The lighting in the first runby shot, with the lights on the locomotive from behind the station, and the people huddled in the foreground, has a distinctly O. Winston Link look about it. Nicely done.

Bar codes on the bottles....
Arrrrrgh.
Sorry, just had t' say it..

Kelly...one beautiful job! I hope Coke keeps you guys in coal and pin grease for the next 10 years....

Allright...who's next?

We need more Kellys. Besides him and Stephen Hussar, who else among us is a professional videographer?

dave

Guess we're fortunate to always have a P51 type around to find fault in just about anything, even something as inspirational and well done as this production.

Another real life example of the old adage..............no matter what you do you can't please all the people......................

Sad but true.

Ross Rowland

No you didn't.

Actually, my comments on the bottles was more tongue in cheek, based on a very annoyed person I know who's a Coke collector and lost her cool at seeing modern bottles.
But, since several of you brought it up...
Seriously, have any of you ever met a die-hard Coke fan or collector? One of my co-workers (who knows more about Coke history than anyone here knows equal amounts about steam) watched this and started screaming at the monitor when the red label bottles showed up. She then spent over an hour griping about how the tray and bottles were wrong for the era.
It's a really easy detail to get right and is key to the ad, as much as 765, if you consider it's a Coke ad. And, there are probably far more Coke fans in the world than train buffs...
There are plenty of historical errors in the ad, but the Coke bottles are a central element, as much as the locomotive is. It's not wrong at all to point out that the bottles are modern.

Kelly, I'm late to this party but WOW! That is an exceptional piece of work! Good luck. I hope this spec piece turns into a contract for you and the 765 bunch!

This is one of the best things I have ever seen. Wish I had the bucks to hire Kelly and bring him and his crew to Connecticut for a few weeks!!

Anyone happen to notice the open book next to the vintage Life magazine? 10 points to the first one who IDs it.

Howard P.
Details, NY

I'm no expert on old railroad books, but the printing style sure reminds me of the old Superior or Bonanza books. Maybe "Milwaukee Road West" or "This was Railroading"?

So a Lionel fan, a Coke fan, and a train fan all walk into a bar...

Lee,

I have a vintage Coca-Cola machine and bottles stacked high on my back porch in my house. When I was born, my dad took a dozen Coke bottles and painted "It's a boy!" on them and handed them out to coworkers. So, I can lay claim to the Coke gene as well.

The choice for the bottles was deliberate - they are bigger and show off the product. We took cues from modern Coke commercials where the bottles are always stylized/oversized for emphasis. The UPC and white ingredients labels are a bummer -- we even flirted with digitally removing them.

You're right that these are easy details to get right, but these are also deliberate choices being made here, some artistically and some for logistics. Believe it or not, I had a hard enough time finding the right Lionel train (2 were used), and they're both dated in the late 1950s when the LIFE Magazine is dated April of 1945.

Be happy to point out the other errors of continuity and otherwise, but it's rare the folks behind these things aren't aware of the inconsistencies since they're as nerdy and detail oriented as anyone else.

It's been really incredible for us to see and read everyone's responses, especially with regard to the memories being relayed. We've been waiting to share this for a while. Thanks for everyone's kind words and for sharing this to bump it over 10,000 views.

If anyone would like to sponsor the historically accurate sequel, the 765 is waiting :)

OK so whats the book??!! I went thru a lot of my books looking for a match and can't find it.

Again great job.

Paul

The book looks like Rehor's "The Berkshire Era". I will check when I get home.

Bingo, we have a winner. Mr. Wilkins gets the 10 points.

This came out a couple of years after Rehor's "Nickle Plate Story", and I was once told by someone close to Rehor that "Berkshire Era" was the "second part of the Nickel Plate book that Kalmbach left out or didn't have room for".

Good book with some really fine photos.

Howard P.

Thanks Howard! I just popped open a Coke to celebrate.

Pages 62-65 to be exact......

The photographic memory does have some advantages.