Steam & Excursion > 614 Makes a Photo Run at Willow Valley Tunnel

Everyone here who is familliar with my postings over the years will recognize the name George Redmond from his photography and video work.  He started shooting video in 1985.  Before that however, he went through a period of a little over five years where he was making sound recordings in addition to taking photos.

As far as the sheer number of hours of tape, most of George's recordings were made while riding on steam excursions between 1980 and 1985.  For the most part, he used a mono tape recorder with an external microphone that he did a pretty good job of windproofing.  He also did trackside and pacing recordings, both while chasing excursion trains (he would often chase one and ride one) and of the day-to-day railroad operations he saw.  Pretty much, he recorded what he would soon be videotaping.

There are a few sequences that are outliers to his usual work.  I really need to ask him about the details, but he either borrowed or rented a stereo sound rig to use on several excursions in 1981 and 1982.  For these he would have a microphone set up on either side of the train, which would result in excellent stereo separation in the final recordings.  He used this set-up on two trips with C&O 614 on the Chessie Safety Express, one with Southern 2716 on a Memphis-Sheffield trip, and a 765 run in Indiana.

This recording was made on May 2nd, 1981, as the 614 was pulling a round-trip from Washington to North Vernon, Indiana, on the Baltimore & Ohio mainline to St. Louis.  On the eastbound leg, the train stopped at the east end of the Willow Valley Tunnel east of Shoals, Indiana, for a photo run.  While George's tape ran aboard the train, George disembarked with his camera.

This recording begins with the 614 starting the train west of the tunnel and ends as the train stops after passing the cameras east of the tunnel.  The photo I used for the background on the video is one of the 614 backing up for the photo run.

The photo depicts the runby.

Enjoy!

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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That was a fun listen :-)  Thanks!