The Nickel Plate Story (1953)

One of your Head Trucker's favorite railroad films: a well-produced profile of the Nickel Plate Road, one of the smaller Class I railroads, providing a nice overview of freight operations at the end of the steam era, along with charming glimpses of American life sixty years ago - a time of unbounded optimism and limitless resources, or so it seemed.

Waitin' for the Weekend

Trackside: At the Throttle

I guess most of us guys wanted to be an engineer at some point in our childhood. I still have my old American Flyer set boxed up; what fun it was to imagine myself in the cab of the locomotive, one hand on the throttle, the other pulling the whistle cord. Well here's what the view from the cab looks like, pretty exciting stuff even in this modern age of diesels and computerized controls. Enjoy.

BTW, the ad reminds me - I always wanted an erector set, never got one though. But that's okay. I figured it out on my own.