Sixty years ago, every major city had a mass transportation system that operated on steel rails embedded in its streets and powered by overhead wires.

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway had just added “and Pacific” to its name by crossing the Continental Divide, the Bitterroots and the Cascades to reach the Puget Sound. And now the railroad was going to take on electrification!

In the early decades of the last century, you could go anywhere by railroad. If the steam roads couldn’t take you somewhere, then the interurbans and trolleys could.

“Out on the Island” – To New Yorkers, that means “Long Island.” And, unless you want to be stuck in heavy, slow traffic, getting there means riding the Long Island Rail Road. That means riding one of the LIRR’s ubiquitous multiple unit trains, perhaps transferring at Jamaica to a diesel powered train.

The great Pennsylvania Railroad dominated its namesake state. After the Penn Central merger debacle, the Federal Government assumed control of most of the northeastern roads. The Consolidated Rail Corporation, was set up to operate these lines.

Off the mainline, you never know what you might find. Short lines, small locomotives, light rails and friendlier crews.

The Hudson River has been an avenue for transportation since the area was settled. First it was boat traffic and then railroads built on the Hudson’s banks.

Hancock Tower, in West Virginia, between Harpers Ferry and Cumberland was one of the last of the old B&O manned interlockings. It controlled crossovers, access to a small yard and the Berkeley Springs branch. Heavy and varied traffic

This Conrail line, the former EL mainline, became known as “The Southern Tier”.

The CN and CP in the Montreal run side by side along the north bank of the St. Lawrence River. There is a lot of freight action as well as VIA passenger traffic on the CN and Montreal commuters on the CP.

These DVDs cover the D&H during the late 1980s and early 1990s under the control the Guilford Rail System then operations under the court appointed Susquehanna and finally the Canadian Pacific. 2 DVD set.