7 members of my family worked for the Lehigh Valley railraod out of Coxton Yard near Pittston where my paternal grandparents & late father lived in. My great grandfather Stephen Kearney, 4 grand uncles & 2 second cousins all worked on the Lehigh Valley railroad. I have on my living room coffee table a book on the Lehigh Valley railroad volume 3 and Trackside around Scranton from 1950 to 1976.
As a kid these long coal trains ran behind my house. You could hear them getting closer, and by the end of the train I would be asleep. Over the top White Noise
@ 3:13 LV RS11 7644. in aug 1979 i made my 1 and only trip to bethleham,pa. in the roundhose was 7644, at this late date this alco is rare, still running. (blue, but in very good shape) talked to a employee there and he said the people were hiding it there. they wanted to keep it as long as possible. when the big wheels came by, they took 7644 and buried it in the yard so they wouldnt see it! also, the C of Pa was still down east of town, but the tracks had trees growing in it.
Awesome videos. I live and have family all around the Lehigh valley and its wonderful to see what it used to be. Its kinda sad looking at it now being that the upper lehigh line only sees one local through the night and most of the lines filmed were ripped out long ago.. I have a great grandfather that worked on the CNJ and retired from conrail. My grandfather and his siblings grew up with the bednars in Northampton and catasaqua. Sometimes I wonder if my great grandfather was running one of the trains on these videos. Thanks for uploading these videos and showing the history that once was!
If by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, then yes, it was absorbed into Conrail in 1976. The bridge is also sitting abandoned in the present day. However, there was is a second bridge parallel to it which was owned by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Norfolk Southern currently operates trains on their “Lehigh Line” between Allentown, PA and Manville, NJ. Dozens of trains a day cross the Delaware River over the old CNJ bridge. So even though the LV Railroad and their bridge no longer operate, freight service over that part of the river very much does exist. You can even see trains crossing the bridge on the eastern side on the Phillipsburg Union (PU) Tower live camera feed.
@@RailFireProductions Interesting Since my original comment I looked into it a little more and found that the LVRR bridge actually went fully out of service in 1989? Did I read that correctly? I also found that the Greens Bridge apparently went defunct the same year? But I read that one carried the Raritan Railroad.
@@RYMAN1321 Conrail moved from the LV bridge to the CNJ bridge in 1989. That is correct. Greens Bridge is the stone viaduct which belonged to the CNJ and after NJT stopped running commuter trains to Phillipsburg in 1983 it was no longer used, as Conrail was using the LV girder bridge next to it, as NS still does today.
The sounds were dubbed from cassette from the locations. Sound film was introduced in 1973, but early sound film had issues and was expensive. It wasn't until the late 70s/early 80s that sound film became somewhat affordable and had many of it's issues corrected
+jsteiger2228 Film transfers will always need some correction due to the difference in latitude between film and video. Mostly exposure, but color correction as well. We employ primary correction during capture using a histogram and then secondary correction in post using script and scene by scene correction settings. All parts of production are done in house, from concept to finished product. Nothing is farmed out
I really like the paint schemes on the Lehigh Valley trains.
The narrator is awesome! What a knowledgeable guy. Thanks for all these videos, I’ve really enjoyed them.
He kinda sounds like Alex Jones
If only you could travel back in time to the 60s and 70s to witness the best days of rail action with all these ALCOs and Geeps and SDs.
those were the days.
i have the memories on kodachrome.
Fs, dont forget the Fs
I'm glad to live in the Lehigh valley there is so much history here!
Well said my friend
7 members of my family worked for the Lehigh Valley railraod out of Coxton Yard near Pittston where my paternal grandparents & late father lived in. My great grandfather Stephen Kearney, 4 grand uncles & 2 second cousins all worked on the Lehigh Valley railroad. I have on my living room coffee table a book on the Lehigh Valley railroad volume 3 and Trackside around Scranton from 1950 to 1976.
As a kid these long coal trains ran behind my house. You could hear them getting closer, and by the end of the train I would be asleep.
Over the top White Noise
@ 3:13 LV RS11 7644. in aug 1979 i made my 1 and only trip to bethleham,pa.
in the roundhose was 7644, at this late date this alco is rare, still running. (blue, but in very good shape)
talked to a employee there and he said the people were hiding it there. they wanted to keep it as long as possible.
when the big wheels came by, they took 7644 and buried it in the yard so they wouldnt see it!
also, the C of Pa was still down east of town, but the tracks had trees growing in it.
or was it the 7642?
have to check the slide
Thanks for posting this , really enjoyed it
Thanks airing the Outstanding vid.Bliss
wow...this was 40 years ago...
Awesome videos. I live and have family all around the Lehigh valley and its wonderful to see what it used to be. Its kinda sad looking at it now being that the upper lehigh line only sees one local through the night and most of the lines filmed were ripped out long ago.. I have a great grandfather that worked on the CNJ and retired from conrail. My grandfather and his siblings grew up with the bednars in Northampton and catasaqua. Sometimes I wonder if my great grandfather was running one of the trains on these videos. Thanks for uploading these videos and showing the history that once was!
Great post, thanks for sharing. Am very interested in the Easton/Phillipsburg area. Great place to fish and trainspot
.
Another Excellent Video. ♡ T.E.N.
Another must have video! 👍👌👏😍
Great video👍
I guess back in the 70s they didn't believe in rail maintenance lol. Some of the trains were a rockin lmao
I heard the railroad at 1:48 was abandoned since 1976. Is that true?
But wow, I haven’t seen many clips of that bridge in service.
If by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, then yes, it was absorbed into Conrail in 1976. The bridge is also sitting abandoned in the present day. However, there was is a second bridge parallel to it which was owned by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Norfolk Southern currently operates trains on their “Lehigh Line” between Allentown, PA and Manville, NJ. Dozens of trains a day cross the Delaware River over the old CNJ bridge. So even though the LV Railroad and their bridge no longer operate, freight service over that part of the river very much does exist. You can even see trains crossing the bridge on the eastern side on the Phillipsburg Union (PU) Tower live camera feed.
@@RailFireProductions Interesting
Since my original comment I looked into it a little more and found that the LVRR bridge actually went fully out of service in 1989? Did I read that correctly?
I also found that the Greens Bridge apparently went defunct the same year? But I read that one carried the Raritan Railroad.
@@RYMAN1321 Conrail moved from the LV bridge to the CNJ bridge in 1989. That is correct. Greens Bridge is the stone viaduct which belonged to the CNJ and after NJT stopped running commuter trains to Phillipsburg in 1983 it was no longer used, as Conrail was using the LV girder bridge next to it, as NS still does today.
Just have to look at the trains rocking to show the state of the Railway Company Finances.
Wow! So many fallen flags!
Now I bet NS and CSX publey travel those railways
Were the sounds in all these films recorded when the videos were taken or are they dubbed in? They match very very well!
The sounds were dubbed from cassette from the locations. Sound film was introduced in 1973, but early sound film had issues and was expensive. It wasn't until the late 70s/early 80s that sound film became somewhat affordable and had many of it's issues corrected
I love freight trains because they mean less truck traffic on our highways!
Beautiful transfer from 8mm. Was color correction done?
+jsteiger2228 Film transfers will always need some correction due to the difference in latitude between film and video. Mostly exposure, but color correction as well. We employ primary correction during capture using a histogram and then secondary correction in post using script and scene by scene correction settings. All parts of production are done in house, from concept to finished product. Nothing is farmed out
NS was the one Lehigh Valley went to
Wow. Those RR's were in very bad shape.
Yes they were. The reason Conrail was formed
These were better than Conrail
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