The Perfect Time Machine

This is a video version of an article I wrote in 2004 in the Semaphore of the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society entitled "The Perfect Time Machine." It features ex-GTW 4-8-4 6325 restored to service on the Ohio Central Railroad--Mike Landry

[@bobhomer5008]

6325 is a wonderful tribute to Jerry Jacobson and the Age of Steam Roundhouse. Some day when lawyers are unemployed maybe 6325 will once again grace the rails and delight folks with the sounds and smell of steam.

[@ronaldwilkinson4330]

Your video & commentary brought tears to my eyes. I'm 77 & an avid N&W buff. Collected lots of paper, from station communication to track charts & blueprints. . Two bucket list items before I check out yet to do. One is a cab ride on 611!! Thank you for sharing your story. Ron

[@hinotehud]

This was great! I moved to Royal Oak in 1959 as an 8th grader. My buddies and I spent a lot of time watching the trains and bumming around Milwaukee Junction while steam was still active. I was there to watch the last run in 1960 and took an excursion to Durand in 1961, I believe. Thank you so much for posting this!

[@TheShellac78]

I did the same from 1957 to 1960: grab an inbound commuter train to Milwaukee Junction, hang around the roundhouse, and take an outbound commuter train back to RO in the afternoon. Even rode across the turntable into the roundhouse on 4-8-2 6038. You might also note that Sherman Drive that presently goes from where the new RO depot at 11 Mile Road was located - northwest to near Woodward Avenue. This street was the original route of the GTW tracks, which then ran north along Woodward Avenue until ca. 1930-1931, when GTW relocated its tracks to where they are at present.

[@davidshaw7505]

I remember when they were pulled into the Oakland Ave yard in Pontiac Mi. They were so huge as a kid but so awesome to see. Miss those good times. 1961 was the year they put the fire out for the last time.

[@MrRailroadrunner]

Steam deserves to run. This is a true reminder to the time these things worked on the high iron.

[@thegathering3322]

Thank you for a walk down memory lane, i am from Battle Creek MI., worked for GTW Railroad now CN Railway and used to play on the 6325 when it was displayed outside the Depot in Battle Creek.

[@jimburig7064]

In October, 1960 I was on a fan trip to Durand, MI drawn by 6323 The coaling and watering infrastructure was still intact then. Most of Grand Trunk Western's steam engines were marshaled there awaiting the scrapper's torch. The old Kotachrome slides transferred well onto digital format. You can really zoom in on details without pixilation.

[@nssteampunk4865]

Awesome video!! I actually got to go in the cab of #6325 back in 2004.

[@maxwellsteam5810]

Hey, I knew you had a KZbin channel. Im your friend Max Le Train Fan on Facebook! im on my alt YT account. my main is Nickel_Plate765/FTYFilms

[@frankbaker9117]

Great sounding whistle, son of a retired Reading Engineer, 👍🤠

[@alexpiper9475]

thanks , great show .i remember some of those fan trips. fine job of restoring the train.

[@Hail2Pitt412]

Mike, I must say that was quite the tremendously enjoyable video! Commentary was excellent, and also able to captivate the viewer without the endless rambling of locomotive details alone. What a cool - and surreal - experience it must have been to see one of these engines running again 40 years later. Thanks for sharing, and I hope one day soon we can see the 6325 run again.

[@tonykarasek4816]

Enjoyed every second ! ! ! Thank you for creating and posting this wonderful journey !

[@bestbuy357]

I rode with my grandfather on one of the last regularly scheduled steam trains from Haslett to Perry Michigan. He was a GTW section foreman for 47 years based in Haslett. I assume my steam train ride was pulled by a 6300 series.

[@deejay7661]

Simply fantastic, Mike. This video explains the very existence of the rail preservation scene; to take memories that could be lost forever and preserve them for many generations to come.

[@b3j8]

Remember seeing this engine on display over 40 yrs ago. Wondered then what her whistle sounded like. Now I know! Lol

[@tylergano1246]

Great video! Brings back a lot of memories seeing videos of the steamers, especially 6325.

[@community1949]

Steam trains make me feel so nastalgic and I have never , ever been on a train.

[@brianfalzon6739]

Would be awesome for NS to be in conjunction & cooperation with the AOSR one day.

[@TheShellac78]

And now, like many other restored steamers, 6325 sits idle. Saw many of those GTW 6300s, 6400s, 3700s, 5600s, those odd 0-8-2 switchers, and an occasional 2600-powered local freight right in Royal Oak between 1954 and 1960.

[@Crookedriverandeasternrr]

Majestic beast. Beautiful machine. I liked and subbed to your channel

[@1chuck96]

Man ...! If they're ever 2 guy's that I'd almost give my soul to sit next to at a REAL bar and talk to about GTW Steam...ya'll are it. I just turned 68 and grew up next to the GTW in Birmingham, MI and saw all the U3-4b's, K4-a-b's, U1-C's, etc. back in the late 50's. With that being said to whom ever reads this, if Mike and his friend are still alive, please pass this along. Other wise, if you're as adamant about GTW Steam as me, I'd GREATLY appreciate talking to you and reminisce. Your thought's, (to whomever is still alive out there)? God ! it sucks getting old !

[@drivingshowbiz]

Hi Jim. Dan and I are very much alive; in fact, at this moment, we're getting ready for a virtual meeting of the Grand Trunk Western Historical Society board of directors on which we're both members. Join us in the Society at gtwhs.org/

[@ekrwy2]

Top speed that day was 40 mph. I know the line quite well because I used to work it. Pretty cool video.

[@ffjsb]

I was on that trip, and I think it was closer to 50. I know we were FLYING on the run back to Columbus. I'd been on many of the OC trips, and many NS trips, and that's one of the fastest runs I've ever been on.

[@joe-ut7ee]

Wishes sometimes come true.

[@samuellong7829]

Hey what is the music that you used for the video

[@michaellandry2227]

It was generic production music included with the editing software which I no longer have and have no recollection of the brand.

[@ric7larz]

Bellisimoo!!

[@1chuck96]

Hey Mike, Just to let you know that your video to date, (2/21/24), has some serious audio drop-off.

[@1Ocqueoc]

PLEASE fix the sound! (unable to hear ya talking in half of the vid)

[@tricky1546]

0:57

[@emersonjones7719]

are those real PRR F units? where are they now?

[@thomasweekley9209]

+Approach Medium Productions Former Via Rail FP9 #'s 6307 and 6313

[@OldIronVideo]

Running on the CP ocs

[@emersonjones7719]

where is this loco now?

[@tricky1546]

Age of steam roundhouse

[@BDN355]

What happened to the u4b

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

It still exists I think its undergoing repairs as of now.

[@OldIronVideo]

Its at the age of steam needing a 15 year rebuild