Railroading in the East

Year Published: 1906

Format: 16mm

Description: "Railroading in the East" is a collection of silent, short films depicting fast moving trains filmed between 1897-1906. This is among some of the earliest extant footage of trains moving, as audiences in small theaters had the illusion that they were seeing the real thing. (The famous story is that audiences seeing a train headed straight for them panicked and bolted from the theater!) These short films were photographed by the Edison and Biograph Companies. In order to register a copyright they had to be transferred to a paper positive, looking like motion picture film. During the late 1950s these paper positives, stored at the Library of Congress, were recopied onto new movie film, and sold as copies to collectors. This film contains the following: 00:47 New Jersey Central Flyer passing under the Pennsylvania Railroad at Elizabeth, NJ 01:36 Lehigh Valley Black Diamond Express passing through Lehigh Gorge, Pennsylvania 02:24 New York and West Shore,, New York 04:40 Ulster and Delaware passing through Kingston, NY 05:17 Pennsylvania Railroad Horseshoe Curve, heading east around the curve 06:50 Grand Trunk Railroad, Michigan at the Sarnia Tunnel 09:22 Lehigh Valley Rotary snow plows in action 10:50 Lehigh Valley Black Diamond Express ... followed by Empire State Express on the New York & Hudson, a Ghost train and Empire State Express passing over track pans.

Complete Record: