayhem. Kudos to the operators who had hundreds of levers switches and signals at their command. 5 different dispatchers, 5 different rule books, 5 different radios to monitor. How they even had a clue what they were doing was astounding. The 2 tower people i remember were Bob and Jan. However much their union paid them , they were underpaid. I was a signalman in BRS, i guess they were operators union. Wat a job they did. The forgotten part of railroading. They kept the trains running like clockwork. Most railfans never saw or even hear of a armstrong interlocking
An Interlocking Control Operator Board use to be setup in the Union Station in Kansas City as a display piece, but I haven't been there in a long time. I was a Control/Train Order Operator in NM, but never worked in a Tower like the ones in the video. They pulled our Interlocking Plant out a week before I Qualified as an Operator.
When that toilet pipe broke, Ill bet that model railroad is going to reek of urine and shit. after it's dried out, Best to give it a heavy washing down with Pine Sol.
Thanks for the vid. I'm going from Edmonton to Toronto return this November and really looking forward to it. I can't afford prestige and do not see the value of travelling 'Prestige' class versus my chosen 'Sleeper Plus' in a cabin for 1 as I'm travelling alone.
Thanks Daniel. It looks so different in the snow. Lovely music. We stayed at the Fairmont in Toronto, Jasper Park Lodge and in Coal Harbour Vancouver. Nice to see all this again. We didn't see mountains much from the train due to wildfires. We travelled back to Jasper by car from Prince George, onto Banff and then flew home to France from Calgary. For us, last May, there was another carriage behind the Park Car which spoiled the view. It's good to see you views out the back.
I did this trip several times many years ago, the first time in the 40's (I was only 2 years old but remember being in a berth with my mom) and the last time in the 80's. There were no passenger showers then but it was still a wonderful experience. I'm planning to do it one more time, hopefully this year. My dream is to book the Prestige cabin but I'll probably end up with a roomette for one. :(.
Thank you, really enjoyed your video it brought back memories of my trip back in June, It is too bad that you missed the last part of the journey, I did the round trip from Vancouver. We almost didn't get to leave because of the forest fire situation at Edson Alberta.
Thank you very much for your video. We are planning a trip next year in Prestige and you video answered many questions. Also, your 3 day stop in Jasper, although not your intention, was a great addition! (BTW, your music selection was right up my alley!!) Cheers!!
All of CSX network relies on 1 satellite transponder If that satellite fails like G5 failed in 2005 and we lost all pager service and most cellular service across America, if we lose that satellite all movement of trains has to stop The people at the top making all the money I think it's just great to get rid of people until that critical technology component fails and the entire company goes bankrupt because nothing can move
watching this on my 2 month Panama trip......very good show. My highlight so far is a flock of Green Macaws. The Harpy is still a dream. thank you for posting. eric
i really miss those days when i was a kid growing up in mexico.every other weekend we will go to see my grandparents and we will take the train.great memories when the train will stop at smaler towns ans we will buy all kind of suveniers and local delicious food.
It's the cheapest mode of transportation in Canada, not even half the price of the average airfare from Vancouver to Toronto. Driving tends to be expensive these days as well, taking the train is the best option really.
@@thompsonriverrailfan It is not the cheapest mode of transportation. A one-way flight to Vancouver is usually around $200-300 while the cheapest economy fare is $400-600 and even higher for summer. Also sleeper plus is the way to go and that's $600-4000.
You could purchase a copy of Mexico's Pacifico Railroad from Pentrex and listen to the sounds all you like with no music or narration. The point was to offer this as a music video, not a railfan's show. dlh
I was fortunate to have worked from 1973 until 1985 in 8 different signal towers on the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis(T.R.R.A.). I started in 1970 as a messenger boy when I was still a senior in high school, became a railroad clerk and then transferred to signal towers after the clerk and tower operators unions merged. I worked WR, SH, CP Jct., Southern Crossing, Valley Jct., Q, ID, and 23st towers. Because of my seniority and being on the extra board I was the last operator at 4 of those towers. I was blessed to have always been allowed to qualify as a train dispatcher and finished my 43 year railroad career spanning 4 different railroads in 2013. My best memories are working close to the tracks and trains as a Tower Operator.
