Stephen Hussar's latest work

[Wayne Laepple]

Let me take this opportunity to plug the latest dvd produced by our own Stephen Hussar through his Preservation Media company. "The Sandy River Line" is a 50-minute program of wonderful views of the Sandy River Line filmed in the years prior to its abandonment by Newell Martin and Thomas T. Taber. These films are, for the most part, very sharp images, lovingly transfered to dvd format by Steve and his team, with very tasteful and perfectly synchronized sound effects added. I hasten to say the sound is very natural and does not in any way intrude upon one's enjoyment of the scenes.

In addition to scenes around Strong and Phillips, we visit Carabassett, Kingfield and Farmington, and even get to see the railroad in action during the winter. There are also scenes of the two home-built railbuses in service. Martin's thoughtful captioning of scenes is included. The Preservation Media folks even digitally manipulated some scenes that were out of whack due to a camera malfunction all those years ago so that we can enjoy them.
If you're at all interested in the Sandy River, you need to add this dvd to your library.   

[James Patten]

The Sandy River group is selling these (their proceeds go toward Locomotive 3 work).  After Saturday, the WW&F will have some to sell as well.

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

I purchased a copy from the SRRL folks during the Springfield RR show right after Stephen dropped them off.  Great DVD.  Stephen and Preservation Media have done it again!  Well worth the investment to purchase a copy and see some 2-footers in action. 
Duncan

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Got my video yesterday and watched it last night.  WOW!!  The production is the first time that Newell Martin's entire film has been released with his scene captioning and scenes in the original order. The film is a wonderful look at the Depression era SR&RL.  As Wayne said, the sound track is super, hard to tell the audio wasn't recorded live.  There's a very rare view of the beautiful #24 pulling a long cut of cars from the Brayman track.  Lots of new footage including a freshly painted #18 switching at Strong and many scenes shot from a railcar along the P&R.  The Taber footage has more new scenes including the Vose Model T railcar and trailer being turned on the Phillips turntable.  The car looks brand new in gloss black paint.  Another wonderful scene is the only known video of railcar 3, the Model A which was only in service for 2 years. 

The Sandy River Line is a very nice production by Steve Hussar and Preservation Media.  Well worth the price.

[Steve Klare]

I am absolutely going to order one of these!

Up until now I've just had the VHS, which I understand is missing a lot of footage from the original film.

If only Steve would record the sound of a 16mm projector on SAP: it would satisfy me both as an SR&RL fan and a film freak!

[Stephen Hussar]

Thank you all very much for your kind praise! It is an honor to be asked to work on these films. Huge thanks to Jerry DeVos for making it happen!
Here's a link to a clip of the Newell Martin Film, originally titled The Sandy River Line by Newell himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGEP289spD0

Stephen

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I have watched the video 3 times and have seen new things each time.   I like to freeze a scene and study the structures, equipment and people.  Sometimes there are interesting things in the background.  It 's good seeing the engines work and trains roll by but I also enjoy watching the railroaders at work.  One can easily identify Dana Aldrich, Ed West, Clarence (Sonny) Fairbanks and Rob McMullen.   Watching them run the engine, switch cars, give signals and push the turntable is just as good as the runby shots.  By the mid - 1930's these fellows were seasoned railroaders and it is a pleasure to see them ply their trade. 

[Wayne Laepple]

I'll second Stewart's motion, with the following anecdote. Jerry Hartzler, who wrote a wonderful book about the shortline that served his hometown in Pennsylvania, had seen many a still photo of the men who worked on the line, the Kishacoquillas Valley RR. I was present several years ago the first time Jerry saw movies of the KV taken just a few days before the line shut down in 1940, 20-some years before he was born. The emotions that played across his face as he saw these men move and respond to one another were amazing.