Lovely old film. Greetings from England. Feel free to like and subscribe.

Just curious... Why do you refer to steam engines as "units" ? That seems like what is called a "category mistake."

JMJ made some great videos years ago. I remember one a friend had on the D&H. Best D&H video I have ever seen hands down.

A great history of the ol virginia railroad! -- those old electric choo- choo trains with their connecting arms shure make then look half steam locomotive!

That GE ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE HADE ENORMOUS TRACTIVE EFFECT,, IN ADDITION TO THERE 6000 PLUS HORSEPOWER

I would like to see more Virginiana railroad videos

My hero and good friend 💪

12:57 might be the few if not only recordings of a Virginian Berkshire

Love that sound...

Love the film but the music sucks

It's a true shame that the Virginian rr didn't preserve a single example of their AG class 2-6-6-6 locomotives for future display as only 8 of these locomotives were built. The Virginian was the only other railroad besides the C&O to own a fleet of 2-6-6-6 articulated type steam engines, I wish that the VGN did save one example of the AG class type engines series (900-907).

Going thru tunnels with a steam engine, had to be miserable for the operators.

A lot of mixed freight shown. Nice.

So, were is the triplex (or at least the rebuild) as pictured in the thumbnail

Hallo. Very good video. 👍

Nevermind the supersized steamers and weird electrics, it was nice to see some good footage of local Pacifics and Mikados. Hopefully this film can be preserved and cleaned up digitally (and most of the soundtrack replaced).

does nobody know the horsepower for the Virginian 2-10-10-2?

The Richest Little Railroad in the World!

Ok but where is the Virginian 2-10-10-2

I wonder who narrated this

Enjoyed seeing the 2-6-6-6 Allegheny in action. I would like to see someone, with, trillions of dollars, build and operate a new one. Although I won't hold my breath.

Could you imagine the EPA tolerating these old steam locomotives?

Check out the 40 and 50 ton freight cars and the very short trains.

Although I'm an N&W guy, being born in 1943, these bring back great memories, Thanks.

Daddy what's a train

I had no idea there was footage of 0-8-0 4 in action. I saw 4 in Roanoke a couple of years ago.

The siderod electrics were ghostly beasts, noted by several period railway photographers and authors as downright eery, coming up nearly silent, low growling motors and clanking rods.. Do any good recordings exist?

Would it not be.tter to have additional motors rather than use side-rods to turn drive wheels?

Love those Boxcabs. They were the forerunners of todays electrics, using three phaxe current that was generated on the locomotive itself.

I keep looking for the 2-10-10-2 but I never see it. I enjoy watching the video so it's not a total loss. It would just be a treat if it was in the video. If anyone can find this elusive locomotive please let all of us know

Wow, there is a good amount of H8 2-6-6-6 footage in this video. The most powerful steam locomotive of all time. Footage of this monster is rare. Love seeing new content being uploaded.

Great stuff from JMJ! They have a C&O steam video as well. Supposedly it has footage of an M1 with authentic sound.

They should make an animated version of this film.

This video is a real treasure

Great video. But why oh why that dismal, corny, music?? I guarantee it was not in the original.

I sure do love to see a cabooses and helpers in action. I wish they were still required. It would mean more employment. I always did want to see a steam double-header working. It would require the engineers to coordinate with one other. It would be a big thrill to be the lead locomotive engineer on 729. A huge train to take the point on.

music has to GO!

where is my namesake?

I remember the Virginian trackage in southern Virginia on trips to my wife's folks home back in the 1970s. We passed through Meherrin and Virso, VA. Crossbucks were still painted on US360 at Virso but the interchange track with Southern that crossed the highway was long gone. Only the ROW was still visible. There was also a wye at Meherrin which connected to the parallel N&W. Virginian trackage East of Meherrin heading to Victoria was still operated as a branch and the trackage West of Meherrin was used as a storage track. The East leg of the Meherrin wye was used to access the active branch trackage and the West leg accessed the storage track. The old Virginian straight through track at the wye was abandoned and disconnected, but still in place. Usually in the Winter months a long string of hoppers or piggyback flats were stored which disappeared in the Summer. After the Southern/N&W merger, eventually all the ex-Virginian trackage through Meherrin was pulled up, even the formerly active trackage East of there. Never saw any trains run on the active trackage. Just saw strings of cars being stored on the storage part of the line. Sad when I see on this video how busy and well maintained the trackage was in that location not many years before.

#432 was later the last MB in revenue service as well as the last steam locomotive on the Roanoke theater of the railroad. Retired in September of 1956.

I love this video! Trains of the Virginian system? In the 1950's? This is heaven for me!

You show a 2-10-10-2 In the Thumbnail, but where is it. Would love to see footage of this beast.

I wish they had all of these locomotives in ho scale

The VGN was quite a railroad! The footage of the big Alleghenies is very cool. Some folks like to argue the that the monstrous 2-6-6-6's out of Lima, OH were a foolish investment cuz there was no where to use their potential combined power and speed. I beg to differ. The VGN was the perfect place for those monsters of rock with their long, gentle, high-speed curves and the most modern and best-laid rail in all of North America from 1907 into the 1950's. Wikipedia has some great background well worth reading on how the VGN came into existence in spite of concerted efforts by both the C&O and N&W rail giants to squash the upstarts. Joke was on them, in the end.

My Dads best friend and a Legend!!!

First time Ive seen real footage of an allegheny operating under its own steam. Awesome video

From 11:11 to 13:35 what music is that called cause I remember that so well but what is the name?

This film really deserves the best of modern age digital remastering

I love the electrics. Too bad the Great Depression got in the way of a more widespread electrification of our national network. They could burn coal near the mines to generate electricity to power the trains, massively more efficient than steam locomotives when looking at the huge maintenance requirements for steam power.

The Baldwin 2-8-8-8-4 Triplex was a failure. It was intended only for heavy pusher service but it had insufficient grate area to keep steam pressure up long enough to push a train over the crest. The locomotive was split into a 2-8-8-0 which served for many years. The tender engine became a 2-8-2 which also lasted to the end of steam.