The video of RKO's "The Silver Streak" is offered for $21.95 by
Trainfans.com. (www.trainfans.com/catalog/vintage3.shtml).
I do not know if they currently have it in stock.
Bill
--- In BRHSlist@y..., "M. Thayer" <zephyr@k...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <PSHedgpeth@a...>
> To: <BRHSlist@y...>
> Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 5:15 PM
> Subject: [BRHSlist] Pioneer Zephyr History
>
>
> [snip]
> >
> > My question now is??????During the speeches I could hear a
continuous
> > rumbling noise. At first I attributed said noise to just the
reproduction
> > quality. However occasionally you could hear a steam locomotive
bell
> ring.
> > It suddenly dawned on me was that the "rumbling" was indeed the
Winton
> Prime
> > Mover idling.
> >
> > Having ridden the PZ a few times and even worked as brakeman on
the
> Lincoln
> > St. Joe run in 1958 I thought that I was familiar with the sound
of the PZ
> > engine which was a much more rapid "chant" than what I could make
out on
> the
> > tape.
> >
> > It seems to me that the original Winton engine was replaced at
sometime
> > during the PZ's life with a more modern engine, more like the 567
engine,
> > which my memory seems to indicate would produce a sound as I
remember from
> > the 1950's.
> >
> > I'd like to hear from someone knowledgeable as to the history of
the PZ as
> to
> > how faulty my memory is. There is the possibility that the
background
> noise
> > on the tape is indeed just reproduction noise and not the engine,
but I
> > really want to think that it is indeed the Winton.
> >
> Without hearing the recording, I can't say for sure, but it could
well be
> the idling diesel of 9900 . . .
>
> You are correct that the original 201A was replaced (by another
201A) early
> in 9900's career. Many years later, one of the diesel rebuilding
companies
> identified the original 9900 engine by serial number during a
re-engining
> project, and it was acquired by the Smithsonian. Another source for
the
> sound of 9900's original engine installation would be the RKO motion
picture
> "The Silver Streak", filmed in October 1934. If interior shots of
9900 in
> this film are accurate, then there is another possible reason for
your
> perceived difference in the sound. In the film, there is no
bulkhead
> between the cab and the engine compartment (which would be
consistent with
> the way gas-electric cars were constructed at the time). If this is
so, the
> addition of the bulkhead at a later date could have significantly
changed
> the acoustics of the engine compartment and the perceived sound.
>
> "The Silver Streak" is not currently available on commercial video
tape (to
> the best of my knowledge), but is in the film library of American
Movie
> Classics. A query to AMC might reveal whether they have plans to
re-air it
> any time soon.
>
> Marshall Thayer
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