Found this video last night on YouTube.....Fred McLeod captured action on the PRR and the B&O in 1954. Really good video, and from as far as I can tell, it's LIVE SOUND. All the audio syncs perfectly with the action, even the whistle blows.

PRR Steam > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx5tHB_aw4g
- At 6:27, check out the J1 runby. Magnificent!

B&O Steam> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV0-2xvmguY
- At 5:14, listen to the B&O 6 chime on that Mountain as it leaves Confluence.

Thought people on the board would enjoy this.

The majority of the McLeod B&O footage in that YT clip is in our DVD "B&O/C&O Steam with Live Sound". A couple of the scenes were not in the film we used yet there are several others (some in color) that are not in the above linked clip on YT including more scenes of the EM1 class. Also in that DVD are several live sound scenes of C&O Alleghenies and one scene of a C&O streamlined Hudson on a passenger train.

-Jim Herron (Herron Rail Video)

I own a copy of Mr. Herron's video (bought it before I had a disc player, so it's on tape!), but someone else has segments from it on YouTube; consider this a preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI99Dvpx ... re=related

I was able to recognise most of the C&O locations with 2-6-6-6s and a couple of 2-8-2s in West Virginia and Virginia (several shots, including the first one of a 2-6-6-6, are at Alleghany, Va.) but the "Yellowbelly" 4-6-4 was a puzzle for a long time. Eventually tracked it down to Williamsburg, Va.

Of course, we have to buy these now to help keep Mr. Herron in business--an excellent idea of which Mr. Herron will approve!

Now, to locate or order copies of "The Titfield Thunderbolt" and "Fools Parade;" the first might not be too hard to find, but the latter seems to be a more difficult matter.

Thanks J3a-614.

Funny thing about the film we used in that program is that it came from two sources that were hundreds of miles apart with one received a couple of years before the other. The first segment wasn't long enough to make a decent show. When I viewed the second part I thought it looked familiar and sure enough, it matched up with the film I had received previously. Each of the owners of the film had purchased their segments from Fred McLeod. I have no idea why the entire film wasn't sold to one or the other of them.

Fred McLeod used an Aerocon 16mm camera that actually recorded the sound on a stripe on the film as the movie was being shot. It was an expensive camera and I only know of one other man who used one to shoot railroad subjects. McLeod's films were originally released by Blackhawk but he also sold prints on his own.

-JH

Mag stripe recording cameras had the capability of recording much better audio that what is on this transferred optical print. The time code indicates this was a work tape used for edit point listing. If the original negatives could be located, and if he used a decent mic, the audio could be much much better.

I never realized this before, but if you watch this video, it has some of the same footage but in COLOR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmtvA0yJyTU

Check out 2:23 - 3:32, 7:05 and 8:17.

So like you said, would be nice if someone could locate the original negatives and give it a modern transfer....could end up being one of the best vintage PRR videos ever made!

The PRR clip mentioned above is from Bill Warrick's video on the history of the PRR and Bill is the narrator. He released it through one of the companies that Pentrex bought out in the 1990's and they have offered it since then. I see film in the clip from Fred McLeod, Howard Blackburn, John Plichta and others, perhaps some from Bill Warrick himself. Bill used any film available to produce his shows so they are a real mix of material. He did a similar show on New York Central which Pentrex also wound up with.

In mid 1990's, Bill asked us if we would release his shows and we have since released his documentaries on the Jim Hill lines, C&NW, Milwaukee Road, Granger Roads, 4-4-0's, Virginia & Truckee, the Lincoln Funeral Train and one on steamboat history.

John Plichta's films of Chicago and Milwaukee based railroads were shot in the late 1930's and contain some great scenes of the Hiawathas, Burlington Zephyrs, C&NW, Englewood Station activity and other subjects, mostly in color. Mr. Plichta's wife had died and he took a year off shooting trains on 16mm film. To say he got the classics is an understatement. Doc Blackburn told me about those films and I was able to secure them which was released as our "Glory Machines Volume 3". Bill Warrick had a copy of Plichta's film and clips from it have appeared in several of his shows but usually as an illustration for whatever subject he was describing at the time.

Fred McLeod's films have surfaced in many videos as he sold prints of his films and also allowed Blackhawk to sell them. Blackhawk released many of their films in B&W even if the original was color.

-Jim Herron
Herron Rail Video

Some additional B&O footage I ran across while looking for something else.

First clip features steam switching in Ohio, using L-1 and L-2 0-8-0s (converted from E-24 and E-27 2-8-0s), and cleanup footage following a derailment and following collision; the latter is notable, at least for me, for seeing the wreck crew work without hard hats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zP8qIZpUJs

Other footage on the B&O, featuring the Cincinnatian on its original route, with footage of a C&O L-1 4-6-4 ("Yellowbelly) and a Southern Ps-4 at Ivy City:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyoOTgqM ... re=related

Enjoy.