Steam Cab Rides - Greg Scholl DVD
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There is a brief set-up narrration for each engine, then the cab ride itself is live audio only, so you experience it the way we did when it was shot.

Lets examine these further. The first segment with 4-6-0 #1551 was shot during the time we got footage for "America By Rail-The Heatland" in 1994. However most of these were not used, since we had another camera there also. In this you will see good shots of the engineer, and fireman shoveling coal, as we make a run from Sugar creek to Baltic. Most of the views are from the firemans seat, plus a few others, like behind the engineer, and out the firemans side front window.

Louisville and Nashville #152 was ridden from Frankfort to Midway, Kentucky in 1987 as it made a one-way trip from Louisville to Paris where it did excursions the following weekend. This was the last time the engine went on this route apparently. We see shots behind the engineer, and pilot engineer, plus quite a few views of the fireman shoveling coal. There is a tunnel we go through right away, and Jett HIll is a decent grade. A lot of the footage is shot hanging out of the gangway and you get a good taste of what it was like. The engine works hard on the grade and moves along at a good pace after topping the grade. This engine last ran on mainline trackage in 1988, and is now at New Haven, Kentucky at the Kentucky Railway Museum.

In 1994 while working on the America By Rail show we shot the Virginia and Truckee 2-8-0 #29 out of Virginia City, Nevada. They were quite cooperative and we rode from Gold HIll back to Virginia City. The engine puts on a nice show, and we get to see views near the engineer, and fireman. This is an oil-burner but you see the fireman working the atomizer, and the engineer working the throttle and reverser. We also travel through a tunnel on the upgrade which is nice and we see them come into town. While the train is small and the distance only 5 miles, its a good segment. The line has been put back from Gold HIll to Carson City since our visit.

We had the opportunity for a cab ride in Norfolk and Western 2-6-6-4 #1218 in 1987, as it made an excursion from Cincinnati to Danville, KY. We were only permitted to ride during the photo runby, but it was a double runby. We see engineer Bob Saxton, and fireman Kelly Lynch working the engine. Shots inside of the back-up moves, and then when the engine gets started(We see that inside), we shoot out the gangway looking down the boiler at the track ahead, as the engine accelerates. This is an impressive engine to say the least, and it only ran on the mainline trackage between 1987 and 1991. It is currently at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

Our final segment is a cab ride on Frisco 4-8-2 number 1522. This was to be the start of the return run of a St. Louis to Decatur, Illinois trip in October of 1988, which was the final run of the engine in that year. The train got late and delayed departing, which meant we only had a short time with light to do the shooting. We do see a little inside the cab, and mostly we see outside the cab which is a moody glow of sunset on the horizon as we first have slow orders out of town, then open it up to speed on this double-track former Wabash line. We got off at Taylorville, but it was too dark to shoot about halfway there. This is a fitting ending as you enjoy the sights and sounds of this engine. This segment was in our "Frisco 1522" video tape, which has never been released on DVD, since there are issues with some of the tapes. So, it is included here. All color with live train audio. 76 Minutes