Erie Lackawanna mainline action. Early Conrail, 1976 1977

Thanks for watching. Hope you enjoyed this old Super 8mm sound film shot along on the east end of the ex-Erie Lackawanna Railroad in Northern New Jersey. This old film was shot by myself in 1976 & 1977.
Please be sure to check out my many other video clips from the 1970's up to today. God Bless
Please do not use without permission. All my videos and images are Copyright protected. Thank you...
Movie was taken with a Kodak Ektasound Super 8mm sound camera. Very primitive to todays standards, so quality wasn't all that great. Each cassette holds 3-1/2 minutes of film, and was expensive.
God Bless our troops, and,
God Bless the United States of America
Copyright Jack D Kuiphoff © 10/31/2020
John 3:16
"You are worth a Son to God"
Quote is from our pastor at Journey By Grace Church, Pastor Bill Bailey.
/ @journeybygrace

[@allanegleston4931]

i had just got out of high school then. love the chortle of the engines and the sound of the wagons over jointed track

[@LeeDfined]

So cool how when the people realized they were in your shot they backed up and some even dropped to the ground. That's called "being raised right" and caring about someone besides yourself. That was so cool to see kids with manners. 1:40- 51

[@logandetwiler4483]

Love seeing old footage

[@TheNWClassA1218]

This is beautiful, Jack! Every second of this is a masterpiece.

[@1jackdk]

Thanks RCRf, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching...

[@mikem6231]

Always a pleasure seeing new uploads, this one doesn't disappoint, great video!

[@1jackdk]

Thanks so much Mike. I just pray I can keep delivery quality stuff. Thanks for watching.

[@iusetano]

Thank you Jack. I enjoyed watching. Excellent as usual.

[@paulquick8806]

Thank you i was 4 when that bicentennial train pulled into port jervis

[@Chessie1985]

Nice Jack!!!

[@marksprunger8936]

Great vintage video! Love seeing those piggy back trailers and GP40s rolling down the tracks! Thanks for posting.

[@RollerCoasterLineProductions]

I love your videos. Watched em several times. I live near the NS main line in Latrobe Pa.

[@1jackdk]

Thanks RCLP. Glad you enjoy the clips, and thanks for watching...

[@skerbs7755]

Loved it. Especially around 14 minute mark where the borrowed NJDOT engines pulling freight.

[@towny72]

Those happened to still be EL units at that time. From what I understand the EL would press them into freight service on weekends when passenger traffic was down. Then back to the commuter for Monday mornings. They did not go over to NJ Transit till around 83 when NJ DOT took over all passenger operations.

[@mikeflynn1629]

I love these videos I always look for videos with sound from the '70s not piped in

[@1jackdk]

Hard to find this stuff from the 70's thats not dubbed. Thanks for watching...

[@freighttrained1846]

WOW! U34CH 3372, with steam engine 148, is the last and only preserved unit of the fleet, and presently cosmetically restored in Boonton, N.J.

[@1jackdk]

Really great to know that both these locomotives survived, are preserved and restored. 148 running in Florida, and I hope the 3372 runs again, someday. Thanks for watching.

[@ChadsRailfanExperience]

This really was a Halloween treat, thanks for posting!

[@1940limited]

I shot the last of the Lackawanna electrics with an 8MM Bell & Howell camera that took cartridges you can't even get anymore. I ought to convert them to a digital file and put them on You Tube.

[@MetraF40C607]

Great stuff, as always, Jack. Thanks for sharing.

[@1jackdk]

Thank you MBM P. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for watching...

[@seven8n235]

Back in the day when a group of young fellows could hang out along the tracks and take train pics. Try that today without being heckled by the cops, or worse. I wonder at what point the railroads figured out that carrying the wheels and frames along with the truck boxes was dead weight, along with having to run each trailer along a string of flat cars. Big changes since then.

[@1jackdk]

Man!!! Isn't that the truth. Now a days, you feel like a hardened criminal if you even point the camera at a train. Times sure have changed, and not for the better. Thanks for watching.

[@larroyo1973]

When American entrepreneur Malcolm McLean invented a container that could be stacked in ships & fastened to truck & railroad frames. He named his shipping company SEA/LAND (Sealand) later Maersk-Sealand.

[@LeeDfined]

Interesting how much intermodals there were. Back then they were called TOFC(trailers on flat cars.) I miss Ole school railroading

[@tomflendodo7297]

Me 2 Earth boy 👦 But, those Days R LONG GONE !!! 🚆 Get over it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@djwaz855]

I grew up in bergen County taking pics in Rutherford area. Video was a dream . Great video thanks for posting.

[@cp9831]

Excellent compilation! Love this older footage!

[@1jackdk]

Thanks RailBC. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for watching...

[@EmpireBeltRR]

Thanks for posting more great vintage railroad video Jack!!!

[@1jackdk]

Thank you John. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching...

[@daniellaubsch1605]

Love this video of the great Erie Lackawanna. One of many units i remember were the Geep 35's. That road power was seen many times on the Bloomsburg branch leading freights either south or north on this line. Of course quite a few Alco's & GE's lead many times. All this i could remember as my late aunt & grandmother lived right along the rail line at the time!

[@matthewkominiak8273]

Great video awesome footage

[@mikeflynn1629]

That's Santa Fe Auto parts oversized box car was so cool.

[@daniellaubsch1605]

How about some EL action in the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Poconos rail scenes from the early 70's before the start up of Conrail?

[@plymouth-hl20ton37]

At 12 minutes that is Erie Lackawanna 3658 sister unit to this engine was 3657 is still with us to this day as 332 ex Montana Rail Link! a brief time in Cincinnati on Cincinnati Union Terminal

[@rayhakim4466]

Great stuff Jack, brings back a LOT of memories (and I don't think it was me in some of your shots!). I'm glad you shot a lot of the train too, as that classic rolling stock is all gone now.

[@1jackdk]

Thanks Ray. Those where the good ole days. Not sure, but I think you are in an Amtrak E8 clip up in Albany. LOL

[@rayhakim4466]

@@1jackdk Sorry about that. I still seem to be getting in the way 40+ years later too...

[@1jackdk]

@@rayhakim4466 LOL.

[@Tiredoldchannel]

I love seeing the old towers like at 2:19

[@jamesstallings2007]

Nice !!!

[@anthonysaggio5582]

Great video

[@TheNomadicRailfan]

This is incredible.

[@marksprunger8936]

I was surprised to see a Conrail GE U-boat pulling a passenger consist! Always wondered if Conrail was involved with passenger traffic.

[@EmpireBeltRR]

That U Boat may have been one of the ex EL U34CHs. #3351 was wrecked in 1974 and returned to service in bicentennial colors numbered 1776. Conrail inherited some commuter service from the PC and maybe others. It ran the "Valpo Dummy" (what a name) some others in NY and NJ and maybe other places as well.

[@marksprunger8936]

Thanks for the info, John! Always enjoy learning more about trains. The late '70s early Conrail transition years were such a fascinating time in railroading history. What a time to be a railfan, huh.

[@EmpireBeltRR]

@@marksprunger8936 You're welcome Mark! I don't know a lot but I'm a big fan of that era myself and was just in a conversation with a fellow modeler regarding the U34CHs.

[@1jackdk]

Conrail destroyed those GE's Mark. CR was so power hungry back then, they set up and agreement and would use the NJDOT units on weekends. But they had a hard time getting them back to Hoboken for commuter service on Monday morning. So this practice didn't last long. When NJDOT got the new U34CH's and Comet cars, they had the EL/NJDOT decals on them. The U34's where in the EL number system. After Conrail was taken over, the NJ Transit was formed, and the units numbered and decaled again. I have a picture of a U34 being rebuilt at E-port shops, and it has both numbers on it. www.flickr.com/photos/jackdk/50784736692/in/dateposted/ Thanks for watching...

[@marksprunger8936]

Thanks for your recent reply, Jack! Enjoyed reading it. I was always a bit curious about the U34's, as I was familiar with the U33/36 series, but didn't realize that CR actually had some modified with the U34 designation. Thanks again for these classic videos!

[@1940limited]

Not a great time for northeastern railroads, but still good rail fanning. No graffiti on freight cars and cabooses. EL wanted to stay out of Conrail but couldn't swing it. Too bad. I was 26 in this era and looked a lot like the young railfans trackside here I hope they're all still around and doing well.

[@NickelPlateMxne]

I would like to take the moment to say that the Erie Lackawanna Railway was split up by Conrail to later be owned by Norfolk Southern, NJ Transit, and MTA which would be shared with CSX and Amtrak for commuter and freight rail service

[@kelvintorrence5994]

The big e .my favorite line

[@1jackdk]

For sure. Tops on my list as well. Thanks for watching...

[@daniellaubach8412]

Yeah I can recall seeing EL's GP 35:s passing by on the Bloomsburg branch prior to the '72 flood. Quite a few GE's and Alco"s on the branch simply because the track conditions had deteriorated than only 4 axel power could be runned on this line!

[@stephenheath8465]

Probably the only footage of Conrail's Passenger Operation at 15:05

[@rexjamison2170]

i really enjoyedthis

[@thomasnativo6491]

Man the Erie Lackawanna Railroad was so Old in the 1970s that day

[@thomasnativo6491]

Just look at these Diesels engines

[@zirndorfredleg7688]

Any videos with GGs

[@1jackdk]

I have several videos posted with GG-1s and other electrics. Still have some more, and may have to edit them for a clip. Thanks for watching...

[@Bammer2001]

1:45 Was the Kodak Super 8mm film camera really the thing back in the 1970s? It seems like a bunch of kids wanted to take the action too!

[@1jackdk]

Not many rail photographers used them for railroads. Rail photographers usually stuck with 35mm slide film. The Super 8, and Super 8 sound was popular with families, and for vacations. I bought mine for drag racing in the late 60's early 70's, then started using it heavily in filming railroads. Now I'm glad I did. Thanks for watching.

[@ericzerkle5214]

It was and not long after, VHS took over. My folks couldn't afford super 8 and used plain ol 8mm or cameras.

[@Bammer2001]

​@@ericzerkle5214 A few years ago, I saw a KZbin video of some VHS footage of aircraft taking off from Chicago O'Hare in 1979, and I was flabbergasted. How was it possible to get 60fps film in the 1970s? I mean, there was Richard Nixon's double denial-denial when he was under scrutiny for the Watergate scandal, but wasn't VHS incredibly expensive at the time? Even the drawings for The Aristocats from 1970 were exposed on Technicolor film.

[@ryananthony4840]

Sadly even if the EL survived it would have definitely been swallowed up in a megamerger by now, and if not, it would definitely follow suit by now of Nazi railroading style management and be just as bad of a job to have as the rest 😬

[@mbretheim]

1975-1976

[@thomasnativo6491]

Ah The U34CH by NJDOT 4172

[@mbretheim]

not 1976-1977

[@rebooted.jupiter_]

im pretty sure he would know when his OWN clips were filmed-

[@josemanueldasilvaalmeida9238]

Really??? Your technology do not support old films??? Wierd??? Why the blocheges??? 😨🙃🤤