Breckenridge and the "No. 9 tape"

Amen on the DVD put out by the Park County Historical Society. I posted a "review" of this gem a while back.

2011 DVD - "The Old C & S and Engine No. 9" - it's a good one

Posted by: AZfarmer (IP Logged)

Date: February 19, 2013 09:22PM


I came across this DVD produced from archival footage by the Park Co. Historical Society. It would be of great interest to C&Sng fans, and many on this forum, but I have not seen it advertised or reviewed in NG&SLG or elsewhere. I happened upon a copy at the CRRM, but it's available from the Society web site:

Park Co. Historical Society

If you have the Sunday River Video "Across the Top" from 1990, this is the source material for the section "South Park Line". But there is a lot more railroad footage of interest on this DVD, which was restored by the Society in 2011 from remaining original film, and the best available VHS.

The film itself has a neat story. Helen McGraw (later McGraw-Tatum) lived in the South Park area in 1933 - 37 as a school teacher. She filmed the C&S operations and local life during that time, to put on "movie nights" in the towns. In 1954, she and her husband assembled the original film, and added sound, music and narration (by Helen herself). After a career that saw her rise to a Marine Major, they converted the film to VHS (1989) for sale (the ad for purchasing the VHS appears at the end of the film!)

The railroad content covers the South Park line, from Denver to Breckenridge. There is too much to list out here, but it includes 4-loco freight (lead by D&RGW 346 and 345) and passenger trains in Platte Canyon, passenger trains and town views in Buffalo, Bailey, Shawnee, Grants and Como, then over Boreas Pass to Breckenridge. The highlight might be the scenes at Como, as #69 is turned on the armstrong turntable. There are on-train and off-train shots of the final Denver-Leadville passenger train in April 1937. Through it all Helen gives a detailed, accurate and surprisingly technical narration covering railroad operation, construction, and tall tales.

Of interest are views of ice harvesting at Maddox Lake, with footage showing how they manhandled huge ice blocks into C&S box cars for shipment to the residents of Denver. Also, many scenes show what small-town, depression era life was like - the 4th of July in Bailey and cattle branding.

Admittedly, the music, sound effects, and film quality are primitive by recent standards. But what this 42-minute film ($30) shows more than makes up for that.

Has anyone else had a chance to catch this one?

Bob of AZ

Bob of AZ