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Speed Graphic Film and Video
United States
Приєднався 19 лип 2006
I have been shooting film and video for many years. Planes, trains and automobiles, but mostly trains. Started in 1968. Got my first movie camera in 1969. Switched from film to VHS in 1988, to Hi8 in 1991, to digital in 2001, and to HD in 2011. High-quality stereo sound since 1989. Shooting with a tripod since 1970. Handheld video makes me queasy.
In 2017, I began downloading and editing historical films, with a particular focus on trains, ships and planes, as well as on New York City. I take unedited, often incomplete or out-of-order film clips and attempt to form a coherent narrative out them. I supplement the editing with historical research and additional visual materials. Sometimes I narrate the films, sometimes I put the results of my research into the descriptions. These videos have proven to be popular.
And by the way, I review all comments on my videos. Anything disparaging, insulting or political will never see the light of day. This channel is for fun.
In 2017, I began downloading and editing historical films, with a particular focus on trains, ships and planes, as well as on New York City. I take unedited, often incomplete or out-of-order film clips and attempt to form a coherent narrative out them. I supplement the editing with historical research and additional visual materials. Sometimes I narrate the films, sometimes I put the results of my research into the descriptions. These videos have proven to be popular.
And by the way, I review all comments on my videos. Anything disparaging, insulting or political will never see the light of day. This channel is for fun.
Stopping at the North Platte Canteen, August 1945
In the first weeks of August 1945, troop trains were moving personnel all over the country as part of the build-up for the invasion of the Japanese home islands. On the Union Pacific, those trains always stopped at the legendary canteen at the North Platte station. Through a tremendous community effort there was always coffee and a friendly welcome waiting for the soldiers and sailors passing through. And somebody was always the birthday boy, even if it wasn't actually their birthday.
This is film taken by the Army of several different trains stopping at North Platte. I've cut them together into a single sequence. In the still-segregated Army, Black soldiers apparently rode in separate cars. Did they ride in separate trains? I don't know. Black soldiers were, however, welcome in the canteen, and weren't just served outside.
Only weeks after this film was shot, of course, the war was over, Japan having surrendered. Back alive in '45, indeed. Sadly, the depot was torn down in 1973, despite community efforts to save it.
The original film is silent, so I've added music by American composer Samuel Barber to the soundtrack, excerpts from his Capricorn Concerto, written 1943 while he was in the Army.
Note: after the credits is one shot taken from a train moving the opposite direction. It just didn't fit into the edit.
This is film taken by the Army of several different trains stopping at North Platte. I've cut them together into a single sequence. In the still-segregated Army, Black soldiers apparently rode in separate cars. Did they ride in separate trains? I don't know. Black soldiers were, however, welcome in the canteen, and weren't just served outside.
Only weeks after this film was shot, of course, the war was over, Japan having surrendered. Back alive in '45, indeed. Sadly, the depot was torn down in 1973, despite community efforts to save it.
The original film is silent, so I've added music by American composer Samuel Barber to the soundtrack, excerpts from his Capricorn Concerto, written 1943 while he was in the Army.
Note: after the credits is one shot taken from a train moving the opposite direction. It just didn't fit into the edit.
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Відео
Mainline Freight on the Chesapeake & Ohio, May 1951
Переглядів 9853 місяці тому
In May of 1951, an army film crew caught this C&O freight train on the main line somewhere between Richmond and Newport News. At its head is 2-8-2 K3a No. 2324 (ALCO, 1926). In the consist there appears to be some army materiel, which is perhaps why they filmed it. It appears to me that the crew deployed three cameras to film a single run-past. The first and second shots are about 100 yards apa...
Steam and Snow on the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington, February 2023
Переглядів 1,4 тис.Рік тому
It was a cold, clear day in Maine when I made my first visit to the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway in February 2023. Here's a few shots from the day.
Hollywood Outtakes: Los Angeles Streets at Night, 1949
Переглядів 2,3 тис.Рік тому
I don't know what film these shots were taken for, but they're the classic background shots for a car-interior scene: one shot left, one right, and one straight back. The background in this case is the streets of Los Angeles on some night in 1949. Mixed in with the automobiles and people are the streetcars of the Pacific Electric and the Los Angeles Railways. The process of replacing streetcars...
Hollywood Outtakes: California Oil Wells
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For most of the first half of the twentieth century, the coast of southern California was oil country. Forests of oil derricks lined the shore north and south of Los Angeles. These film clips give a bit of an idea of what it looked like oil rigs side-by-side with beach houses. While some of the oil fields were starting to go dry in the 1960's, the thing that really finished off the California o...
Hollywood Outtakes: Next Stop, Grand Central Terminal, New York
Переглядів 2,4 тис.Рік тому
In this video, we're riding a train on the last couple of miles to Grand Central Terminal, New York. Based on internal evidence, the film appears to have been taken in 1946 or 1947. 0:14 The film starts at 138th Street station in the Bronx. 0:38 A quick view of Major Deegan Boulevard. (The Expressway was in the planning stages at this time.) Traffic is light both ways. 0:52 Crossing the New Yor...
Hollywood Outtakes: Outtakes from "Mr. Soft Touch" (1949)
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Mr. Soft Touch is a film noir that opened in August 1949. It begins with car chase, shot on location, through the streets of San Francisco. 0:00 This is my recut of the Third Street Bridge scene, using shots from the archive, including an unused, interesting perspective from the rising bridge itself. The sound is from the original film cut. 0:20 This first series of shots were taken on Seventh ...
Hollywood Outtakes: Three Takes on the Macombs Dam Bridge
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0:20 In this video, we'll see three takes, shot sometime in the late 1940's, of the same car ride across the Macombs Dam Bridge in New York City. 0:35 Take one. Looking east on 161st Street in the Bronx. Above is the 161st Street stop on the Jerome Avenue line. 0:40 That's the Bronx County Courthouse, opened 1934, in the background. 0:50 Yankee Stadium is on the right. We'll see more of it in t...
Hollywood Outtakes: Trackside, Seventh Street, San Francisco
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The following scenes were shot in San Francisco for the movie "Mr. Soft Touch" (1949). They appear in the opening scene in the film, where Glenn Ford is driving alongside some railroad tracks. The filming location was along 7th Street, on the edge of the Mission Bay district. The shooting assignment was to film the street and a train going in the opposite direction. The following six takes were...
Hollywood Outtakes: Hammond Lumber No. 11
Переглядів 2,6 тис.Рік тому
The Hammond Lumber Railroad operated out of Samoa, on the northern California coast. 2-8-0 No. 11 was built in the Samoa shops in 1910. Who took this pair of shots, coming and going, of her at work? I don't know if anybody knows at this point. This was the only film I could find of her in the archives. The Hammond Lumber Company operated a large sawmill complex in Samoa on a spit of land across...
Hollywood Outtakes: Virginia & Truckee No. 27 in Roar of the Iron Horse
Переглядів 1,7 тис.Рік тому
I could only find one scene of the legendary Virginia & Truckee Railroad in the archives. This single less-than-a-minute long clip was taken in 1951, after the railroad officially ceased operations, for the movie serial Roar of the Iron Horse. 4-6-0 locomotive No. 27 (Baldwin, 1913) hauled the last official V&T train in May 1950. But in 1951, she was brought out of retirement to be in the movie...
Hollywood Outtakes: A Southern Pacific Scrapbook
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Hollywood Outtakes: A Southern Pacific Scrapbook
Hollywood Outtakes: On the Streets of London in WWII
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Hollywood Outtakes: On the Streets of London in WWII
Hollywood Outtakes: Alco PA-1's Arriving at South Station, Boston
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Hollywood Outtakes: Alco PA-1's Arriving at South Station, Boston
Hollywood Outtakes: Lower Manhattan in the 1930's
Переглядів 3,7 тис.Рік тому
Hollywood Outtakes: Lower Manhattan in the 1930's
Hollywood Outtakes: the Ghost Train to the Empty Station
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Hollywood Outtakes: the Ghost Train to the Empty Station
Hollywood Outtakes: 50th Street and 8th Avenue, Manhattan, June 1945
Переглядів 2,6 тис.Рік тому
Hollywood Outtakes: 50th Street and 8th Avenue, Manhattan, June 1945
Hollywood Outtakes: Entering Chicago on the Pennsylvania Railroad
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Hollywood Outtakes: Entering Chicago on the Pennsylvania Railroad
Hollywood Outtakes: Southern Pacific Cab-Forwards
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Hollywood Outtakes: Southern Pacific Cab-Forwards
Hollywood Outtakes: New York City Elevateds
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Hollywood Outtakes: New York City Elevateds
Hollywood Outtakes: Lucius Beebe on the 20th Century Limited
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Hollywood Outtakes: Lucius Beebe on the 20th Century Limited
Hollywood Outtakes: Glendale CA on the Southern Pacific
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Hollywood Outtakes: Glendale CA on the Southern Pacific
Hollywood Outtakes: On Set or On Location--Railroad Stations
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Hollywood Outtakes: On Set or On Location Railroad Stations
Hollywood Outtakes: Arriving in Los Angeles on the Southern Pacific
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Hollywood Outtakes: Arriving in Los Angeles on the Southern Pacific
Hollywood Outtakes: The Lost Pre-Code Movie CONVENTION CITY (1933)
Переглядів 13 тис.Рік тому
Hollywood Outtakes: The Lost Pre-Code Movie CONVENTION CITY (1933)
3:35 , from the Bear Mountain Bridge , same view today , just different motive power.....
This is west of NYC on the Hudson River line..... Great stuff , I was out in this area a few years back and the cinders are a foot deep along the ROW.
That would be the Arkansas River , NOT the Colorado River. Mentioned at about 1:00 .
Freighters of the Great Lakes are certainly more unique than the ships of the ocean. They have a cool & unique design that in my opinion, makes them look better.
First 1:30 of film is Youngstown, OH. Starts looking northwest towards Republic Steel coke works with Center Street bridge about a mile in the distance running left to right behind the plant. Then as camera pans right you see the Youngstown Sheet & Tube plant on other side of the Mahoning River. This plant continued about 3 miles to the right (southeast). It was huge. Oh what a mighty region we were until the 60s-70s.
Thanks!
3:10 oil-fired 4-6-0 ten wheeler southern pacific #9's whistle
That Piece was peformed by a Dozen Musicions a Half Million Years ago.
Great film! I learned alot!!
10 P Motors went to the South Shore where their platforms were removed. All these were also scrapped by about 1976 or so.
I don’t know why Amtrak can’t operate a new more upscale 21st century limited with all the nostalgia and excellence as its predecessor. The customer base is there.
0:01 best looking intro
California was once a paradise on Earth.... 😢
6:06, this is a Very Unique Lake Freighter. Look at its Pilot House. This I like. I also like this ship from earlier at 4:34.
I can’t get enough of this footage from old Penn Station. However, I wish the music was more subdued.
Wikipedia's article says its top speed is "80-140 mph." uhhhh🤣
These days will NEVER come back. All we've got left are souvenirs, folks.
Great. Thanks!
One of the best videos on You tube.
Watching the color video of the daily commute on the Erie Lackawanna ferry and train from 1964 was truly refreshing. It was a time when people took pride in their appearance and extended courtesy toward one another. In contrast, today's fashion trends, such as ripped jeans and excessive tattoos, reflect a cultural shift that doesn't seem to be leading us in a positive direction.
I think I was born in the wrong era as I'm bored with everything now and feel nostalgically interested in everything from the 60s-70s
A few shots there of the much-hated, now-demolished Interstate 480/Embarcadero Freeway, now a surface boulevard.
Before all the tagging, junkies and trash everywhere.
Tremendous look into the Nebraska of eighty years ago. My grandparents and great-grandparents lived in a very rural southwest NE county called Red Willow at the time. Besides the addition of a few "modern" conveniences like the auto, electricity, and telephone, life for them wasn't so much different from the way their pioneer ancestors had lived. In fact, my 84-year-old maternal grandfather, a lifelong country boy that grew up on an isolated farm without electric lightning and still considers any town above 30,000 people a "big city", has memories of riding a horse to a one-room schoolhouse as a young boy and hearing of regular escapes from a nearby POW camp that held German prisoners of war! His formative years made for a good juxtaposition with my city-slicker, second-generation Italian American paternal pops who was reared in a diverse suburb of the Big Apple and saw service in the Caribbean during WWII on a Navy PC-461 "sub chaser."
I was old by an Engineer at Altoona he'd start on the ready track and shut down the throttle. It would coast the next mile on its own. Smooth roller bearing setup.
At 0:07, something looked weird about the right sign that was cut off. After 2:13, oh, I-280 was still under construction, that's why. So that cut off sign probably said "Alemany Blvd" and "S..." Hm. San Jose?
0:03 0:13 6:28 6:37 7:21 8:30 8:38 8:54 9:12 10:37
Love seeing these SF freeways. I take them every week and it looks amazing how clean it was.
Drive or get driven to train station; get on train; get off train and get on boat; get off boat and get on subway; get off subway and walk to the office. Whew. Then reverse. Then tomorrow, Then next week, next month, etc.
I lived on the SP mainline 1 mike north of Glendale. Backyard fence was SP Right of way. Saw LOTS of steam and early diesles too.
I am sure the conversation in the opening is staged, I wonder if anyone can identify the actresses, the blonde is quite beautiful.
I suspect the opening scene is special effects rain. One can't run out to stage a scene when it begins to rain. Easy enough to create the effect when wanted. Done all the time for movies. Note the limited area shown. It would be great is someone recognized the movie this was shot for.
May of 1969 same month and year I was born 05/05/69
Some buildings are still there. These can be seen on either side of 8th Ave(Fredrick Douglas) and 153rd from about 4:35 to 4:50 www.google.com/maps/@40.8277565,-73.9382678,3a,75y,28.48h,98.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0lkQ2r9VoFAUSC9F5XAnPg!2e0!5s20140901T000000!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu
Many cars, a lot of mucic, but few trains.
I must point out that anyone that see this footage and dreams of the nostalgia of past Los Angeles. Let me say this. All that you see can be brought back. The colors, the looks, the idealism, the atmosphere. They can be brought back. However it can only be done if the community that is Los Angeles and its smaller towns and neighborhoods are encouraged to do so. The issue is making sure everyone is allowed to enjoy that nostalgia. So don't listen to those that says its gone forever Don't listen to those that says its only there cause whites made it. Everyone made it despite the heavy racism in that era. LA belonged to everyone! Don't listen to those that says they can't wait to get out and run away without fixing it Don't listen to those that says it shouldn't be brought back The city and its issues today is a result of continued racism, elements of white flight, and lack of effort by city founders in maintaining the city. More so now especially with new social and political issues. However gangs, and appearance of the city is as much as a community issue as well as a city issue. To clean the city up it has to be brought forth to communities at a local level. Have communities and neighborhoods and towns begin to be proud and feel they have a stake and responsibility in keeping up the appearance and safety of the city. Force the city fathers to feel they have to show they have to maintain the city at a level that is comfortable for safety, and as well as looks and identity. If you really believe it and you try to work with others to encourage and push the belief. You can bring back the nostalgia that was Los Angeles California 1960s. It won't be the same and to be honest, nothing should ever be the same, but if properly motivated its possible to bring back that nostalgia as well as incorporating new nostalgia to add to it.
Thank you for your wise words.
Anyone else watch this at 1.25x-2x speed?
Lots of things to notice of course. What struck me was the smog.
this is awesome!!!
Even the garbage dump trucks in my old hometown of NYC were better built than that in San Francisco when I was a little boy. 😊
Why are they pulling the tops off the cornstock
"It is a form of pollination control, employed to cross-breed, or hybridize, two varieties of corn. Fields of corn that will be detasseled are planted with two varieties of corn. Removing the tassels from all the plants of one variety leaves the grain that is growing on those plants to be fertilized by the tassels of the other, resulting in a hybrid." [Wikipedia]
Thanks for the quick reply..have a great day 😀
Music is absolutely matching and perfect for these wonderful bygone scenes…
Thx
Using Copland’s music here is brilliant. It is as if he wrote the score just for this film. I just love it!
Thank you for showing me my parents life in 1945 . They were in Iowa, but it is close enough.
Thanks. Verbal commentary would have been a distraction for me and I learned a lot by concentrating on the film.
Wonderful!!👌🏻
The advantage of being the railroad that serves Hollywood meant that we get to see rare & creative scenes like an SP commuter train in the rain. How many other videos from this era can you think of that show steam trains operating in the rain? I legitimately cannot think of one. Also worth noting, a lot of these scenes are a lot earlier and a lot higher quality than your typical early railfan videos - most of these were shot in the 1920s and 30s by the looks of things, maybe into the early 40s, meaning _most_ other railroads don't even have _any_ kind of surviving footage from this era, let alone high quality staged shots like this.