John Pechulis Media

The 1980s were an exciting time in the development of the railroads and for railroad preservation. The railroad lines in Pennsylvania seemed to benefit the most from this railroad revival. With so many miles of little-used railroad lines, the opportunities for railroad preservation were huge. Railroad museums were benefiting from the excitement with new and sometimes expanded operations. Some of the short lines even began to resemble museums, by regularly running steam locomotives.Upstart short line railroad Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad operated on a short 13-mile segment of Pennsylvania Railroad trackage. While the freight business grew, the railroad put 4-6-2 no. 425 and later 4-8-4 no. 2102 to use hauling tourist trains in season. They also worked with Conrail to run special excursions on various portions of the eastern railroad's network. To keep the trains running on schedule, two former PRR E8 locomotives, restored to the Pennsy's 5-stripe livery worked many of the trips.Steamtown USA, a tourist operation of the Steamtown Foundation, relocated from Bellows Falls, VT to Scranton, PA in 1984. Steam and diesel locomotives ran on an ever-expanding amount of trackage of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Pocono Mountains. Nearly every year saw a different look to the trains and different mileage or variety of destinations.Although this Volume focuses primarily on the Blue Mountain & Reading and Steamtown USA, brief scenes of Strasburg's PRR 1223 & 7002 doubleheader on the former PRR mainline and Rail Tours' CNJ 1554 are also featured in this program.John Pechulis Media, 50 minutes run time, COLOR; Narration and subtitles. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media

With rumors Union Pacific would be placing their 6900 series DD40AX's into storage, this trip became a must. Following the UP mainline from Archer Hill, East of Cheyenne to Green River, Wyoming. The basic goal was to chase and photograph as many "Centennial" lead trains as possible. Loco types seen include SD40-2's, DD35A's and B's, GP-9's, GP-40X, U30C's on coal and ore moves, SD24B and GP30B in consists. Southern Pacific tunnel motors and Western Pacific pool power. Unit PFE reefer trains are also captured. Locations include Archer Hill, Cheyenne, Borie, Buford, Hermosa, Laramie, Rawlins and Green River. John Pechulis Media, 57 minutes; COLOR; Subtitled only, no narration or background music. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media

Join Ken Bealer of Allentown, PA, along with Joe Nemeth and Dave Pauer as they chase the Union Pacific from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah, then chase the Denver & Rio Grande Western from Salt Lake City to Denver.Finally, see more Union Pacific action at Laramie, Wyoming.This is one the many treks Ken Bealer and fellow railfans took to the west and Midwest to capture the varied railroading action in these areas.Digitized from super 8mm sound filmJohn Pechulis Media, 40 minutes; COLOR. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media

The Liberty Bell Route was a 55 mile long, mostly overhead wire, single track operation, with frequent passing sidings to provide opposing car operation.The line obtained its name from the route it followed when the Liberty Bell was moved from Philadelphia to Allentown to be hidden from the British in 1777.In Volume 2 of the Lehigh Valley Transit, we'll tour the scenic Liberty Bell Route from Allentown to Norristown and then over the Philadelphia and Western Railway's double tracked, third rail, high speed line to 69th Street terminal in Philadelphia. We'll cover the brief history, operations and finally, the abandonment of the line in 1951.Arranged geographically from north to south, we'll travel through historic towns along the way, observing the line from both trackside and while riding in car with Doug Peters as our guide.From the Lehigh Valley Chapter NRHS film collections of the late Fred Barber, Randolph L. Kulp and Howard P. Sell and from the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum's Ed Miller film collection.John Pechulis Media, 67 minutes; mostly COLOR; narrated with commentary by Douglas E. Peters. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media

The Conrail Reading Line consists of the former Reading & Lehigh Valley Railroad trackage between the Allentown - Bethlehem area and Reading.The trackage was inherited by Conrail on April 1st, 1976 when Conrail took over the bankrupt Anthracite railroads in the Northeast USA.Under Conrail, the Delaware & Hudson was granted trackage rights on the Reading Line to access Philadelphia via Allentown.In Volume 1, we'll look at Conrail and D&H operations on the Reading Line, including the Temple Hill Track, between 1980 and 1984 through the films of Jonathan Reck.John Pechulis Media, 74 Minutes Run Time, Narrated and Subtitled; COLOR; Original Sound. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media

The Classic Midwest Rails series showcases the exciting and diverse railroad action in the picturesque Midwest region from class one mainlines to branch lines, industrials and short line operations.In Classic Midwest Rails Volume 2, we'll continue west on the Union Pacific mainline from Fremont to Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska. On our return trip east, we'll chase the Burlington Northern freight and coal trains from Grand Island into St Joseph, Missouri. We conclude this volume with operations in Illinois John Pechulis Media, 52 minutes runtime, Color and original sound. Narrated with commentary by Jonathan Reck. Features: New DVD John Pechulis John Pechulis Media