Emery Gulash From Chicago to Detroit, 4 DVDs

1) The railroad was mired deeper and deeper in bankruptcy, as a new national rail passenger carrier, Amtrak, was starting to emerge from the shadows of the PC’s paint scheme following its launching on May 1st, 1971.

Emery Gulash had his movie cameras trained on the rail action. He starts with a series of scenes in America’s Railroad Capital, Chicago, as Amtrak and Penn Central trains burnish the rails in and out of Union Station. The old Michigan Central depot at Detroit serves as an anchor for Emery, as he returns again and again from his travels to photograph trains at the formidable structure.

Amtrak demonstrates its United Aircraft Turbotrain at Niles and Kalamazoo. Toledo comes in for its share of pulsating train operations, as do Ypsilanti, Dearborn, Jackson, Chelsea, New Buffalo, Ann Arbor, Westland, and Delhi Mills, Michigan. Winds up with scenes of two special passenger trains operated in November 1972 by the Chessie System for General Motors executives bound for a business conference in West Virginia.

2) 1967 action on C&O, DT&I, Pennsy, Santa Fe, N&W, New York Central, Grand Trunk, and DT&SL in Michigan.

3) Detroit has a long history as a vibrant railroad city. Nearly a half-century ago, when Emery Gulash shot these action scenes of passenger trains in and around Motor City, more than a half dozen major railroads served the area, most with their own distinctive passenger service, often with cars from different railroads in the same colorful train. Today all of them are fallen flags, absorbed or merged into larger companies during the non-stop mergers of the 1960s and 1970s. Go back with us to that era for a real blast from railroading’s past. It was the Last Hurrah before the homogenization of passenger service nationwide by Amtrak. This program includes footage of the following: B&O, C&O, Canadian National, Pere Marquette, N&W, Penn Central, Wabash, GT, NYC, Canadian Pacific, Budd Rail Diesel.

4) Detroit Edison is Michigan’s largest electric utility. A great deal of that electricity is supplied by coal fired generators, and much of that coal arrives by train! Since Detroit Edison receives coal from mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and the Powder River Basin area, environmental factors must also be met as Western coal is properly blended with eastern coal. See operations on seven major railroads, from the Powder River Basin to the Eastern coal fields, from the mines to the power plant. Detroit Edison’s locomotives also appear in many of these trains which include mid-train helpers. Coal is transported on these Class 1 railroads: Grand Trunk, Conrail, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation, Burlington Northern, Union Pacific, and Chicago & North Western. You will also see trans-shipment of coal from trains to Great Lakes vessels, these vessels then carry the coal to some of the power plants.