Painter Series 1: Norfolk Southern Steam and Diesel on the Piedmont (1989)

Spend time on Norfolk Southern's Piedmont Division in the late 1980s through the lens of railfan Ed Painter. You'll see Norfolk & Western 611 and 1218 leading NRHS excursions in South Carolina and Georgia as well as a plethora of NS freight trains.
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[@BradRains]

Great footage of the past.

[@thomasmackowiak]

Ed Painter did a wonderful service for us in documenting the trains in this video! Thanks to Ed, we can see trains pulled by engines that no longer exist loaded with cars from fallen flag railroad. Thank you, Ed Painter, for documenting these trains and for allowing Delay in Block Productions to digitize the VHS tapes for posterity! The portion of the video with the steam locomotives is a remarkable sight. I really enjoyed watching the steam locomotives.

[@markkorte7932]

A much simpler railroad time than the garbage now. What I mean by that is that I miss naked cars without the filth vandalizing has done("art" my big butt). And the car haulers??Not one would get to their destination intact nowadays.Send the time machine my way to go back to the old days. Thanks for the post Ed and Drayton.

[@ChadSimplicio]

I miss seeing those old SP & TransAmerica tofc's. Goes to show how much times have changed over the 30+ years of American railroading.

[@DanielPRails]

High hoods running long hood forward AND 1218? Ed really was able to capture some history here. Thanks for working to share this with us all.

[@brianbooher7318]

Shout out to Ed painter that man does not have to share his stuff but he is jus a awesome guy as is delay in block .thank you guys so much for this

[@scarecrow4501]

These are great! That shot of 1218 coming out of the fog...fantastic!!!!

[@lowellvillerailfanproductions]

1218 that's the one for the steaming Legends from N&W history 👀👀

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thank you so much, Ed, for sharing this excellent assortment of videos from over the years. Your late 80's videos really resonated with me as that is about the time I first would watch trains with my dad. Not specifically out to watch them, but because it seemed were were constantly getting "stuck" at crossings where I grew up. I very vividly remember seeing similar manifest freight very often, although mostly MKT and Burlington Northern by my recollection. I was doubly blessed by not only seeing the trains but spending those few extra minutes with my dad. Even though he and my mom were together till my father's passing in 2018 he worked hours that weren't the greatest. So even if it was just time with him shuttling us to or from school, out for errands on the weekends, etc. it was time well spent. I see that you and your father shared similar interests in trains. A true blessing to be able to share a hobby with him. And we are blessed by your sharing of your archives with us. And thank you to DIB for the expert narration, information cards, and history as always.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Wow, thank you so much for watching. This is one of the nicest comments we’ve ever received. -Drayton

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

@@DelayInBlockProductions I give credit to Ed for capturing Dash 7 8 9 and 9W plus the high hoods from EMD and GE. 50/10 highballs.

[@vettebecker1]

Growing up in the 70’s-80’s, I miss seeing cabooses on end of trains. You had another crew member to wave at as the train rolled by! Also miss seeing the variety of predecessor railroads owned by CSX. How exciting would it be in todays times to see their engines painted in these variety of nostalgic paint schemes or more NS locomotives in southern tuxedo schemes or NW paint!!!!

[@markkorte7932]

The trend lately is doing more heritage locos painted as back in the day

[@boarsnestnc5080]

Just flat out unbelievable. Ed's work is so good... honestly, it seems like the same quality of delay in block productions of the time. I don't know how all the connections were made to make this series happen, but I'm very thankful. Thank you Mr. Painter and Delay in Block productions.

[@wrrail]

If it's made by Ed Painter, It's worth the wait!

[@Yuhboyluke]

Makes me wish I grew up back then so bad

[@roberttrains8696]

Good video Drayton

[@AGSGuy]

So glad Ed records the full train, really helps to get an idea on what to expect on manifests back then when it comes to modeling

[@ChainsawNW1218]

ChainsawN&W1218, I've heard of Ed Painter,He got some great 👍 footage of NS trains with SRR and N&W engines, high hoods,and running long hood forward, really enjoyed the N&W 1218 and 611 footage, filmed the 611 quite a bit around Radford and Christiansburg VA when NS was still running it on main lines,wish the Virginia Museum Of Transportation would one day be able to restore 1218,love that single note hooter whistle, My Mom is from Greenville SC, I was born there, She met My Dad when He was stationed in the Army down there in the 70s,He is from Galax VA,Southwest VA which is where We live now, film alot in Roanoke VA, Radford Division, Christiansburg District, NS, and My Dad has family in Greenville SC, so I've got to film trains there and in Spartanburg.

[@tatecarlson]

I love the shot of N&W disappearing into the fog, like a ghost of a forgotten era when fire-eating monsters roared down the line and with a whistle that let cried out in the mountains and valleys as it dragged 150 50-ton coal cars up the steep mountain grades, and lol I find it amusing that even in the 1990s NS was still using bay window cabooses

[@KFoore]

Great video. I love watching the old GP38s and SD40-2s with the high hoods and running long hood forward. Ed did a great job videoing those trains all those years ago.

[@reddog-ex4dx]

Thanks Ed for sharing these with us. Did anybody else notice that their was no graffiti on any of the cars?

[@mattbrennan8524]

Thanks to Ed and you folks for sharing these great videos from the past. I too was struck by the total lack of graffiti. It will be interesting to see when and how fast graffiti appears to become a dominant RR feature as more of Ed's videos are shared.

[@conrailmow]

That was a freaking great video I cant wait to see more.

[@tomschmidt3165]

What a great historical record this film is. Thanks for posting.

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

Great video as always.

[@mackenziezimmerer7926]

Never would have imagined how the early to mid 90's would be an era's end. Railroading had luster and lore and intrigue.

[@arthurschipper8906]

Man I love the vintage stuff. Speaking of vintage, went under a RxR overpass today in Salem, OR that still wears the Southern Pacific Lines badge. Pretty cool.

[@MemphisSubRailfan]

Amazing! Definitely one of the coolest compilations I’ve seen from that era. It shocks me how much 1218 just sounds like some sort of rail beast with that whistle.

[@sdrailfan892]

I am looking forward to seeing more of this series. Great combo of Ed's video and your video editing for a wonderful glimpse of the past.

[@steamgent4592]

Great 1218 footage! 1218 was the pinnacle of the Southern Steam Program and the best of the locomotives they ever had. Only Southern (ex C&O) 2716 came close behind. Those two were outstanding locomotives.

[@paullindberg9230]

It is truly amazing how time seems to accelerate by. I enjoy all the delay in block productions along with many others that do the thoroful A toZ !

[@michaelwaters3271]

This is amazing I’m actually a police officer in central sc and a life long resident. It’s great to see videos showing how it looked back then! Thank you Ed! This is great!

[@jonathanmoor7035]

awesome thank you for your service

[@general5104]

Thank you sir for your service!

[@stephenharvell476]

Love seeing his videos from this area and seeing the very spots I take pictures of trains in his videos. I also grew up in liberty and now work in liberty and central so it’s cool seeing the towns as they were before I was born.

[@stewarttrains98]

Great stuff in this video. Miss the days when we had many options to photograph and cars not covered in urban art.

[@SamLovesTrains]

Really love the old footage! Nice stuff.

[@danieldoyle9659]

Very cool. Love the trains but also like checking out the old cars in the background.

[@SlaterDozierRailroadMedia]

Awesome video as always! I was in Central and Seneca this past Sunday filming trains on the way back to Greenville. A lot has changed over the years but the Greenville District and Charlotte District are both good lines to railfan.

[@brianfalzon6739]

Wow, that's awesome! Only 611 returned to steam in 2015 because of help from the Fire Up 611 Campaign, but it's sad that nobody gave 1218 another chance to run and operate again, hope someone finds her a good home to run somewhere. Great job btw!

[@icecold1950]

Awesome video. Thanks for airing it 👍👍

[@rogermccraney8119]

My hats off to ya ED and to Delay in block productions.👍🏻

[@rogermccraney8119]

Great video of a great railroad at one time.

[@kittty2005]

@ 54:07 A dad was pointing out something to his little son on 1218 when the whistle blew and scared the dickens out of the boy and he turned and ran as fast as he could for the car with his dad running after him, brings back memories of when I was little.

[@carmichaeltrainproductionc9663]

I appreciate and painter sharing his footage just text me back in time and I enjoy watching this video!!

[@nicholasmedovich6729]

Hats off to Ed. Credit him for capturing the Dash 2, SD GP, Uboats, Dash 7, 8, 9 9W and high hoods and low nosed units. 10/10 highballs

[@John-wd5om]

Thanks for an amazing video ed and Drayton, especially the 1218 footage, we are so lucky that ed documented it all! Keep up the good work and I can't wait for the next one😀

[@NW-gi1cp]

1218 moment

[@norfolksoutherntrainguy5857]

Old school just how I like it

[@monstrok]

Such great footage!! Thanks Ed and DIB!

[@general5104]

As a matter of info, the Radio Cars were in short in length, red box-cars and had a white top on them. The white wrapped around and down about 6" onto the sides and ends of the box-cars. They had Two antennas staggered across from one another on both ends of the top of the roof and 1 about midway. (it was for the voice radio) There were Two big steel walled cases, about 4 feet high, welded to the floor and filled with concrete, to make the car more stable. Both ends of the car had radio equipment in it and a T-Rack radio for voice communication. Several switches were on the lockable panels, to match the head-end device on the Locomotive. You had to unlock the box and set the proper code. Seems like a wall-switch type set-up. Up was A and Down was B, then the next switch Up was C and Down was D, and so on. It was also an equipment locker. It had replacement air hoses and knuckles, a towing cable, a hammer and a big wrench and a big wrench like a pipe-wrench but it had smooth flat jaws. It was equipped with batteries and was well lit. It also had an axle generator. It seems it was for charging the batteries. The Radio Lab that came up with that technology was located in the Southern Railway Locomotive Shop area and had at least three technicians working in there most of the time. They were all geniuses.

[@Southern6900]

I live in the Charlotte area and on this same ns main, and I’m stunned by the difference of motive power and train variety from today.

[@Bongofurry]

Excellent footage ! Nothing like the sound of a steam whistle ¿

[@andrewcrumb8027]

1:03:33 You know, when my family and I were in Pennsylvania for our summer vacation back in July 2021, we took a side trip to the Strasburg Railroad on Thursday the 15th, and to my surprise, Norfolk and Western #611 was there. Although we've never got to ride on her, on account that they run her on weekends, I was glad I saw her when I did. That was a day I would never forget. Then I later learned that the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia was in partnership with the Strasburg Railroad.

[@cadenmcmexican7999]

Ah I love seeing Norfolk Southern’s too early days. I feel like their isn’t enough documentation about it. But thank goodness for Ed’s document everything philosophy and Draytons professional high quality narrations

[@jacksalvin364]

Meet Ed Painter.

[@1044fan]

Congratulations from Austria. I like this old videos 👍🏻

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

Awesome 😎

[@alcopower5710]

Excellent content….. thanks for sharing 👍

[@bryanmarshall8124]

Solid gold! Wonderful footage.

[@ashleydorsey2538]

I wish this is what modern railfanning was like

[@dancer1]

Cool

[@mahmoodQureshikohatiPakistan]

New friend gifted gift 🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁 special gift try it must be 👍😎. Very nice beautiful sharing

[@fakecumberland]

Great stuff! One suggestion: Don’t talk over the locomotives, especially a U30C. We can’t capture that sound now.

[@mpedward2]

Nice to see un tagged and painted up with garbage original Southern and N&S cars. Back when things were “ normal” great video!

[@Nicola636128]

Awesome video documented by this railfan Ed; is there a reason why many locomotives were oriented by the long hood?

[@trainsbreath6517]

Nice👍

[@milepost4846]

I don't think 35 was heading back to Spartanburg, it was southbound in the scene. Maybe returning to Seneca or Toccoa back then? Looks like Seneca was a lot more used for setting off cars back then.

[@michaelhollingsworth4688]

Is there any videos of 611 excursions on Saluda grade from 92 to 94

[@JacksNcTrains]

If you look it up on KZbin there's 2 videos that come up at the top I found

[@kittty2005]

@ 39:03 Considering the length of the triple crown train and one loco was pulling, I'd guess the load was bags of shipping peanuts, for crying out loud, LOLOLOL.

[@rcravincase]

Here i thouht that mid units were a relatively new concept.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Railroads have been using mid-train units since the late 60s. They were all radio-controlled until the early 2000s.

[@ShahzadKhan-qj6ge]

Good

[@anthonyventi362]

Drayron you know what I noticed that piggyback service parts of manifest but do noticed that today we see containers and manifest mixed together hmm

[@arthurschipper8906]

And you need to explain the triple crown consists to me

[@Leoferroviadoaco]

I arrived just now wonderful here in Brazil there is not this type of ttem

[@briandickerson970]

Notice that the rolling stock from the 1980's is not covered in graffiti. What happened?

[@rogerlollar4325]

#fireup1218!

[@carolinarailmodeler15]

T