Conrail Special Collector’s Edition, 5 Discs, 10 Hours

From Midwest Mainlines, to aboard the Conrail Office Car Special to then viewing the former New York Central’s famous Water Level Route. And wrap this up with a cab ride in the hot Conrail train Mail 3. So what do you get in 10 Hours and 5 Discs?

The first three volumes we travel with Steve Neff along some of Conrail’s busiest midwest mainlines as we head into Chicago.

Conrail, Across Northern Indiana, Volume 1
This is Conrail’s Chicago Line. Locations covered are: Butler, Waterloo, Corunna, Kendallville, Goshen, Elkhart, Osceola, and Mishawaka. In addition to Conrail power, see UP, C&NW, BN, NS, SOO, SF, and Amtrak. This video is not narrated but all locations are shown on screen along with train symbols and/or train type and direction. Full color, stereo sound, one hour.

Conrail, Across Northern Indiana, Volume 2
This is the second volume of our three volume series on the Conrail Chicago Line across Northern Indiana prior to the CSX/NS acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Locations covered in this video include: Arnold Street in South Bend, I/N Tek Steel, New Carlisle, New Carlisle Cemetery, East of Hudson Lake at mile post 453, Rolling Prairie, West of Rolling Prairie, WIRE (the NS Crossing), LaPorte Station, East of Pinola at CP 466, West of Pinola starting down Otis Hill, Durham Curve, Wozniak Road Bridge, Holmesville Road, Otis, East of Burdick at mile post 475.5, East of Chesterton, and Chesterton.

This approximately one hour program is not narrated, but every scene includes a graphic depicting the direction, location, and train symbol.

Conrail, Across Northern Indiana, Volume 3
This is the third volume of our three volume series on the Conrail Chicago Line across Northern Indiana prior to the CSX/NS acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail).Locations covered in this video include: Chesterton, Porter Jct., Mineral Springs Road (Porter), Babcock Road, Ogden Dunes, and Hammond/Whiting Station. Heavy freights with a wide variety of power in addition to Conrail Blue, Amtrak Passenger, CP freight, and South Shore Commuter and coal trains provide the rail enthusiast with plenty of fast-paced action. This approximately one hour program is not narrated but every scene includes a graphic depicting the direction, location, and train symbol.

Conrail Office Car Special, Volume 1
Philadelphia to Harrisburg & Return – On November 27, 1990 Neff Video was asked to ride along on the Conrail inspection train, more commonly known as the Office Car Special. The train departed Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station and headed west to Harrisburg. Since this was to be a round trip, the train returned to Philadelphia the same day but by different routing. Once the train arrived at Harrisburg it was dispatched back to Philadelphia by way of the Port Road Branch along the beautiful Susquehanna River and then onto the Northeast Corridor. Not only will you see video shot from the cab of both E-8 diesel locomotives, but action photographed from the rear end, the full length dome car, and from the vestibule as well. Watch the engineer work the throttle and brakes, listen to the cab chatter between dispatcher and engineer, and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Feel the excitement of these venerable locomotives as speeds reach 90 mph on the Northeast Corridor. One hour, full color, sound, no narration and on-screen graphics.

Conrail Office Car Special, Volume 2
Cab Ride, Altoona to Pittsburgh. On October 16, 1991 Neff Video was asked to ride along on the Conrail inspection train, more commonly known as the Office Car Special. The train departed Altoona, Pennsylvania on a cloudless, blue sky day and headed west to Pittsburgh. Join us as we thread our way up the steep grade towards the world famous Horseshoe Curve. Beautiful fall foliage accentuates the path the train will take past locations such as Alto Tower, Slope, Horseshoe Curve Park, MG Tower, Gallitzin, MO Tower, Cresson, South Fork, SO Tower, Johnstown, New Florence, Conpit, Latrobe, Greensburg, and finally our destination, Penn Station in Pittsburgh.

Enjoy a beautiful sunset as the train is backed to the station to end the day. Not only will you see video shot from the cab of an E-8 diesel locomotive, but action photographed from the rear end theater car, the full length dome car, and from the vestibule as well. 55 minutes, full color, sound, no narration and on-screen graphics.

Conrail Office Car Special, Volume 3
Continuing in our series coverage of Conrail’s Executive Train, this last installment shows scenes of this dual-purpose train taken from ground level, whereas our first two volumes were cab rides. Locations include: CSX Mountain Sub from Grafton WV to Cumberland MD, “HO Tower” near Hancock MD, Valley Falls State Park WV, Arcola IN, Van Wert OH, Lima OH, Ada OH, Dunkirk OH, Bucyrus OH, Crestline OH, Kenton OH, Degraf OH, Ridgeway OH, Dayton OH, Carlisle OH, Middletown OH, Miamisburg OH, Fairborn OH, Springfield OH, Snyderville OH, London OH, Ardara PA, Wilmerding PA, Greensburg PA, Palmyra PA, Hershey PA, Gallitzin PA, Rockville Bridge near Harrisburg, and other locations. One hour, full color, sound, narration and on-screen graphics.

Conrail’s Lake Shore Line, Volume 1
View Conrail’s busy former “Water Level Route” in Ohio. This heavily traveled mainline between Chicago and New York sees almost 100 scheduled freight trains a day. Part One of this series covers in and around the Cleveland area. You will see a huge assortment of motive power including the third generation diesels of GE and EMD. Locations covered include Mentor, Collinwood, downtown Cleveland, Berea, Olmsted Falls, the wye near the Ford Fairlane plant and more. One hour.

Conrail’s Lake Shore Line, Volume 2
We cover the Lake Shore Line from Edgerton to Conneaut, Ohio. Other locations include Bryan, Stryker, Archbold, Wauseon, Delta, Swanton, Toledo, Vickers, Milbury, Oak Harbor, Danbury, Port Clinton, Sandusky, Huron, Vermillion, Painesville, Geneva and Ashtabula. One hour.

Conrail’s Lake Shore Line, Volume 3
Visit Conrail’s high-density main between Erie, PA and Dunkirk, NY. This program was shot in October of 1998 against a backdrop of blue sky and Lake Erie water and gorgeous fall colors. Since Norfolk-Southern’s Buffalo to Bellevue line parallels the Conrail line and in many cases is just a short distance from each other, we have taken the liberty of enclosing NS footage also. Foreign power is seen in abundance and includes power from the Wisconsin Central, UP, CSX, BN, and others. On-screen graphics depicting train symbols, origins, destinations, and scene locations. No narration. 74 minutes in length including previews.

Conrail Mail 3, Cab Ride
This cab ride begins at South Kearny, NJ and ends at Harrisburg Yard. The video was made in cooperation with the Consolidated Rail Corporation and was shot in the winter of 1997/1998. Mail-3 receives the highest priority. All other trains must wait for this “hot” train. Mail-3 travels over the Passaic and Harsimus, Lehigh, Reading, and Harrisburg Lines. Travel through the Musconetcong Tunnel and see trains of the New Jersey Transit, Canadian Pacific, and Conrail. Watch the train receive orders from a temporary block station at Sheridan on the Harrisburg Line. Location graphics and train symbols superimposed on the screen. 80 minutes of exciting and exclusive cab ride action.