Amazing Finds

 It still amazes me that after all these years that new information, photos, videos, etc. continue to crop up.

In a thread on the NHRHTA Forum, somebody had pointed out a video by Joe Landry that has footage of the New Haven in and around Franklin, MA. Obviously, I love to check these out just to see more footage of the NH in action, but I hadn't gotten around to checking it out until now. It includes some phenomenal color footage from the early to mid-'40s. Even more surprising was a couple of the subjects captured.

Here's a still I captured from a run-by of a passenger train headed by a DL-109 on September 9, 1942. It's great footage, but what's nice is that it's from an overpass so we get a good view of the roof details.

But what I didn't expect was that this unit in September 1942 had not received winterization hatches yet. The first ten units were delivered this way, and an article from 1943 indicated that the NH had determined (as reported by P.H. Hatch, Assistant Mechanical Engineer) immediately after the first locomotives was placed in service that they were needed. Locomotives 0700-0709 arrived on the New Haven between December 1941 and April 1942. The second group arrived from Alco with the winterization hatches installed, starting in July 1942. I'm not sure I've seen an in-service photo without them.

Shortly after this in the video was another pleasant surprise. Color footage of Alco No. 1500, one of the RS-2 demonstrators that was built in January 1947.

I've seen a number of photos of this locomotive and knew it had been tested on the New Haven (photographed in Waterbury, among other locations, if I recall). But I've never seen a color photo, much less a video.

The whole video is quite interesting, with lots of info and more fantastic footage, including the Comet.

New Haven Videos

In a recent discussion on the NHRHTA Forum, I remembered a video I had seen a while ago that was relevant to the discussion. Of course, I couldn't remember the name of the video. I realized I hadn't collected those links here, which would have made it easier to find...

So here's some fun things to watch.

Capture of a video by Paul Wales, since released by A&R Productions

(Preview linked below)

Others (including better quality versions of a couple of these) are available from NHRHTA here.

New Haven Railroad: A Great Railroad at Work - A classic and comprehensive promotional film made in the early '40s about the railroad.

Southern New England - a fantastic promotional film focused on the new Alco FA-1/FB-1 locomotives. In color. Available in better quality from NHRHTA as Riding the Maybrook Line.

Memories of Steam in New England - as you might expect, it covers other New England roads as well.

New Haven 1950s Preview - Greg Scholl video, including scenes on the Highland Line.

New Haven Mainlines Preview - Greg Scholl video.

NH1 Clip - Preview of A&R Productions video New Haven Railroad Volume 1.

NH2 Clip - Preview of A&R Productions New Haven Railroad Volume 2 video featuring color films taken by Paul Wales, including some taken in New Britain in the 1940s and '50s. We had a preview of these films at my house before A&R received them to produce their DVD.

8mm Silent Films of Noel Weaver, Jr. An ex-NH railroader who always had interesting info.

16mm Silent Films - Later than my era for the most part, but still interesting.

NHRR and LIRR - Also later than my era.

NHRR Around Providence and Boston - also McGinnis era and later.

The Railroad in Franklin, MA - Joe Landry presentation with excellent footage.

1950s New Haven Action - more color films, these from William Sternitzke's collection.

1950s New Haven 8mm - Films by Alan Thomas, also from William's collection.

When Steam was King - Another color film, only the first train is New Haven. It's a baggage/mail train, and was relevant to the discussion. But since it was also the only New Haven train in the film, I hadn't remembered what it was called.

I'm sure there are some I missed, and there might be a duplicate or two in the list above. A Great Railroad at Work shows up frequently on YouTube under different titles.

The Greg Scholl and A&R Productions videos are available from many online (and train show) resources, so I didn't link any specific ones. I highly recommend New Haven Railroad Volume 2 by A&R of course, since it has a whole bunch of Highland/New Britain shots.

NHRHTA used to have a video containing Kent Cochrane videos. I have an extended cut of that, and hopefully NHRHTA will be releasing that in the future since it also features the Highland line and a little of New Britain.