Just as we began shooting in
the 16x9 widescreen format in 2011, several Southern Railway steam locomotives
were being restored to operation. In the
years that followed, we made numerous trips to film these locomotives in
action. This program presents some of
the best scenes of these locomotives, shot over the course of a decade.
We begin with 1890 built
2-8-0 #154, shot in 2011 pulling trips on the Three Rivers Rambler in
Knoxville, Tennessee. The locomotive is
one of the oldest standard gauge steam locomotives in operation in the U.S.
Next, we move to Monticello,
Illinois, where 1907 Baldwin 2-8-0 #401 operates at the Monticello Railway
Museum. Scenes from 2011 to 2019 are
edited geographically along the museum’s mainline, and various consists can be
seen along with expansion at the museum over the years. The locomotive is turned every year, so
scenes show the locomotive pulling the train in both directions.
Our next stop is Chattanooga, Tennessee, where 1904 Alco 2-8-0 #630 is seen
operating at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. In addition to shots of the locomotive on the
museum’s own tracks, shots of the locomotive pulling mainline trips from the
museum to Cleveland, Tennessee, are seen.
Next along is arguably the
most famous Southern Railway steam locomotive: 1911 Baldwin Mikado #4501. We filmed a number of runs of the famed
fantrip Mike from the museum in Chattanooga down the old Central of Georgia to
Summerville. Highlights of these trips
are presented in geographical order from the museum to Summerville, and
return. Then we see scenes of the
locomotive pulling trips from the museum to Cleveland and return.
The last segment of show features
doubleheaded trips to Summerville with #630 leading #4501. Again, scenes shot over several years are
presented geographically.
It’s two hours of the best
scenes we captured of Southern Railway steam power during the second decade of
the Twenty-First Century!