The Pennsylvania Railroad in "Clear Track Ahead" (1946)

Jobs. Service. Dignity. Sure, work was less than ideal and often hard but people could raise families with one breadwinner who took pride in work well done.

Those of you that have seen the photo of the PRR T1 with the 5 inspectors standing in front of it, My father was the man standing on the left end. He was one of the inspectors during the T1 builds. Yes they are building a new one, with some modifications, LOL - at 80 I am not sure I'll see the finished locomotive. I will say that the steam era was truly wonderful.

This film is from a time when the citizens of America worked to create abundance and wealth for a better standard of living for all. Now in 2021 we have politicians and billionaires working to dismantle it.

I see a T1, I click.

The freight yard you see is the Enola breaking yard in Enola PA. I lived across the tracks from this yard for 34 years. I used to take my now-grown son to sit in our old Chevy station wagon and watch the cars being humped and put together to deliver goods across the nation. At one time, the Enola yard was the largest breaking yard on the East Coast. I remember one day someone came to our door and told us that there were free potatoes being given out. Sure enough, down where my son and I went to watch the cars, a reefer car full of Idaho potatoes had broken down, and rather than waste all those taters, the railroad was giving them to the townspeople. We went away with a couple of bags of spuds! First come, first served. At 16:44 you will see the engineer's lodgings. When I moved to Enola in 1973, it was no longer there, but instead had been transformed into an appliance repair shop called "Barlup's." Mr. Barlup and his sons ran that shop and they are good people (Mr. Barlup has now passed on) and are, I believe, still there to this day operating as Barlup's Appliances.

As this film depicted a shining future for railroads, it was the beginning of the end for steam power and after another decade the decline of passenger travel.

What a wonderful film. At age 9 (1958) my grandparents took me and my sister to Charleston, SC from NYC's Penn. This was the only time I was in the main part of the Penn station, I remember seeing the glass roof 75 feet above. My g-parent's had two roomettes, and it was the most exciting event of my childhood. On the return trip, we slept in the bunk beds. What a way to travel, then.

It was a great Railroad Rip Pennsylvanian Railroad PRR you will be in our hearts.

I was old by an Engineer at Altoona he'd start on the ready track and shut down the throttle. It would coast the next mile on its own. Smooth roller bearing setup.

Wow- what a treasure this video is to me. I love the PRR, and think the T-1 is awesome, and this video will be so helpful to me when I paint my model. Thank you for posting this interesting, informative and useful video

So heart breaking seeing all of the railroads in their prime and now they're non existent relics of the past rusting away in peices across america..

For 1946 the US had some great gear and that includes the T1, beautiful.

Also watching a T1 on a Dyno track is probably the most epic train nerdy things you can witness! Simply amazing when you think of watching something that 3 feet away at full power of that size and the pressure waves from the cylinders pounding in your chest.

This fascinating film was made the year my parents got married. It might as well show life on another planet.

No, no, NO! Jim can wait a minute! More of the test plant please. Lol! Seriously though, this was a fantastic short film. Thanks for the upload.

All gone now.As a young boy I sent letters to many railroads & received many emblems, belt buckles, etc.

Cutting edge technology in those days. As a kid, I could see all those dead railroads represented by their rolling stock as they entered the now gone SP yard in my hometown. Same goes for the MoP on the north edge of my hometown. I also got to see SP and MoP steam engines before they were replaced by early diesels. The local SP yard was a thriving place. 13 tracks; switching crews; car repair shop; roundhouse; PFE ice rack; signal men with their motor cars on the back of 6 wheel trucks; yard office; depot; yard men who walked the trains and oiled the 'box'; passenger trains. All gone now.

I can now appreciate and enjoy running my HO Scale T1 even more than before. It's an awesome beast; even with the slipping troubles of the real ones.

I remember as a kid visiting an aunt who lived next to a rail line and waving to the engineers as the trains passed. Also one of my favorite trips as taking a rail trip from Chicago to Seattle stopping for a visit to Glacier National Park. Unfortunately the last part of the trip was by bus because a forest fire had closed the last section of track from service. Also, when our kids were young, took the Amtrak to NY from Indpls. Enjoyed the great Pennsy Horseshoe Curve where you could see both ends of the train. Now get crammed in an aluminum tube envious of the room enjoyed by sardines packed in a tin can.

My grandfather worked for the Delaware & Hudson and he was sadly killed working in the Albany, NY breaking yard. He was helping to build a freight at night in February, 1961 during a snow storm when he was caught between the cuplings of two cars. he, apparently because of the deep falling snow, didn't hear the rolling shunt approaching, while he was opening the frozen knuckle of the receiving car, which caught him. I was all of 9 years old then. his funeral was a closed coffin because his injuries were too horrific to be viewed. Grandmother never recovered from her loss. 😞