It all started with an expensive Panasonic two piece camera and recorder. Back in those days this new technology with streaking in low light and VHS inferior quality was quite impressive. In the early eighties I starting taping trains and other railroad activity. Before that I used an 8mm movie camera. Never did I think I would have the rewarding opportunity to share my video and slide collection of railroad history with others who have similar interests on youtube. Danny, thanks for watching and leaving a comment. Since I have now entered the old codger generation I don’t get out and shoot as much as I used to. And this is where you come in. I can now sit back in a comfortable chair and enjoy the rail action you provide. You have done so much for the railroad community from the quality video’s you produce to your involvement with railwatch and the Folkston platform. Being a subscriber, I never miss any of your video’s that rival in quality anything coming out of Hollywood. Your dazzling high quality camera work, drone footage and editing plus maps, narration and extensive research are really appreciated by railfans world wide. Thanks so much for preserving the rich railroad history for this generation and those to come to learn from and enjoy. ‘73 Dave
Nice elephant style lashup and actions with that U36B and those U18Bs! Man, those unit were amazing! And I love the Seaboard Coast Line! One of my favorite fallen flags along with Conrail and Chessie :)
Thanks, very old video too. Wish I had a camera back then with today's technology, capacity and clarity. Back in the steam days guys probably wished they had a video camera of any kind. Thanks for your comment.
Glad you liked it and thanks for watching. I'm trying to get as much of this vintage audio and video up as I can before the big day we all must face. If it were not for RU-vid most of it would end up in the trash or at a flea market. I want people to enjoy watching it as much as I did photographing it.
These videos are great. As I remember the SCL units also had the "Pulling For You" logo painted just behind the cab. I am 55 years old and my mother, my grandmother, and me would go to the Raleigh, N. C. yard in the early sixties and the the Seaboard (Seaboard Airline Railroad) switchers moving the cars around in the yard. I loved hearing the roots blowers and especially the turbo chargers that produced a high-pitched whine that went up in pitch as the engineer throttled up the locomotive(s). That is one sound that is engrained in my mind and I'm glad that it is. I loved that sound. The SAL locomotives (B-B units) were usually black with a yellow stripe going down the middle of the mostly EMD units. When a freight train would pass through Raleigh with 3 or 4 of these units, the turbochargers put on an amazing whine, clean and loud to a young boy's ears. Thank you for sharing your fantastic SCL videos, which are fantastic, and definitely RARE, indeed!!!!! Thanks!!!
Very Cool video! I was born 2 days after this video was shot! LOL. That's cool that the road channell has never changed over the years I listen to 160.590 all the time when I railfan the CSX A-line in North Carolina. Thanks for a nice look into the past!
Thanks so much for posting this vid. It's great to see the SCL in movie. It's a sight that I for certain would never have seen in real life. Thanks to people like you, and your willingness to share, I now have a chance to see and hear them. Thanks again. Much appreciated!
I grew up in Sanford and my daddy and granddaddy both worked for SCL then. Whenever the train was coming, we would run out to the tracks to see if they were on the train and no mo matter who was, they always through us candy. Happy Memories.
Really, really wish there was footage out there of the old Sorrento Branch that ran through Mount Dora, and then through Sorrento and connected at the south end of Rand Yard where the Conrad Yelvington Spur is now. And the old Leesburg to Wildwood branch that Florida Midland used to operate, especially if footage out there exists of the line when it still connected to Tavares. Love your channel by the way.
If there is I would love to see them. I remember driving south on I-4 around 1975 and seeing a fright train on the Forrest city branch which ran for a short distance parallel to the interstate. I wonder if the ACL-SAL historical society might have any material. Oh and thanks for the kind words. I'm glad we have a place like RU-vid to share. Wonder if there would be any material in the old ACL station in Mt. Dora which is now the chamber of commerce-visitor center.
I worked for Florida Central from 2015 to 2017, so I am unbelievably grateful for some of the footage you have on your channel of the early years of the operations there, it was such a unique little shortline. It has changed dramatically since then though, I assure you! The footage of the dinner train over the bridge on the Forest City Branch is some of my favorite. I hope I can eventually find some footage of the Sorrento Branch and also the Wildwood to Leesburg Branch. That would be priceless footage to say the least. Thank you for what you do!
Very nice, loud air "Pop-Off" from 3:37 - 3:40. From their chugging to the pop off, to the RS5T-RR0 horns, those SCL U-Boats were rolling industrial music machines (or noise makers to non-railfands). I most certainly miss them.
l remember as a kid in a small town called Americus Ga how Seaboard was the granddaddy of railroad on the other side of town you had Southern .now we have a shortline called H O G (heart of Georgia ) and Norfolk Southern most mornings a lil after 8 l ride by the station in hopes of getting caught by the train .its a great excuse to use but more important its a way to slow the day down and get a fresh clean start to it
This is super! Always enjoyed hearing that classic GE FDL 4 cycle "chug". I have so many fond memories (and a number of photos) of the railfan friendly SCL in the Tampa Bay area. What a stark difference from then to now. BTW: Are you a member of the Yahoo ACL-SAL-SCL forum?
Hopefully the text below will answer your question. It was found in "Lines South, a publication of the ACL-SAL historical societies Sanford Coast Line town in Vol 28 # 1 dated first quarter 2011. Part #1 appears in the vol 27 # 4 issue . It was very well done. "Having no customers between Sanford and Sorrento, 13 miles between Sylvan Lake and Sorrento were abandoned in 1980. Sorrento and Mt. Dora could then be serviced off the former SAL branch from Orlando to Wildwood through a connection in Tavares. Sanford had lost another branch line. The Trilby Branch became the Groveland Subdivision of the Tampa Division. The line was abandoned west of Groveland to Mabel in 1970. With no customers between Sanford and Forest City, these additional 11.5 miles were abandoned in 1983, thus eliminating Sanford's ability to service this branch. Forest City was very close to the former SAL Orlando-Wildwood branch and could now be easily served from Orlando off this line by building a connecting track at the junction at Toronto." Hope that helps. Anyone else have further details?
@@DaveEdwardsEntertainment thank you for your reply, if you haven’t already I would strongly recommend looking at the Seminole county aerial photography registry. It is amazing to see where the tracks were and how much everything has changed.
Unfortunately I don't have any. Someone did post a cab ride from that area long ago. Don't think it was a complete trip between the two cities but was from that area. Good luck and thanks for watching.
@@DaveEdwardsEntertainment there was a good number of railroad relics in athens georgia up until the year I was born, thats when they started to be obliterated. There's still rail traffic through town but its not like it was back in the early early 80s before all the mergers and what not.