Boston & Maine Railroad Media

Boston & Maine in the Four Seasons: Volume One
Photographed by Stanley Y. Whitney

DVD-R Format, NTSC Color, 55 Minutes

Produced in cooperation with the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society and filmed by Stan Whitney, this program covers B&M operations in the Boston suburban area during the spring and summer of 1951. See commuter trains hauled by 4-6-2 steam engines, freights pulled by 2-8-0s, and main line passenger runs handled by 4-8-2s and EMD E-7 Diesels. The superior image quality of this 16 mm. film footage makes the past jump into the present. Narration is by former CBS Radio reporter Ralph E. Morse.

Boston & Maine in the Four Seasons: Volume Two
Photographed by Stanley Y. Whitney

DVD-R Format, NTSC Color, 55 Minutes

This supplement to Volume One covers B&M operations in the Boston suburban area during the fall and winter of 1951. You'll see lots of snow action here as plow extras keep the lines open. Included is a visit to Boston's North Station where old-time steam engines and early generation Diesels are seen in abundance. This is rare and spectacular color footage of a bygone era. Narration is by former CBS Radio reporter Ralph E. Morse.

Cab Ride to Bedford
With B&M Conductor Edward F. Schuler
On Location Sound Recording by Richard W. Symmes

Audio Compact Disc Format, 44 Minutes

Take a virtual trip over the Lexington Branch in the cab of a B&M Budd Rail Diesel Car. Listen to the station calls from Edward F. Schuler, the conductor who rode the Bedford train during the 1960s and '70s. Authentic Budd Car sounds were recorded by Richard W. Symmes. Included with each CD is a published interview with conductor Schuler about his Lexington Branch recollections.

New England Glory, Volume One: Mountain Division
On the Trail of the Iron Horse Through Crawford Notch
Boston & Maine in 1946; Maine Central in 1950
Photographed by Stanley Y. Whitney

DVD Format, NTSC Color, 77 Minutes

Follow the Boston & Maine's Mountaineer out of Boston to Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, and then spend a full day from dawn to dark on Maine Central's Mountain Division at Bartlett. Every train is covered, including freights, mixed, passengers, and pushers. You'll get up close to the steam power at the roundhouse. This is a documentary of every train running at the time of Maine Central's last year of steam on that line. Narration is by former CBS Radio reporter Ralph E. Morse.

The Boston & Maine
By A&R Productions

DVD+R Format, NTSC Color and B&W, 55 Minutes

Ride the head end of B&M's "Minuteman" from South Acton to the bumping post in North Station. Watch the rush hour parade of steam and Diesel powered trains. Then, we ride the head end on one of the last runs of the "Alouette" on the Concord & Montreal into Woodsville, just before the line was abandoned. Enjoy the view from the locomotive's cab on trips through the Hoosac Tunnel and on the fabled Central Massachusetts Branch. Narration and maps round out this excellent production.

The Boston & Maine
By Green Frog Productions

DVD Format, NTSC, 45 Minutes

This program chronicles the Boston & Maine during its post-World War II transition. See how the B&M and other northeastern railroads faced up to the changes of the 1950s. This is very rare film, indeed.

The turbulent years following World War II resulted in dramatic changes to North American railroads. Events in the Northeast reflected this. The staid, old Boston and Maine Railroad, which dominates this steam action video shot by Edward Batson, went through the wrenching change from steam to diesel power.

We see steam rush hour traffic highballing out of North Station as the first-generation Diesels appear on the scene -- and then we visit North Billerica several times to see steam power being scrapped. Then, almost unexpectedly, a dramatic B&M management change resulted in new blue paint and sent ripples throughout the region's rail network.

A keystone of this program are rare scenes of B&M P4 Pacific No. 3713, now being resored at Steamtown, in snow melter service in the winter of 1956, and leaving Boston on the memorable "Farewell to Steam" excursion on April 22, 1956. Steam action is also witnessed on the Maine Central, New Haven, Central Vermont, and Grand Trunk in New England, and the Canadian National in Quebec. Then in dramatic developments, tourist steam roads briefly appear at Edaville Railroad, Steamtown in New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the American Freedom Train.