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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
 4.8 of 5 (8)

Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD Charles Smiley Presents D-143
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This is a look back in time to the "Anthracite" roads that once made the eastern rail scene more interesting and colorful. These principal roads were the Lehigh Valley, Jersey Central, Reading, D&H and the Erie Lackawanna Railroads.
The common theme was their early success based on hauling anthracite coal from a unique area in Pennsylvania and the decline of that business. The last decade of these roads largely depended on a declining business in hauling "bridge traffic".
The corporate history of these five roads is woven into a wealth of wonderful, all-color, railroading scenes. Our animated maps, made especially for our videos, are used to keep the viewer more informed.
We explain all the mergers and some that almost came about. This railroading action has a grand look at five Class 1 rail lines that were independent until 1976.
Our presentation is based on color movie film with its rich color rendering and digital enhancement to make it appear better than even the original.
This is 1 hour and 40 minutes of five featured railroads that have disappeared along with highlights from three other regional railroads that faced the same fate.
The closing chapter brings the beginning of Penn Central and its rapid failure that swept up the other roads in their northeast. This is a large slice of US railroading history with many "moving parts" -- from a lost but colorful era.
Featuring
LEHIGH VALLEY RR
JERSEY CENTRAL
READING RR
DELAWARE & HUDSON
ERIE LACKAWANNA
PRSL AND L&HR
PENN CENTRAL – EARLY CONRAIL
AND MORE!
An additional 20 minutes of previews of other titles were added to this DVD that review the northeast rail scene in the 1976 to 1996 timeframe. The total run-time of this DVD is 2-hours and 01-minute.


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DVD Item#:D-143
Runtime:2 Hours, 01 Min ($0.19/min)
Producer:Charles Smiley Presents
Aspect Ratio:Full Screen
Shrink Wrapped?:Yes
Disc Type:DVD
Region Code:0 Worldwide NTSC
Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
mySP7377 (San Diego, CA.) on 2014-01-22 21:51:28.

People who found this review helpful: 7

  •  5 of 5


Great DVD an awesome collection of trains from the 1970s here. The DVD is nicely done like Smiley's others with a nice blend of informative narration maps and graphics music and train sounds. There's so much in this DVD its hard to know where to begin but its all great viewing and definitely worth the price of admission, some of the best film I've seen on the Erie Lackawanna is here (somebody sure knew how to film) along with all the other classics roads. All the photos on the DVDs cover are taken from the footage seen in the DVD so that gives you some idea of the stuff you'll see. The only thing that would make this DVD any better would be having it done in Blu Ray or High Def but that doesn't take anything away from this gem, grab a copy before there all gone.

John
SP/UP Railroad (Ret)

Additional remarks by mySP7377:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Run8anderson (Yardley, PA) on 2018-09-14 16:24:40.

People who found this review helpful: 2

  •  5 of 5


I totally agree with all 5 star reviewers. I have most of Smiley Productions and rate this in the top tier. I enjoy s viewing older films with NO graffiti on rolling stock. This is a nice change of pace from Gevos & miles of stack, oil and coal trains!

Additional remarks by Run8anderson:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Run8anderson (PA) on 2018-09-07 17:24:16.

People who found this review helpful: 2

  •  5 of 5


GREAT vintage film. I liked the old trains with no graffiti. Much good info.

Additional remarks by Run8anderson:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Did you find this review useful?

Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
dmacleo (Etna ME US) on 2017-09-06 11:38:12.

People who found this review helpful: 2

We have verified that this reviewer has purchased this item from Train Video Depot because this reviewer is a member of our loyalty program and was signed in when they purchased the item and when they left the review.

  •  3 of 5


good footage of the older fallen flag anthracite carriers in northeast.
However the title says what went wrong and they never really addressed that, for example the huge need for it that WW2 created while at same time drafts took lot of workers away inflating the pay/cost of the workers and product itself then. once WW2 over prices/costs dropped back down making it an unprofitable commodity at the time. They did touch on how the ICC hurt them by not allowing them to own mines, etc.

Additional remarks by dmacleo:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: A little rough around the edges.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Yes.

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Rrvideojunkie (Usa) on 2014-08-28 19:32:47.

People who found this review helpful: 2

  •  5 of 5


Video brings back memories of the great Erie Lackawanna RR. The Friendly Service Route lived up to that moniker. A colorful railroad that traversed beautiful country. I miss it terribly. What if Agnes had not occurred? The EL would still likely be gone but would likely become part of NS today and never absorbed by Conrail.

Additional remarks by Rrvideojunkie:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? Definitely.

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Phil Stevenson (England) on 2014-08-28 01:08:31.

People who found this review helpful: 2

We have verified that this reviewer has purchased this item from Train Video Depot because this reviewer is a member of our loyalty program and was signed in when they purchased the item and when they left the review.

  •  5 of 5


An excellent DVD showing what went wrong with the Eastern Railroads. Too much competition for the same business, no way to make a profit, increased costs, duplication of lines, a recipe for disaster. Saved by CONRAIL but it took over 10 years. This DVD shows it all, excellent vintage footage of the bankrupt railroads, great commentary and maps. One of the best DVD's I have watched.

Additional remarks by Phil Stevenson:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Tom M (Harrisburg, PA) on 2014-04-03 13:20:57.

People who found this review helpful: 2

We have verified that this reviewer has purchased this item from Train Video Depot because this reviewer is a member of our loyalty program and was signed in when they purchased the item and when they left the review.

  •  5 of 5


Great vintage film with very good quality images. Would definitely recommend.

Additional remarks by Tom M:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

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Hard Coal Roads: What Went Wrong DVD
Bobby Elliott (MS) on 2014-03-05 19:14:48.

People who found this review helpful: 2

We have verified that this reviewer has purchased this item from Train Video Depot because this reviewer is a member of our loyalty program and was signed in when they purchased the item and when they left the review.

  •  5 of 5


The theme to tie together all of the old film footage now computer freshened, was a good one. From the available film the hard coal lines were well covered though I wish a graphic at the end or along the way would have recapped the reasons for what went wrong with those lines. Aside from a gaffes with name pronunciations
this is an enjoyable production if one is interesting in the railroads of the anthracite region.

Additional remarks by Bobby Elliott:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

Did you find this review useful?