Sacramento Northern, Legendary Interurban
SKU: DVD-TGM-SACOriginal price was: $29.95.$24.95Current price is: $24.95.
Catch the interurban…in the 1940s!
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| Producer | Catenary Video Productions |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 50 minutes |
| Narration | Yes |
| Shrink Wrap | Yes, Brand New |
| Technical Details | NTSC, Region Free, View Worldwide on Computer |
In 1940, long after most interurbans had degenerated into poorly maintained shadows of the pre-WWI prime, the Sacramento Northern was operating trains of heavy wooden arch-window cars looking fresh from the paintshop, rumbling slowly through the tree-shaded city streets before racing across open countryside.
Journey back 80 or more years for a trip on California’s legendary Sacramento Northern Railway, from the Bay Area to Chico, in the Sacramento Valley. The woodland and Colusa branches are also covered. The DVD provides a fascinating view of the countryside before it was despoiled by urban sprawl and the automobile.
In the first half of the twentieth century, interurbans served small town America well — connecting neighbors by distributing people and commerce reliably and cheaply when life was simpler and less hurried.
This extremely rare, color coverage came from stunning 16mm film taken by pioneer cinematographers Art Alter and Chuck Savage. From Transit Gloria Mundi, in association with Catenary Video Productions. This is digitally enhanced and color corrected directly from the master for the previous VHS version.
Curtis Watson –
I am very glad that this film has been preserved, as it takes the viewer on a tour of the entire Sacramento Northern Railroad from San Francisco to Chico, visiting long-lost locations such as the yard at 40th and Shafter Streets, the tunnel through the Oakland Hills, and the ferry slip at Mallard. In the modern day, BART, ACE, and Amtrak trains are the only way to travel by rail in the Central Valley, and most of the time at the whim of Union Pacific or BNSF. But, not so long ago, the Sacramento Northern could have taken you just about anywhere you would have needed to go. And you can relive the glory days of its passenger motors and trailers, steeplecab freight motors, and Birney cars that dart about the streets of cities like Sacramento. To look at these places today and back then is to look at two very different eras.