Norfolk & Western Steam Passenger Trains DVD
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This video has been in the works for around 10 years. When we released N&W Steam Freights in 2005 we put a short preview for this one on the end. Since then we have had this new passenger train footage re-transferred so that it looks better overall, and now its edited together for you to enjoy. Since Mr Scholl was my father, it makes sense that the majority of trackside runbys was between Cincinnati and Sardinia, Ohio, since we lived in Batavia, Ohio. N&W still having steam was the primary reason we purchased a house in the area. The main focus are two trains, "The Powhatan Arrow", trains 25 and 26, and "The Cavalier" with trains 15 and 16. Generally most of the footage is 26 and 16 in the morning on the Cincinnati line. We enjoy things like start-ups, Cincinnati Union Terminal departure and engine facility where all railroads kept their power, and some scenes near Clare(the freight yard). Then we move eastward from Clare along Round Bottom Road via Perintown, Batavia, Williamsburg, Mt. Orab, and Sardinia. There are several scenes at Batavia station with stopping, starting, and blowing through without stopping and catching mail on the fly from the RPO car in the winter. Speaking of winter there are some other winter scenes as well, including a couple of extra Christmas mail trains. You will see the Powhatan Arrow with the designed 5 coach set, plus other configurations with 6 cars, and later the longer trains after the "Cavalier" was discontinued west of Portsmouth in the spring of 1957. As mentioned most of the footage in this section goes between Cincinnati and Sardinia. However there are a couple of scenes in the Portsmouth area including the depot where 607 makes a nice departure, and we see 601 on standby in October of 1959.

The second part of this show is riding Along the Norfolk and Western. There were several trips made riding the Cavalier and Powhatan Arrow between Batavia and Roanoke. There is a good amount of footage along the Pocahontas Division west of Bluefield, plus some around Roanoke. Bluefield is shown several times and we get to see a lot of steam activity, with switchers at the depot. We also see freights with massive Y class 2-8-8-2's moving freights and switching in the Bluefield area. Also seen is train 5 at the depot with a E class Pacific(4-6-2) awaiting its move to the depot after the Cavalier departed westward. We also see places like Kenova(From the round-end obs car as we cross the big Ohio River Bridge), and scenes along the line toward Bluefield. Along the way we see several different freights and coal trains, some of which have pushers on the steep sections. There is a neat scene in the winter at Bluefield as the J class engine is serviced and issues with freezing are looked at by crews on the engine and one of the coaches. I believe this was engine 600. We also see some scenes riding the Arrow westbound between Roanoke and Bluefield, and some scenes in this area riding the westbound Cavalier. We visit Roanoke long enough to see an engine change at the station and a freight or two as well. As far as we could tell there are no scenes east of Roanoke, however there is a nice scene of the Cavalier arriving in Norfolk station which we used at the end of the video. You never know what you might see in the riding segment.

The third and final part of this show is "Special Trains". Here we see a couple of different Santa Claus trains where the train(Steam powered of course) stops at Batavia for Santa to hand out goodies to the kids, including youngest son Randy. There is also the wreck at Sardinia which while was two diesel powered freights includes the first eastbound Arrow with J class 611 at Sardinia. There is also the last run of regular steam on the train 26 with Mr Scholl getting on, and we see a doubleheaded streamlined K and J on train 26 the day after the Cavalier was discontinued to Cincinnati. There is also a bit of riding in the cab of the Powhatan Arrow with scenes at McDermott, Vera, and arriving in Portsmouth. We believe it was a J, but its hard to tell from the firemans seat, looking down the boiler. Another segment is a black and white piece with 2-3 shots of the Cavalier doubleheading a Class A 2-6-6-4 on the front of a class K streamlined 4-8-2. This is in the Mt. Orab to Sardinia region. Its the only Black and white in the whole video.

This video has a lot personal spirit from us since the entire Scholl family make appearances throughout the program and we throw in a few personal remembrances as well. There is little video coverage of the Cincinnati District during the steam era, as most photographers from the east headed for the Roanoke area which was closer. There is a lot of history and interesting viewing in this program of N&W Steam Passenger Trains.

95% Color - Informative narration & music which would otherwise be silent movies.