The New Haven in "A Great Railroad at Work" (1942)

[Music] now let's have motion pictures take us behind the scenes of a great railroad at work we'll see two general phases railroad operation and railroad maintenance trains are of two kinds passenger and freight let's begin with the passenger the locomotive backing into the yards to pick up the cars of the Yankee Clipper into the yards backs the locomotive to pick up the cars [Music] but then as the ponderous locomotive backs gently and is coupled to the cars we may reflect that there is a lot of magic in a railroad the Clipper pulls out of the yards on its way to the station everything time to the second on this railroad hundreds of passenger trains are made up every day in addition to hundreds of freight train they operate through southern New England day and night [Music] strange geometries of tracks in the yards and the number of switches there's calls for death and intricate manipulations into the station the train can be controlled airbrake by the rear Trainmen as well as by the engineer in front a large factor of safety South Station in Boston the old familiar scene and never without a thrill passengers going to attain [Music] [Music] Hey [Music] [Music] what [Music] [Music] the powerful diesel switcher is the last word in this type of modern mechanism one of the busiest of workers in the realm of railroading practically a 24 hour a day worker a new coordination of rail and highway transportation is seen as they load a trailer onto a flat car the trailer has picked up packages from all over Boston to be distributed in New York ordinarily the tractor pulling the trailer would have made the trip to New York by highway but now the trailer is securely fastened on the flat car and then carried to the metropolis this avoids a truck trip to New York a large saving of gasoline and a rubber tires mighty important in these days of wartime shortages with rubber tires rationed [Music] [Music] steam locomotive is coupled with the cars and the theme is industrial products of New England on their way they represent the work and skill of New England factories transporting them is an equal task of work and scale the mighty system of operations embodied in the speeding freight train and the rhythm of the rails seems to save you England at work you England on the move [Music] a signal tower which trains to and from New York will pass one of many central rules of safety vigilant alertness 24 hours a day when a train passes the signalman flashes the report to Division Headquarters Latin West 177 by 2:15 and in 1404 13 cars Miami is back one for the closest [Music] South America is the destination of this large and intricate machine carefully crated it will go by ship but first it must be taken by rail down England to the harbour an export angle of freight service industrial New England is of historic importance in the foreign trade of this nation passenger service takes plenty of account of passengers appetites the grill cars for the less formal meal than the diner provides [Music] thank you I don't want to claim for correspond to those up on the board [Music] do you suppose I could have that Ruby all right and I'd like rare roast beef with mashed potatoes yes do you live the dining car is a place of leisurely luxury regaining yourself while the passing scenery provides entertainment one for nice 125 toodles one coffee one out [Music] thank you sir episode late this classification yard shows us an ingenious angle of freight transportation it has a sort of Hill which they call the home this Hill is a key factor in what we'll see the classification of freight cars they're oiled while on the move on their way up the hub they go on to the top of the slope the purpose of all this is to classify incoming trains so that can be a reassemble as other train each to go to a different destination [Music] the yardmaster directs the switching the cars to be switched to various tracks 2:24 [Music] before he played a dirty brain 4813 at the top of the hump cars are uncoupled and they roll down by gravity some cars get up too much speed if it weren't for the retarder device for checking their shoes [Music] 126 para in the retarding Tower of the speed discovered electrically controlled switches direct the cars to the right tracks where they join other cars to make new trains for other destinations [Music] we see the creative machinery for South America going over the hump the train in which this car arrived consists of cars bound for different destinations in the classification yard it will join a train going to the harbour [Music] the engine house we're running repairs are made we see another phase of railroading maintenance of equipment they're like repairs made it many points on the railroad and there are heavy repairs which are made in a great locomotive shop [Music] here's a ponderous fantasy of fire and steel the mighty Forge of a modern Vulcan all locomotives are overhaul periodically each one after going from a hundred and twenty thousand to four hundred thousand miles is sent to the shop for a complete overhaul [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the slip track is an oil track for overhaul locomotives get final tests they can be driven many miles and all speeds forward and backward on a track that simulates conditions of speed a monster locomotive thoroughly overhauled is a symbol of that factor so vital in all mechanics all industry maintenance a mechanized army for example is as good as its maintenance and so is a railroad [Music] locomotive must be serviced and that occurs at many places along the line it requires for example sand to give the big drive wheels traction when the rails are wet and slippery and coal to be blown automatically into the firebox the fireman just operates a lever the coal pile is a mountain countless tons of the black fuel stored against any emergency anything that might cause a shortage the coal pile tells us that a railroad is not only a mover of things it is also a buyer of things pies go with rails as ham with eggs as in the case of coal the stocks of railroad ties are immense a matter of acres it takes more than 3,000 ties to make just one mile of standard railroad track lumber to hold up steep Salvage is a large activity everything possible is saved and put away for future use railroad economy [Music] tomorrow technology research experimentation is embodied for example in these exceedingly modern diesel Road locomotives which are capable of being used with equal effectiveness in either passenger or freight service [Music] [Music] [Music] power of steam and steel taking a treasure store you England merchandise into the night tonight crate calls our attention to an element of time the bright time of day and here's the dark time of night railroading is on a 24-hour schedule despite the elements and never mind the weather being fair or stormy hail sleet or snow the night freight must all throw [Music] [Music] [Music] the conductor in the caboose keeps a record of all the car the nitrate seems to sing the song of work a song with the refrain 24 hours a day [Music] the Yankee Clipper meanwhile arrives at New Haven and this brings a transformation from steam to electricity bull and fire to vote 10 amperes the steam locomotive leaves the train from Boston and from Springfield to New Haven the motive power is provided by superheated steam then for the remainder of the run the energy to drive the wheels is provided by dynamos the electric locomotive is a thing of streamlined efficiency a monarch of high tension electricity has been a comparatively recent story in American railroading it began in 1895 on the New Haven Railroad which pioneered in overhead high tension lines now the clipper goes speeding under electrical power we're in a new world of railroading a realm were a hundred Thunderbolts of Jupiter are harnessed to turn the wheels of trains [Music] the sources of electric power are coal and steam and at this railroad owned powerhouse the boilers are 60 feet high the heat meters registered 2,000 degrees generating steam with a pressure of 300 pounds to the square inch powdered coal blown into the furnace and burning and suspension in the air the turbo generators hundred revolutions per minute to produce in a single year over 100 million kilowatts of electricity the nerve center of the powerhouse the main control room with its elaborate equipment here watchful eyes checked the surge of power through the overhead lines [Music] a masterpiece of roadbed construction and maintenance is this four track electrified right of way over it passed between six and seven hundred trains of a the Yankee Clipper now electrified approaching the environs of New York which means it will soon go underground because the tracks for miles proceeded beneath traffic and beneath buildings of the metropolis we pass into a subterranean world a signal tower underground here more than 600 trains a day are guided in and out over the 107 tracks of Grand Central Terminal by 20 feet away dated 40 with the Clipper [Music] on time as the train board indicates [Music] here she comes the Yankee clever it's coming on the upper level underground tracks of the trains that carry 42 million passengers in and out of Grand Central Terminal every year [Music] there's our box machine gone for real from the flat car that brought it to New York the railroad delivers the consignment on a lighter to its berth aboard the ship the railroad owns 42 of those ungainly barges with the big Garrett's they're strong and sturdy some of them can be loaded with 500 tons of freight [Music] [Applause] [Music] what about the tugboat it's also railroad on the railroad owns 13 tugs they're famous throughout New York Harbor the railroad owns and operates many other pieces of marine equipment and so the case of machinery is on its way to be stowed aboard ship and then south into the tropics past the equator to be put into service in the land of the Amazon New England machines to modernize latitudes of jungle green this is a water gateway for the interchange of freight cars between railroads New York the East River when freight cars from New England are destined for points outside of New England they may come here their to go over the lines of other railroads and how is the transfer effected we see a water phase of operation that you might not readily associate with a railroad a car ferry and the dock apron can be moved up and down the fall of the tide the car float arrives with cars from the New Jersey side there from points south and west and are destined for New England raw materials for the industries of New England and the car float is locked to the dock ever [Music] [Music] heavily loaded steel freight cars roll onto the tracks of the manufactured articles made in large part from raw material brought previously engineering on the other side of the river similarly onto the tracks of the railroad that is to take them on to complete their journey to some point in this immense country of our New England carload Lots bound for everywhere [Music] this is a New Haven rail gateway up in New York State it's another point where railroads meet and where freight cars are interchanged those are cars loaded with merchandise for New England raw materials and perishable food packing house and dairy products in Chicago and Kansas City oranges and grapefruit from California and Arizona onions from Texas meat from Sioux City it's early morning at a New England City freight cars full of fresh food the beginning of the day the right time for food distribution [Music] after cars are unloaded they are pulled into the arts for inspection here a string of them are going to be yards to meet the keen eye of the inspector cars are carefully inspected at regular intervals [Music] when something wrong is found the car is tagged bad order familiarly known as be old the car then goes to Bo Browns yard those are his real initials appropriately in the yard light repairs are made for heavy repairs freight cars are brought to the back shops here wheels are pressed off the axles by the application of enormous pressure hundreds of tonnes after being repaired to exacting standards of safety wheels are pressed back onto their axles under pressure both bolts or screws needed to keep the wheel security in place just that enormous pressure [Music] these pictures have shown us vast magnitudes of material and work they have revealed to us a complicated industrial system in action a system of many interlocking parts operation and maintenance passenger and freight our load and less than parlo blocks steam and electrification light repairs and heavy repairs all these coordinated with a perfection of timing to many parts working together harmoniously a giant clockwork of transportation at a marathon railroad all this is typical of the industrial genius of America it is an example of that world important thing on which this nation and our brother nations must rely in a perilous war of worldwide scope our victory depends first of all on the American gift for making giant industrial systems of production and transport operate with an amount of efficiency that no other nation can match such is the larger meaning of these scenes of a great American railroad that worked [Music] you

Channel: Speed Graphic Film and Video

Views: 139,244

Rating: 4.8814187 out of 5

Keywords: New Haven Railroad, New York New Haven and Hartford, NYNH&H, Steam Locomotive, Locomotive, Train, Railroad, South Station, South Station Boston, New Haven, Grand Central Terminal, Grand Central

Id: Zk8htfb2-h0

Length: 31min 0sec (1860 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 08 2019