A collection of mostly early "40's to 50's b/w & color home movies made by the
late Bob Melcher were discovered by Ray Benson Jr who with John Goodman &
others (inc. our own Cy Svobodny) converted them to a 41" DVD. Quality ranges
from poor to good but considering the many rarities including seeing the
original Twin Z's night & day, allows for some slack. Mostly taken in the Twin
Cities to LaCrosse area, the DVD begins with 3 Lines West clips: #638 at
Leadville, an on-the-fly mail drop & pick-up @ Bovina & a pr of FT's leading a
Q freight. In addition to the 1st Twins, you see the transitional dome consist
led by a shovelnose, brief glimpes of steam freights and Zephyr-Rocket action
with both Q & RI power & the Black Hawk being wyed. When not trackside or 1 or
2 pacings, Bob usually rode the 1st dome often in winter. A classic clip is a
"48 Twin being wyed in Mpls with a trainman in overcoat taking S. View or Vista
over a double track with a non-EMD C&NW switcher then coming by followed by a
single GN F leading a freight. You go thru the Hastings' bridge with such
modeler details as telltales at both ends, double semaphores and at least 3
CB&N depots inc. E. Winona, Prescott (with 2 standpipes) & Hager. A meet
includes a rare 7 dome Twin and a train of ice reefers with the Twin flying so
fast that in 30" you see block signals go red/yellow/green. Other little
features are a classic Q wooden viaduct, a crew change in No. LaCrosse with the
famous ice house in the background and an aerial view of Pigs Eye Lake yard.
Two fans trips are shown; a murky 5632 but a bright 3003! The latter was too
heavy for the now gone GB&W bridge so the Winona switcher takes the consist
across and down Wall Sreet inc. a modeler's dream: two 50' flats with temporary
wooden railings containing railfans and a pair of kerosene markers! You also
see 3003 take water in Fountain City using a local fire truck to pump water
from the Mississippi. The film ends with a couple minutes of a Chicago tour
inc. trolley busses, a late "60's Twin and a "71 or so Amtrak Zephyr/Hiawatha
led by Q E units pulling 5 different BN colored cars. This fast paced,
music/steam sounds accompanied film, inc. a glimpse of an early SPUD diesel &
vintage cars/trucks. (My favorite portion of entire DVD are 2 segments showing
shovelnosed Twins coming to/from the the then new LaCrosse depot in the early
40's). Gerald
I had 10 copies that sold-out at the Batavia meet; John will sell direct for
same price:
John Goodman, 8409 13th Avenue South Bloomington, Mn 55425-1705
$20 cash, ck or M.O. - John absorbs postage (add Sales Tax if from MN)
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