One Mans Trolleys - DVD Transit Gloria Mundi

The one man is George Krambles, and his half-century transit career becomes a personal excursion through the history of electric railroading, from the twilight of the Indiana RR, through his rise to become Executive Director of the Chicago Transit Authority.

Remarkable historic footage covers all the important developments: the subway, the elevateds, the streetcars, the interurbans, the formation of the Authority, and especially the Skokie Swift. After he retired from the CTA, Krambles began a second career as a consultant, and we see scenes from several of these projects as well. One Man's Trolleys consists mostly of archival footage, with especially good coverage of Chicago's rapid transit, from the wooden gate cars to the newest from Morrison-Knudsen.

The balance of the show is a well-paced blend of modern video from the Illinois Railway Museum and the CTA's new Midway line, as well as interviews with Krambles's industry colleagues, and some historic stills. Bill Warrick (of Midwest Traction Classics fame) produced the show; Krambles hosts and narrates. Mostly color.

Price:	$ 28.45
List Price:	~~$ 29.95~~
Item:	OMT
Live Stock Status:	IN STOCK!
Ships TOMORROW if ordered now.
When will I receive it?

Specs
Length (mins):	54
Producer:	Transit Gloria Mundi
Aspect Ratio:	Full Screen
Disc Type:	DVD
Region Code:	0 Worldwide NTSC
Ranked #632 of 1265 items.
There is 1 review of this item. Click here or scroll down to read them.
Rated 2/5 (1 Vote) 1 2 3 4 5

Added 2009-11-15 17:55:19 by Jeffrey Ornstein

Overall, I was disappointed with this video. However, to be fair, it does have some positive points. This independently produced video appears to be produced on less than a shoestring budget. Modern footage is of poor quality. Vintage clips are somewhat better. This DVD is the story of George Krambles, who was Executive Director of the Chicago Transit Authority. The program starts out at the Illinois Railway Museum where Mr. Krambles talks about the various cars on display that ran in the Chicago area. There are also other museum employees who describe the trains in the exhibit. Most of this video is vintage footage of the Chicago El, the first subway and the Skokie Swift line. And that is the strong point of the program. There's great views of fast moving trains on the Skokie Line, and we see lots of PCC style rapid transit cars, as well as the 4000 series el cars. Most of the vintage part of the program is narration over the older films. And there's LOTS of narration here. Mr. Krambles speaks a lot of his involvement in all aspects of the CTA, and much of it is very interesting. But he speaks without taking much of a breather, and there's a lot of information you have to digest while watching the trains. In addition to the rapid transit, we also see PCC cars gliding down the streets of Chicago. The video ends with modern day filming of the new Midway Airport line and a short look at a CTA shop. If Transit Gloria Mundi rehabbed this video, it could be something nice, especially with all the vintage footage. But I felt it was definitely overpriced given the amateurish production. It's obviously only for the transit enthusiast.

Additional remarks by Jeffrey Ornstein:
Narration: Way too much!
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Poor.
DVD Value: Overpriced for the amount of enjoyment I got out of it.
Recommend to others? Not unless they REALLY were interested in the subject matter.

Respond to this review