Author Topic: Video "Ride the Sandy River"  (Read 13437 times)

Mike the Choochoo Nix

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Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« on: January 16, 2009, 09:57:42 PM »
Has anyone written a guide to the video that tells were each scene was filmed and what's in the background? I have the VHS tape I bought before DVD's were common.
Mike Nix
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Steve Klare

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2009, 11:20:11 PM »
I have this one: maybe the only silent VHS tape ever made. Every time I play it somebody walks into the room and asks me why I have the sound turned off. I think they should have dubbed the sound of a 16mm projector in for effect.

It's great stuff: It was filmed by Newell Martin and Linwood Moody (Moody later dedicated "Maine Two Footers" to Newell Martin.) It's famous for having quite a few scenes with the film flipped, giving mirror images. The titling is done with stick on letters on a pull down background to give a rolling title effect, and it reads much like Linwood Moody's writing years later. It's the kind of classic 1930s railfan film I would have loved to have been around to make. (Of course if I was I'd be dead by now, so I guess I can do without it...)

To my knowledge there has never been a guide prepared to it. Most of the yards like Phillips, Strong and Farmington are pretty easy to pick out by the landmarks. Sometimes if things seem a little spacially disoriented you look at the lettering on the cars, see that the image is flipped and then it makes sense. Out in the open country it's often hard to tell exactly where you are, but I guess in these cases you have to trust the original fillmmakers to edit locations in their correct geographic sequence. If they were trying to accurately preserve the line on film it's the right way to go about it.

The best vintage SR&RL film I've seen is the Gus Pratt footage. He had a talent for getting in close with the SR&RL: a lot of shots from the cab, and he was there at a lot of historical moments (unfortunately most at the scrapping).
« Last Edit: January 16, 2009, 11:29:20 PM by Steve Klare »

Stewart "Start" Rhine

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2009, 07:51:31 AM »
I have the video and have used a mirror to watch the parts that are shown in reverse image.  I hope that at some point the original film can be copied in digital format to be issued on DVD, correcting the parts that were backwards on the tape.  Dubbed sound can be added as with Gus Pratt's films.

Mike the Choochoo Nix

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2009, 09:23:31 AM »
Who own's the copyright on both films?  I'm sure they would both fit on one DVD,
   As for sound I would go with narration and back ground music, I doubt there are any sound recordings, too early for home equipment and too remote.
  Were any of the loco whistles saved, or rumored to have been saved?
One could insert whistle sounds.
  Their titles reminds me of the historic site markers you find along the highways.

Mike Nix
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Stephen Hussar

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2009, 10:41:34 AM »
In 2002, we offered to correct the reversed scenes, in exchange for the use of 30 secs of footage for Restoration Stories. The end result would have been a digitally remastered film with nothing lost, and I would have kept the reversed footage in there. Also it would have been digitized and ready for dvd. The answer was a very abrupt NO.

The rights to the, "Riding the Maine 2-footers - The Films of Gus Pratt" program, are owned by the WW&F Ry Museum.

I do not remember the name of the gentleman who owns the, "Ride the Sandy River RR" film.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2009, 10:46:20 AM by Stephen Hussar »

John Houghton

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2009, 11:56:42 AM »
FYI,

The packaging for my copy of this video gives the following contact info.  JLB, Inc., P. O. Box 198, Waterville, Maine 04901.  JLB my not, however, own this rights to the film.

John Houghton
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Steve Klare

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2009, 12:16:35 PM »
Looks like they've got it available on DVD now:

http://sandyriver.com/dvd.htm

I've always had the impression that there are a lot more of these films out there waiting to be discovered, the only problem is that the men that shot the film are gone now and a can of film labeled "SR&RL 1933" probably isn't going to seem like a big deal to to their relatives.

"SR&RL?....They must have been some old friends of Dad's..."


-Something that is labeled "Aunt Clara's 75'th birthday 1933" probably has a better chance of being viewed or even kept.

John McNamara

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2009, 12:54:33 PM »
Looking at the order form for this video, it is still listed as JLB Enterprises, and a reverse search on the phone number gives Harold J Johnson of Old Orchard Beach. Perhaps he owns the rights?

Steve Klare

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2009, 02:47:44 PM »
I don't know about the rights, but there is 16mm footage (maybe dupes, maybe original) in the Phillips Historical Society.

Years ago they showed it during Old Home Days.

They eventually went to video and showed the Albert G. Hale footage on Sunday River Productions VHS and the Martin/Moody footage on the JLB VHS.

To me it was more special on 16mm because it wasn't available everywhere else at the time and the projected image was a lot bigger than a TV set.

Mike Fox

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2009, 06:03:19 PM »
I dealt with this gentleman while researching pictures for the reprint of "Twenty Four Inch Gauge Railroad at Bridgton, Maine". The guy was helpfull to me. Here is his homepage
http://www.sandyriver.com/index.htm
Mike
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Duncan Mackiewicz

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2009, 04:23:23 PM »
I have also had dealings with owner of JLB Enterprise and he seems like a decent sort of fellow.  No harm in asking questions about the film.
Duncan






Stephen Hussar

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Re: Video "Ride the Sandy River"
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2009, 05:22:00 PM »
Yes, I'm sure he was annoyed because we were asking for useage and couldn't afford to pay for it, other than to perform the work I described. However, he stood to benefit quite significantly in my view, as what we were offering had a monetary value of several thousand dollars. Not to mention this type of trade is called a "gift in kind" by public television and requires us to give a screen credit to the source of the footage!

Oh well.