DVD - MILWAUKEE ROAD '76-'78

The film for this DVD was rediscovered in January 2004, after almost 26 years. The footage begins in the Tacoma Roundhouse area and quickly moves to Tacoma Jct, for a meet between Work Extra 185 and Extra 16 West. The photographer, head brakeman on Work Extra 185, tends the switch while his train shoves into the clear for the meet. Extra 16 West arrives, but where did that Sperry Rail Car come from? Then we jump to the Milwaukee Road's hottest train, Number 200. On 200's head unit, SD-40 189, we cruise through Washington State's Kittitas County, along Lake Keechelus, through snow sheds, over the Northern Pacific Stampede Pass line, through a tunnel and over numerous bridges, and into "Cle Town.

Then down the bottom of the long grade from Boylston summit to Beverly Jct, and across the mighty Columbia River into Beverly Depot. The cab pan back from the Beverly Bridge of Number 200's train, 88 cars charging down that 2.2% desert mountain grade, shows the Milwaukee Road in its full glory.

Next we jump to westbound Number 201's run along the Maple Valley Highway and across "the Streets of Renton." What, no Dinner Train? Finally we end our road trip cruising through the Kent Valley on the Milwaukee Road - Union Pacific Joint Line; right through Kent Depot in fact.

Then a jump to another subject entirely, Milwaukee Road Seattle Yard and a yard drag out past Black River Tower to Black River Yard. Some of the footage in this last segment is dark, probably on account of weak light meter batteries, but still ok. - J.P. Crosby, 2004.

Please order the DVD (DVD+R format) from:

John Crosby 102 NW Canal St. Seattle, WA 98107 dvd@mrcd.org

Please send check or money order or use PayPal in the amount of $25.00 plus $3.00 domestic shipping, or $5.00 international shipping. Shipping is via first class mail (Europe is via first class, 6 day air). PayPal link is through my business: Canal Street Coffee.

SATISFACTION IS GUARANTEED

Technical notes

• Film: Kodak Kodachrome II ASA 25 "Daylight" Super 8mm
• Camera: Bolex late model, fully automatic.
• Processor: Film processing CX Labs, Seattle.
• Conversion: Pro Images, 1306 Dexter Av N., Seattle. Process was first from the original film to digital tape to master DVD.
• Narration: By the photographer, at Pro Images.

Photographic technique: By 1978, the photographer had 15 years amateur experience in 8mm and Super 8mm movie photography. There are NO irritating zooms or pans. While all footage was shot hand-held, the photographer was adept at leaning on or against structures to minimize natural hand shaking. Road shots are long straight ahead shots, right down the typical center of the rails line of sight as if the camera was mounted at crew eye level in the center of the cab or at the fireman's side in the cab. Pan shots back at the train are slow and deliberate (experienced movie and video photographers know how difficult it is to take a deliberate pan shot). The photographer's usual shooting plan was to spot a "stage" and keep the camera on that stage, come what may (e.g. Work Extra 185 shoves its complete wrecker train by, three feet a! way from the camera, and exits stage left while the camera remains firmly on its view east of the mainline at Tacoma Jct). Movies are best when the actors, not the cameras, move.

Reviews

Review from Evan Robinson, Ancaster, Ont. (2 April 2004, via email - posted with permission) "Hi John, I want to thank you for the fabulous treasure that your Coast Div. DVD is. Thank you for sending it so quickly, I received it in good time only to find that it wouldn't play on the older DVD player that my son-in-law gave me. I finally got a new player, got it set up and you can guess what DVD I watched first! Thanks again, John. The next time I'm out on the coast I'll be sure to drop in to the shop to meet you. I enjoy your contributions to both of the MILW lists."

Frank Caron, San Francisco, Calif. (29 March 2004, via email - posted with permission) "At any rate I really enjoyed your video, that was some amazing footage, something that will never come back. It's great that you were able to capture the action, the other railroaders you worked with, even the darker scenes weren't a problem to view. The one scene of the really bad track in the yard says alot about the physical being of the MILW back then. The narration was good, the picture quality was good and all in all I was quite pleased. I have told others about this, so hopefully you'll get more orders."

Gordon Moser, Lincoln, Calif. (6 April 2004, via email - posted with permission) "I recieved the DVD yesterday. It works fine. Thanks. A lot of memories for me also. I will tell you more about something that happened with the MILW in the Renton/Maple Valley area in 1978. (Longest train I ever saw go East with 153 cars!) Short on time now, as I have to go to work. Thanks again!! Gordon"

Gary Dutt, Olalla, Wash. (11 May, 2004, via email - posted with permission) I watched the DVD last night and I really enjoyed it. The time period was exactly the same as when I started getting interested in the Milwaukee Road. At that time I was wishing that the electric locomotives and the Olympian Hiawatha still ran. Now I just wish that there were still a railroad. I especially enjoyed the part between Lake Keechelus and Easton. A couple of years ago a rode my bike on this stretch (well at least until where the trail was closed). It is neat to see what it looked like with rails on it. I am hoping to get back up there now that they have put back in the bridges. I do have a question. When the train goes by the section man with the speeder, there appears to be a house or some o! ther type of building across the tracks from him. Do you know what this was? Could it have been an old section house? I suppose that there were a lot of old buildings along the right away. By the time I got my drivers license (summer of 1980), the railroad had stopped running. That makes your photos and film special. Thanks for sharing them.

Dan Echeto, Long Beach, Calif. (11 May, 2004, via email - posted with permission) Finally I get some free time to sit down and comment on your DVD. Quite a fine little slice of history you have there. As far as conveying just what life was like on the PCE, it is the equal of any of the books and articles I've read on the subject. Had some fun with it by pulling down Terraserver on one side of the computer screen and "following along" with the locations on the video. Narration was well done.....just enough, and not too much. Very enjoyable. Thanks for passing along some of the MILW heritage and spirit to someone who never saw it in person!

Peter Lewis, Seattle, Wash. (16 June, 2004, via email - posted with permission) I loved the DVD. The Milwaukee Road has always fascinated me. The DVD really brings the railroad alive for me, as my experiences are limited to things like walking through the Snoqualmie Tunnel, and imagining what it must have been like, or standing on the right of way at modern day Beverly and dreaming of what was. Thanks for bring the Milwaukee Road to life for me...

Craig Barthel, Federal Way, Wash. (26 June, 2004, via email - posted with permission) I just viewed the DVD. The quality of the pictures and the narration are quite good. I have 2 Milw videos, one by Charles Smiley and one by Green Frog and your material is as good and at most times better.

Gary Holcombe, Seattle, Wash. (17 September 2004, via email - posted with permission) I watched the Milwaukee DVD, twice. Thank you for offering this item for sale. I appreciated and enjoyed seeing the route I have walked from the view of a train cab, and I hear many details offered in your narration that will take a few more viewings for me to absorb.

Kevin Klettke, Puyallup, Wash. (1 October 2004, via email - posted with permission) I enjoyed the DVD very much John. I was impressed with the quality after so many years. Thanks for taking the time to document one of my favorite roads.

Christopher Clipper, Oakland, Calif. (17 October 2004, via email - posted with permission) I enjoyed your movie about the Milwaukee road! In fact, my girlfriend was raised in Washington and remember the sight of South Seattle. We both enjoyed your commentary about Paul Volcker and others. ( I am glad that you know about Paul Volcker!) Anyways after looking and listening to your DVD and slides, I did not know that the Milwaukee Road had that much container business with the Port of Seattle. In addition, your service is outstanding! After getting a bad DVD, you immediately sent another one quickly! I advise anyone that want to study about the Milwaukee Road should come to you first. Mr.. Crosby your DVD and your service is OUTSTANDING. Keep up the great work.

Mark Borleske, Seattle, Wash. (11 November 2004, via email - posted with permission) You did very well in filming the trips over the road on the Milwaukee Road...what a coup !! You got exceptional footage, you really scored well on scenes that are impossible to get, and are just something for our imagination...the snow sheds along Lake Keechelus, the bridge across the NP and Yakima River near Lake Easton (which has since been replaced as a trail bridge) , the river crossing at Beverly (and Beverly itself) and a real coup...a true run-through through Cle Elum... And you captured a few favorites of mine, like Black River Tower.

Thanks for having the presence of mind to have taken those wonderful movies and slides and being so generous in sharing them. You have truly captured the essence of the Milwaukee that we all knew or give us a good way to visualize what once was.

Brian McKee, Kent, Wash. (17 November 2004, via email - posted with permission) Thank you for the wonderful Coast Division DVD. It arrived quickly and in good order. It definitely leaves you hungry for more great Milwaukee Road action! Great job on the footage and narrative. I am truly impressed with the quality and the content.

Dan Mitzel, Oxford, Mich. (19 November 2004, via email - posted with permission) Thanks for the second copy - it played fine on my home DVD system. I really enjoyed watching it, especially the trip down to (and through) Beverlyl and across the Columbia. Reflecting upon this section of the mainline, I wonder about the chances of BNSF relaying the line from Ellensburg to Lind as a cutoff to avoid Pasco on the former NP route over Stampede Pass.

I did a Google search on the NP route and found a Port of Seattle/Tacoma white paper recommending this solution to alleviate congestion on the former GN and NP routes east of Puget Sound. In the report, it states gridlock will likely occur later in this decade unless various improvements are made to BNSF's physical plant. Funny, I thought the transcon's were already at the point of gridlock.

In detail, the report recommends directional running over both Stevens Pass (Westbound) and Stampede (Eastbound), with the cutoff a necessary part of the plan. $25mil USD to lower the floor in Stampede Pass tunnel to accommodate double-stack container trains and $125mil USD to relay the Milwaukee main through Othello. If you're interested, the full report can be viewed at: http://www.washingtonports.org/Trade/WPPA%20Rail%20Study%20Executive%20Summary%20051904.pdf

Thanks again for sharing your personal video - hopefully we'll see trains on Boylston Hill again one day.

Chris Scarlett, Ellensburg, Wash. (20 November 2004, via email - posted with permission) Thanks for the DVD, it is very interesting!! What a trip!! You did a great job.

Mike Turcott, Lacey, Wash. (23 November 2004, via email - posted with permission) The DVD came today in the mail and I am watching it now. Bravo!! I did experience a technical difficulty about 11 minutes in, as we are approaching Beverly eastbound. The DVD quit playing, however it plays just fine on my computer. It may be my low-budged DVD player. Has anyone else experienced this?

Otherwise, it is fantastic. Thanks for making this. I will probably be purchasing a few more copies for Christmas gifts.

Click here for information about John Crosby's Coast Division CD - 343 - 35 mm slides - available from Rick Beaber, curator of the Milwaukee Photo Archives Site. http://72.36.200.2/~rbeaber/milw/

MILWAUKEE ROAD: COAST DIVISION 1976-1978. Super 8 photography and narration by John Crosby, Milwaukee Road trainman. DVD, 21 minutes, 30 seconds; $25 plus $3 postage and handling. Order from John Crosby, 102 NW Canal St., Seattle, WA 98107.

John Crosby worked for the Milwaukee Road for only a few years before, as he put it, "seeing the handwriting on the wall and going to work for the Burlington Northern." However, over those few years, he took some film of some of his work sites and trips on the Milwaukee's Coast Division. The value of this material is twofold. First, John has some excellent photography of places not often seen by the public or photographed by railfans. For example, there is a view coming down the 2.2 percent grade to the Columbia River and Beverly, Wash. Second, John's narration not only gives locations and dates, but also comments on the condition of the railroad at the time, identifies the primary freights of the period and gives the viewer a feel for railroading on the western end.

The DVD begins with an August 1978 view of the Tacoma Tideflats Yard and some of trains and equipment in use at that time. Next, John moves to a 1978 trip along Lake Keechelus, with its snowsheds, and the area around Easton, Wash. At the latter, he also provides information about the Milwaukee's freight trains of the period.

In the third sequence (no doubt the best in this short but outstanding film) we follow the grade down out of the Saddle Mountains, cross the magnificent Columbia River Bridge (still standing in 2005) and pass through always forlorn Beverly, Wash. This is followed by a trip through Maple Valley and Renton -- where the substation has already been converted into an office building -- and into the junction with the BN where power usually waited to take the traffic bound for Seattle.

Next, a segment through the area on the joint UP line through Kent (which still had a depot, though no passenger service) on toward Tacoma. The final portion, shot in 1976, takes place in Stacy Street Yard in Seattle and then out toward Tacoma Junction where John gives his reasons for leaving the Milwaukee and what he feels is the reason Milwaukee Road service to the West Coast ended.

Although the photography is excellent and John's commentary very informative, the sequences are out of chronological order as we jump from 1978 to 1976 and then back again. Also, although John says he tried to arrange the film sequentially, the order may not be clear to a viewer who has not been in the Seattle area before. A map of some type would help orient the viewer to where the action is taking place. A bit of throat-clearing on the DVD and other residual noises are noticeable, but for the quality of the material, and the fact that John has made this on his own, these are just minor distractions.

Should you buy this DVD? You betcha! Some great photography gives you a feel of the Pacific Northwest, what facilities the Milwaukee had in Seattle-Tacoma area and some of the outstanding scenery there. John's narration is clear, informative and insightful. I'm sure readers will enjoy it as much as I did. A must for any Milwaukee fan. -- Bob Storozuk

The Milwaukee Railroader First Quarter 2005