Lackawanna Cut-Off - Part 38: Interview with Mike Del Vecchio
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Join us for an interview with noted railroad photographer, journalist, preservationist, historian, and overall good guy, Mike Del Vecchio, for an oral history, recorded four weeks prior to Mike's passing on August 31, 2023.
Interviewed by Chuck Walsh at Mike's favorite restaurant, Mike traces his life from its beginnings in Dover, New Jersey where his fascination for railroads, particularly his beloved Lackawanna, began.
We'll talk about Mike's early years as a railfan, a passion that evolves into him becoming a railfan photographer that will have him travel around the U.S.
But Mike's home will always be New Jersey, and we'll hear him describe his efforts at not only saving railroad equipment, but also as chapter president, saving the Tri-State Railway Historical Society that was in dire financial straits following its sponsorship of a national convention in 1988.
We'll talk about Mike's involvement with the early years of Steamtown, in Scranton, PA, particularly his efforts to bring visiting steam locomotives to Steamtown's Grand Opening in 1996 even though there was no money to pay the operators of the locomotives in advance.
Another topic will be that of the 1948 fatal wreck of the paper train at Point of Gap where many years later Mike interviewed the trainmaster, Andy Hopper, who was the first to get to the wreck and who wasn't immediately sure what had happened.
Of course, we'll talk about the Lackawanna Cut-Off and Mike's involvement with the effort not only to save the line, but also to reactivate it under NJ Transit and, possibly, Amtrak.
Other topics of discussion will include Mike's telephone conversations with Perry Shoemaker, the last president of the Lackawanna Railroad, and Shoemaker's stories about the attempts at the preservation of steam locomotives on the DL&W, specifically Engine No. 952, which is quite a "saga."
At the end of the video, Chuck will recount his off-camera discussions with Mike, before and after the video, including how the video ended up taking place.
Finally, Chuck has put together a photo tribute to Mike, set to music.
![[UA] Eternal Fire проти NAVI | EPL Season 20 Malta](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/chvlsDygrZM/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks Chuck for capturing another interview of a great railroader, just in time for it to be shared with us all. Thanks for the time and effort put forth to produce this piece.
Very welcome
Great interview. One of my most fondest memories as a teenager was going to steamtowns grand opening . I was 14. Can’t imagine the grand opening without the parade of steam engines . You don’t know how much work goes into it . If it weren’t for people like Mike putting in the hard work to make things happen then people like me would not be able to enjoy these events as much . Thanks for the Interview
Glad I was able to do it.
Mr. Del Vecchio was a remarkable historian and we are all lucky to have his accounts and impacts here on UA-cam!
Thank you so much for this Chuck. What an interesting, articulate, knowledgeable and likeable person Mike was. I wish I had known him. I didn't, but now that he's gone I miss him.
I was also saddened to learn of Mike Wikman's passing. It's a stark reminder that we only have so much time left.
This was 3 hours, but I could have listened to another 3.
To that point, I wish I could have done a second interview.
“Desert Moon” was certainly a fitting song to tie together all those meaningful moments when Mike was with us. Great work and thanks for sharing his time with you Chuck.
Thank you very much!
Great interview so sad he he passed harder to find people with the information of the past, you do a great job Chuck! Lets hope Amtrak will be on the cutoff soon
Hope so!
Thank You for this excellent interview and tribute to Mike Del Vecchio. Mike and I were friends and collaborated on several photography projects. Mike was a great historian and helped identify several Lackawanna Railroad artifacts that I own. RIP Mike.
I remember going to quite a few train shows in Dover as a kid with my father in the 1980s. Happy memories!
1:03:28 interesting that Mike talks about Jim Crowley. That was my father’s name. Not sure if he was talking about my father or someone with the same name. My father was a lifelong member when it was in Vermont. He also was a big fan of the Canadian pacific Hudson’s. He lived his younger years in the New England states. The last 30 years he lived in Danville (80 miles southwest of Scranton)and passed away in 2006. When Steamtown came to Scranton, we made several trips to visit the Muesam.
I don't know, but the most likely explanation is that Mike was talking about your dad.
Thank you so much for doing this (and all you do).
You're very welcome.
Great interview Love the stories of his RIP Mike
Wish I could've gotten more, but I'm very pleased with what we have from Mike. As far as I know, he wasn't interviewed by anyone else.
Outstanding job of preserving history. Thank you for your efforts.
Thank you!
I commuted from Boonton to Hoboken for Stevens Institute of Technology. This gentleman was one year older than I am. I am from about 20 miles from Dover. How fortunate that you obtained this interview so shortly before his unfortunate passing. He seems fine here. It's amazing how much knowledge one person has, and so sad that all the connections and memories they have in their mind are lost when they pass. Mike seems like he was a very fine and talented man. Your epilogue is very informative and adds a lot of context, no only of Mike's health but the various meetings and conversations with you enthusiasts. The tribute is full of awesome photos, and you chose an excellent song - well done!
Well, thank you! It was a heroic effort on Mike's part.
Great interview Chuck, Mike was so knowledgeable of so many aspects and involved in many RR activities. Very sorry that we had to lose Both Mikes (Del Vecchio and Wikman). Chuck - you are doing a fine job carrying the torch to preserve the DLW history. I'm with you on all your productions, always fascinated. Thanks.
Thank you!
chuck just want to say you do a great informative video, my dad worked for lackawanna as general yardmaster in secaucus for many years, retired just after the merger, i have many memories of being in the tower at secaucus with him, and our many trips on phoebe #3 to buffalo of course free as he had the pass again GREAT JOB
Thank you for sharing that.
I found this interview to be brilliant! I learned so much about so much.
Thanks.
Thank YOU!
Wonderful interview! So sad that Mike is no longer with us Thank you Chuck Walsh
Thank you!