Chicagoland in Film 1969-1989

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  • čas přidán 18. 03. 2020
  • Super 8 film from the late Red Moser , supplemented with some clips I shot on a western train trip in 1970. The opening scenes show the Chicago downtown and lakefront areas. Most of the footage is from 1974, a few years into Amtrak when the SDP40F's were the new kid on the block. A good mix of long distance and commuter trains out of Union and C&NW stations is shown, as well as a brief look at the Rock Island at New Lenox by George H Meyer. The final sequences are from 1989 at the 50th Anniversary of the FT exhibition at the EMD Plant in Lagrange, IL. Sounds are from my video library and Arkay records.
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Komentáře • 170

  • @billtimmons7071
    @billtimmons7071 Před 4 lety +50

    I was stationed at the North Chicago Navy training base in 1977. I remember the F and E units pulling and pushing the double decker CNW commuters. We took them from North Chicago into downtown Chicago on weekends. Sometimes I'd go north into Wisconsin. I'd hear the two stroke 567's all the time. Good memories ...

    • @DanielPRails
      @DanielPRails Před 4 lety +8

      Thank you for your service bill and for sharing the memories.

    • @spaceghost8995
      @spaceghost8995 Před 4 lety +9

      Haha I was stationed at Great Lakes there in North Chicago in 1981! The conductors would order all Navy guys to the rear cars because it would end up smoke filled with reefer and it seemed like everyone had a pint of whiskey and someone would be jamming a Pioneer boombox! Good times!

  • @jfreelan1964
    @jfreelan1964 Před rokem +2

    An absolute treasure trove of film. A digital cleanup is in order. I have no idea what it would cost. Thank you for sharing.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před rokem

      Too much. That's why the transfer was done on a consumer grade machine. I did about 12,000 feet of film from Mr. Moser's collection. Do the math at 50 cents per foot.

  • @MilePost106
    @MilePost106 Před 10 měsíci +2

    You can't beat the old days of railroading! I grew up in the 60's and remember when the F units ruled in freight. I have that CNW "400" passenger train in N scale by Kato, I model the 60's and 70's on my layout.

  • @mooseriddle
    @mooseriddle Před 2 lety +2

    Wish my grandfather was still alive to see this.
    He would be like a kid in a candy store

  • @tommythomason6187
    @tommythomason6187 Před 4 lety +23

    Priceless time capsule.

  • @SteveH-TN
    @SteveH-TN Před 10 měsíci +1

    Nostalgic video of my hometown. Thanks for posting this video !

  • @PowerTrain611
    @PowerTrain611 Před 4 lety +12

    Such variety! It's a shame we'll never see the likes of this ever again... Thanks for sharing!

  • @Rafael-716
    @Rafael-716 Před měsícem

    Very well done. Thanks. Hired as a brakeman 1966. This brings a smile

  • @twospeed209
    @twospeed209 Před 4 lety +23

    Thank you very cool footage,cheered me up during all this virus mess. Thank you again. Mark

  • @tommythomason6187
    @tommythomason6187 Před 3 lety +7

    This is absolutely amazing.
    Bless the person that filmed this. A wonderful timepiece.

  • @cnwproductions
    @cnwproductions Před 3 lety +3

    so sad seeing GTW 5629 just sitting there RIP 1924-1987

  • @flexmann2148
    @flexmann2148 Před 3 lety +1

    I missed the Red Yellow E-9 Rock Island ,Burlington Route, Burlington Northern, C&NW and Penn Central trains when all railroad passenger trains consolidated to Metra & Amtrak. Time capsule video here. Grew up in Lawndale neighborhood in the 70's when the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) is towering up. Thanks for the video, be blessed. #westside. #doubledeck #ICGRR #CSS&SBRR

  • @grahamsawyer831
    @grahamsawyer831 Před měsícem

    fantastic footage. sound overdubs really bring it to life. wish we'd had half as much colour in the UK!!

  • @johnroberts7924
    @johnroberts7924 Před 2 lety +1

    Priceless!

  • @martinchamberlain542
    @martinchamberlain542 Před 4 lety +6

    Wow, thankyou for an absolutely amazing video. Living my whole life in the UK Midlands, steeped in LMS tradition, these trains could just be from another planet. The variety is fascinating, but I have to say that aesthetics don't seem to be a priority here! I suspect this may be as a result of the more generous loading gauge in the USA. This film must be as close to a time machine as it gets, Thankyou!

    • @MIKECNW
      @MIKECNW Před 3 lety +1

      Don't know what the hell you're talking about.

  • @chicagolandrailroader
    @chicagolandrailroader Před rokem +1

    Cool to see all of these crazy consists!

  • @DanielPRails
    @DanielPRails Před 4 lety +8

    What a cool glimpse into the past yet again. Thank you

  • @blackbirdgaming8147
    @blackbirdgaming8147 Před 3 lety +1

    20:11 if the humming sound was the hum of HEP generators, I love you for that. Great attention to detail

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 3 lety +1

      Yes, sound came from Conrail E8's

  • @markfrench8892
    @markfrench8892 Před 3 lety +35

    I'd give my eye teeth to go back in time and see this happening again. Railroading has changed too much for my taste.

    • @richardkirka5977
      @richardkirka5977 Před 3 lety +5

      Chicago was my favorite city in the world, and seems like a museum today. Even the rolling stock was washed at least once a year, which made everything magical.

    • @PRHILL9696
      @PRHILL9696 Před 2 lety +3

      agree

    • @blainenodes8182
      @blainenodes8182 Před 10 měsíci

      Agree 110% ❗lucky me,hopped/ chased trains 1949-2021 in MSP 🥶,we had #9 r.r. serve my city,passenger/ freights,caboose,flares, torpedoes,r.r.cops used rock salt in shotguns,always in suit's👍

  • @MO-bq5rd
    @MO-bq5rd Před 4 lety +2

    WOW nice video! I lived in Chicago 69 - 71 lots of memories!

  • @allegheny48
    @allegheny48 Před 4 lety +4

    A great compilation of trains and downtown Chicago scenes. I especially enjoyed seeing the marquee of the Chicago Theatre. It still exists, all restored and is an active venue in the city. Interesting story. In 1976 when they came to the theatre to record the Wurlitzer they needed to bring in AC power from the building next door. The entire theatre building ran on DC power. That rebuilt AMTRAK dome observation was different. Plenty of interesting passenger cars in those consists along with all the diesels at the EMD plant. Seeing Dick Jensen's forlorn Pacific was sad. Thanks for all your efforts and for the spot on sound effects.

  • @toddcampbell5603
    @toddcampbell5603 Před 4 lety +1

    I made it to the EMD anniversary in 1989. What a great day in McCook. The footage from twenty years earlier is fantastic. Thanks for taking me back to my childhood. Always enjoy the vintage stuff, especially the GM&O!!

  • @roberthagberg5482
    @roberthagberg5482 Před 3 lety +3

    Back in 1969, took the Flambeau 400 from Ashland, WI to Green Bay, WI. We had a F-7 n 1 doubledecker car. No more CNW or SOOLINE in Ashland, WI anymore.

  • @tylergreen4843
    @tylergreen4843 Před 3 lety +2

    17:56 - 18:16
    Let's have a moment of silence for this unfortunately scrapped 5629
    Thunder on, 5629! ☹😥😢😭

  • @RailroadNerdOfIllinois
    @RailroadNerdOfIllinois Před 2 lety +1

    In the 80s or 90s my mom said she used to see those BN Emd e units on the burlington race track since her ant lives near the race track and still lives there to this day…

  • @Steven_Williams
    @Steven_Williams Před 4 lety +1

    Man! You are taking me to my childhood in the "70's" with those downtown Chicago shots!

  • @RHJ3
    @RHJ3 Před 3 lety +1

    Wow! What a show! Those sky blue double decker Great Northern cars are quite a sight to see as well as the C&NW Green and Yellow ones. So many fallen flags with so many wonderful paint schemes. I love the non stop action! Thank You for posting this video. Greeting from Rochester NY.

  • @joelkirchner8476
    @joelkirchner8476 Před 4 lety +1

    This is a great slice of Chicago railroad history!

  • @robertpetit57
    @robertpetit57 Před 4 lety +2

    A wonderful time capsule of Chicago railroading. Thanks for sharing

  • @JohnAdorjan
    @JohnAdorjan Před 4 lety +5

    3:19 in and I already know because I see, this is a Masterpiece in camera work. Thank You!

  • @johntherailfan3754
    @johntherailfan3754 Před 2 lety

    I wasn't around to see most of this, so thank you for publishing these videos

  • @K-Effect
    @K-Effect Před 3 lety +3

    I think even a blind man could read Rock Island on those engines

  • @svenmartin840
    @svenmartin840 Před 4 lety +2

    Thank you Mr Moser. I got to see what the railroads. Where like when I was my grandson's age. And now most of the railroads. And trackage in the film are sadly gone.

  • @scotteakins7203
    @scotteakins7203 Před 4 lety +5

    The good ole days.

  • @williambryant5946
    @williambryant5946 Před 4 lety +3

    Great video! The EMD plant footage was very cool. I really enjoyed it. 👍

  • @notthatdonald1385
    @notthatdonald1385 Před 4 lety +2

    Very nice! Thank you for posting this.

  • @tombarnes7196
    @tombarnes7196 Před 4 lety +2

    Fabulous video! Thank you for sharing.

  • @b3j8
    @b3j8 Před 4 lety +9

    My family went to Chicago in 1969. Remember going to the top of the Prudential Bldg. And to the Museum of Science and Industry. There was a huge model railroad there that I could've watched all day!

    • @MIKECNW
      @MIKECNW Před 3 lety +1

      Why not the Hancock center?
      That was finished that year.

    • @ameyring
      @ameyring Před 3 lety

      The model railroad was replaced with a new one in HO scale that mimicks the cityscape. Just a nice to enjoy as the old one!

  • @jorgesabater8640
    @jorgesabater8640 Před 9 měsíci

    As Consul General of Costa Rica in the mid 70's I used to take short trips to Chicago suburbs on many of these trains and a few long trips as well. Chicago is the capital of train lovers.

  • @JohnR.1968
    @JohnR.1968 Před 4 lety +2

    Nice vid,loved seeing New Lenox back in the day. I live there now,wish I could jump in the video and see how the area looked.

  • @D322MWUNITED
    @D322MWUNITED Před 4 lety +1

    Wow very interesting film thank you for sharing with all of us I really appreciate it

  • @bwallace5945
    @bwallace5945 Před 4 lety +2

    Wow you even have the infamous Medusa Challenger Cement Ship going down the Chicago River. I was at the EMD open house in 1989 that was for the 50th Anniversary of the FT 103.

    • @garysprandel1817
      @garysprandel1817 Před 3 lety

      Medusa Challenger is still afloat and was renamed for whatever the company was that took over Medusa Cement.
      Sadly environmental regs put paid to her steam power plant and was converted to a barge 10 or so years ago.

  • @brucer9572
    @brucer9572 Před 4 lety +2

    Fantastic!
    As in the word "fantasy."
    Thank you!

  • @chuckabbate5924
    @chuckabbate5924 Před 4 lety +1

    Very CBS Sunday Morning. On a Sunday Morning. Thanks.

  • @DOLRED
    @DOLRED Před 4 lety +2

    This is a train buffs dream. I have never seen so many lines (Fallen Flags) depicted in a film, even if it may have been spliced together. There is also a view of areas with signage that dates this video. Not so many around now who would remember the large Blue lettered KEMPER sign which stood on the roof of the Opera House at 20 N Wacker. At 14:99 a Kemper Billboard reminds one of those days when the Roof letter sign could be seen easily 4 miles or more away on the inbound Kennedy Xway night and day. There's so much more on this video. !!!!

  • @58gentlegiant
    @58gentlegiant Před 4 lety +1

    Those magical times will never be around again

  • @ambientstereorecordings3528

    I wish people would just leave silent movies silent, instead of adding fake sound effects. I grew up in Chicago in the 70's and I remember distinctly the sounds the old locomotives made, and this isn't even close! I dearly miss the "doush doush doush doushdoushdoush" of the diesel engins with the "pup pup pup pup" exhaust note that could be heard clearly 2 miles away on a summer evening!

    • @MIKECNW
      @MIKECNW Před 3 lety +1

      You're sure it was fake? Although I seem to remember the C&NW engines being much louder.

  • @danb715
    @danb715 Před 3 lety

    Great video, I miss the old days in Chicago. I grew up in Chicago and moving back home this year. :)

  • @abk2k3aaronkauflin83
    @abk2k3aaronkauflin83 Před 4 lety +3

    16:18 behold my favorite Amtrak loco

  • @mikem5929
    @mikem5929 Před 4 lety +1

    Nice footage, thank you.

  • @dennisbrowder6316
    @dennisbrowder6316 Před 3 lety

    My home town great back when times were better

  • @michaelhoffman6354
    @michaelhoffman6354 Před 2 lety

    This is definitely an excellent example of the transition during the seventies. Lots of old locomotives and tons of old paint schemes

  • @PRHILL9696
    @PRHILL9696 Před 2 lety +1

    Wow great stuff!

  • @johnhauser4589
    @johnhauser4589 Před 2 lety

    No graffiti on the trains. It all looks peaceful. Thank you mayor Daley.

  • @TRSPomerania
    @TRSPomerania Před 4 lety +1

    Brilliant pieces of railroads' history!

  • @FreedomLovingLoyalistOfficial

    RIP Grand Trunk Western No. 5629 18:00

  • @WesternOhioInterurbanHistory

    9:05 cursed_dome_car

  • @MIKECNW
    @MIKECNW Před 3 lety +1

    I know the engines without trains are going to the coachyard to pick up car but I sometime joke about it saying that they forgot to hook up. Isn't it interesting the C&NW has Green Bay Packer colors?

  • @samueljackson8020
    @samueljackson8020 Před rokem

    “There ain’t no road just like it, anywhere I found”

  • @tony2.0bender
    @tony2.0bender Před 3 lety +3

    This is some serious train porn right here. Thanks for posting! Love everything about this!

  • @KatoOnTheTrack1
    @KatoOnTheTrack1 Před rokem

    Appreciate the video

  • @timosha21
    @timosha21 Před 2 lety

    I'm a train and I approve this video! :D Choo choo!!!

  • @nunyabusiness6699
    @nunyabusiness6699 Před 2 lety

    There’s just something about those F-units!

  • @nunyabusiness6699
    @nunyabusiness6699 Před 2 lety

    My dude just chilling

  • @bluedoris88
    @bluedoris88 Před 4 lety +1

    Amazing ,very helpful. ,I model early Amtrak,,,Geoff U.K,thanks

  • @anetajohnson8446
    @anetajohnson8446 Před 3 lety

    Loved seeing those rainbow trains of fallen flags! like the song goes,"thanks for the memorries!

  • @JoeRailfan
    @JoeRailfan Před rokem

    Poor Dick Jensen's ex-Grand Trunk Western 5629 sitting there on a weedy Metra sidetrack, all coaled up and no place to go!
    If I remember correctly, that engine was later scrapped right at that spot.

  • @DistanceNsVeterans
    @DistanceNsVeterans Před 3 lety

    those old f units and alco locomotives and F40s and GP units and others stuff back then was cool

  • @spaceghost8995
    @spaceghost8995 Před 4 lety +2

    I didn't see any shots of the grimy old orange South Shore trains though! Remember how nasty the old Randolph St. station used to be? (now Millenium Station)

  • @tomh6183
    @tomh6183 Před 2 lety

    When the railroads and the city had class and a soul.Not like today.

  • @scoobycarr5558
    @scoobycarr5558 Před 4 lety +1

    The CNW once had club cars between Chicago and Kenosha, and for a time in the late 60s till the early 70s it had the same type of club cars between Chicago and Lake Geneva.

    • @blackbirdgaming8147
      @blackbirdgaming8147 Před 3 lety

      There still is a club car that runs from Chi to Kenosha, but only occasionally.

  • @garyhallgren
    @garyhallgren Před 4 lety

    I saw that GN car sandwiched in...reminded me I used to see GN's International n/b everyday from my algebra class at Ferndale High School. It's great to see all the dying western RRs on this video. Five miles from Ferndale was Bellingham WA where we had the GN main and branches from MILW and NP.

  • @boggy7665
    @boggy7665 Před 4 lety +1

    0:57 - Perfect sound effect for that 'New Look' bus. With the Detroit Diesel 2-cycle engine and one speed Allison transmission with lockup torque converter that would about snap your neck when it locked up. .... Kodachrome? ....

  • @arrowguy173
    @arrowguy173 Před 3 lety

    20:46 Ah yes the EMD open house (I still have that issue of Trains magazine). I think that was for an anniversary? Loved the GN SD45 and Monon BL2. And I was fortunate to grow up close enough to Chicago that from the 70s-90s my family would visit the Great America theme park each summer plus a museum or ball game. Got to ride behind the BN E units in their final seasons. Plus a wonderful time to be a Bears fan! Love that city.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 3 lety

      50th anniversary of the introduction of the FT. The FT A and B set were restored for that event.

  • @BossSpringsteen69
    @BossSpringsteen69 Před 3 lety

    Still haven't seen myself in anybody's videos of the open house yet. I remember the guy that was sitting in the engineers seat of GN 400 Hustle Muscle. He would sit there looking outside the window at the crowd looking or, trying to look cool while chewing his gum then, would notch the throttle smoothly to notch 8 then, back down to idle for a few minutes then repeat the cycle. Little did i know at the time my future girlfriend would work here after 1989 and, further down the road years later i would meet her.

  • @jamesbutterson5218
    @jamesbutterson5218 Před 4 lety +1

    If you Ride you got to ride it like you found it get your tickets at the station for the Rock island line!"

  • @scoobycarr5558
    @scoobycarr5558 Před 4 lety +3

    I looked just for a second at the decrepit nature of the Rock Island's tracks in New Lenox and I could easily tell they were woefully substandard. Even the RI's platforms were downright ridiculous. Such was the tragic downfall of one of America's nicest looking railroads in the postwar era.

  • @ethanarmitage5611
    @ethanarmitage5611 Před 10 měsíci +1

  • @dontderockmeriz4546
    @dontderockmeriz4546 Před 4 lety +1

    Nice shot of the N&W train going over the Rock Island in New Lenox. Wish they still had freight on that line. But they tore it up south of Manhattan. I live a stones throw from it in Chicago ridge.

  • @scoobycarr5558
    @scoobycarr5558 Před 4 lety +1

    Metra today still does have some of the former CNW bi levels in service at 12:14.

  • @25mfd
    @25mfd Před 4 lety

    @ 1:15... the magikist lips... that's AWESOME lol

  • @tyhik9338
    @tyhik9338 Před měsícem

    When life was simple

  • @garysprandel1817
    @garysprandel1817 Před 4 lety +1

    The infamous Medusa Challenger

  • @RailPreserver2K
    @RailPreserver2K Před 4 lety +1

    Was the equipment shown at was the equipment shown at the EMD plant preserved later or have some of the units been scrapped

    • @Kmaster2007
      @Kmaster2007 Před 4 lety +1

      Railroad,Preserver,2000 it was a fest to show off EMD power, the engines aren’t owned by EMD, so who knows

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety +1

      Most of the older models up to the SD45 and FP45 came from historical groups and museums. The newer models were from then current production. Not sure what happened to test bed and dynamometer car.

  • @railfandepotproductions
    @railfandepotproductions Před 6 měsíci

    Those 1989 sections were still filmed on super 8 film?

  • @russgrunert4730
    @russgrunert4730 Před 2 lety

    Some people called Medusa Challenger the bridge killer, bridges would get stuck

  • @jimwoodfield7602
    @jimwoodfield7602 Před 4 lety +2

    Are the engine sounds actually recorded at same time??

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety +1

      No, the entire sound track is dubbed in.

  • @truckerkevthepaidtourist

    20:34 Chicago northwestern and the Milwaukee road especially the cnw around the Chicago suburbs were still using the old Griswold pedestal crossings.

    • @MIKECNW
      @MIKECNW Před 3 lety

      What do you mean by griswold crossings?

    • @truckerkevthepaidtourist
      @truckerkevthepaidtourist Před 3 lety

      @@MIKECNW here you go Mike. the pedestal style crossings made by the Griswold signal company of Minnesota.
      they also had in the midwest the famous Griswold flashers which were like a flasher with a stop sign in the middle that rotated back and forth.
      but these were the classic pedestal crossings I was talking about do you notice the stand where the gate and everything is covered up it looks like a pedestal like a flower box.
      czcams.com/video/B3f9hQ7ro0g/video.html
      watch classic footage of California rail action 60s especially the Sacramento area they were all over the place also on the old Western Pacific.

  • @jacksalvin364
    @jacksalvin364 Před 4 lety +1

    In the late 1960's to late 1980's.

  • @marvwatkins7029
    @marvwatkins7029 Před 6 měsíci +2

    Great footage but definitely not just '78 & '69. IC Highliners and Amtrak date a lot of this to 1972 with the former alone. And obviously it dealt more with Chicago trains than the general area. So the head header is mistitled.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 6 měsíci

      The dash in 1969-1989 indicates 1969 THROUGH 1989. And ALL the years in between. If I had intended only those two years the title would have been 1969+1989.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 6 měsíci

      Also, define the borders of "Chicagoland". If all the film was shot within it, why is it inappropriate?

  • @barackillbombya3835
    @barackillbombya3835 Před 4 lety

    Were those scenes of the BN E units taken at the new Aurora Transportation Center?

  • @thekidfromcleveland3944

    Fmnt were you filming with Emery Gulash at all during the Rainbow Era. I know he was in chicago from November of 71 to February of 73. I was wondering if you ever met him? Im a big fan of his work. Particually his Chicago railfanning from the late 1950s to early 1970s.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety

      Sorry, never met him.

    • @thekidfromcleveland3944
      @thekidfromcleveland3944 Před 4 lety

      Oh duh! It says LATE Red Moser in the description. Silly me. Lol My eyes stopped working for a second. Sorry to put you on the spot like that. Thank you for answering the question though. And for providing this beautiful footage.

  • @yixnorb5971
    @yixnorb5971 Před 4 lety +1

    The Chicago and North Western locomotives (12: 32) seem to have the upper headlights (Mars lights?) painted out.

    • @thekidfromcleveland3944
      @thekidfromcleveland3944 Před 4 lety

      Yes. As the units got older, That feature tended to stop working. Rather than attempt to repair it, the cash strapped railroads opted to just cover it up. It wasnt a required safety feature. And didnt really make that big of a difference in day time operations such as commuter service.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety

      Yes, this was done after CNW put their E's and F's in dedicated commuter service. The Mars lights were deleted and rotary beacons added to the roof. Mars lights were very maintenance intensive and by the late 1960s parts were scarce and expensive.

    • @blackbirdgaming8147
      @blackbirdgaming8147 Před 3 lety

      Some weren’t actually painted over, they were replaced by crossing gate bells, which ended up being used as the locomotive’s bell. Very resourceful.

  • @russgrunert4730
    @russgrunert4730 Před 2 lety

    Good burgers at those Walgreens cafes

  • @FreedomLovingLoyalistOfficial

    did you filmed this?

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety

      I shot about 10% of it. The rest is Red's.

  • @nwsd50sproductions49
    @nwsd50sproductions49 Před 3 lety

    Can I use the Sound from 6:01 to 6:30?

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 3 lety

      Feel free to use it.

  • @blackbirdgaming8147
    @blackbirdgaming8147 Před 3 lety

    9:08 What was that train? Strange consist lol. Found it odd that there was an Amtrak unit in the consist and an Amtrak car at the end of the train. You can clearly see that the CNW unit has HEP, and the Amtrak coach didn’t at that time. Very interesting.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 3 lety +1

      I believe it was CNW equipment leased by Amtrak for the shorter runs out of Chicago such as to Milwaukee. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can comment.

    • @tylergreen4843
      @tylergreen4843 Před 3 lety

      If thats an amtrak train, then what your looking at is by no doubt the rarest and oldest era of amtrak,"The Rainbow Era", when mixed equipment on different railroads were not uncommon on amtrak trains back then!

    • @blackbirdgaming8147
      @blackbirdgaming8147 Před 3 lety

      @@tylergreen4843 I’m more inclined to believe fmnut but thanks anyway

  • @granskare
    @granskare Před 4 lety

    the Rock Island Railroad could have been part of Amtrak but why it was not is a mystery.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 4 lety +1

      The Rock Island did not join Amtrak because, although they had trains that qualified for inclusion, the buy in fee would have been 4.7 million which was a lot more than their annual losses in 1970. They were too cash strapped to afford it, so they elected to absorb the much lower annual loss instead. Other holdouts were Rio Grande and Southern, who didn't want Amtrak interfering with their priority freight schedules.

  • @Shaken_AND_Stirred
    @Shaken_AND_Stirred Před 7 měsíci

    What kind of unit is that at 13:52? Looks like an E unit with a new cab.

    • @fmnut
      @fmnut  Před 7 měsíci +1

      It's an E8 B unit with the so-called "Crandall cab". Named for its designer, it was a clever way to make additional commuter power out of otherwise redundant booster units. The cabs were homebuilt at CNW's shops, and mimicked the early safety cabs found on EMD units of the late 60s.

    • @Shaken_AND_Stirred
      @Shaken_AND_Stirred Před 7 měsíci

      ​ @fmnut
      Thank you! I had forgotten all about those. As soon as. you mentioned the name “Crandall”, I recalled the oddity of it.
      Thanks again.

  • @JohnAdorjan
    @JohnAdorjan Před 4 lety +8

    9:51 Did I just see the birth of METRA’s color scheme?