Dating to 1915, this black & white, silent film promotes General Electric’s “King of the Rails” electric locomotives built for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road). These locomotives formed two classes designated EP-1 and EF-1. There were eventually forty two such boxcab electric locomotives built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in service, and the remained in operation into the 1950s.
Opening titles: King of the Rails presented by General Electric (:09-:20). A brief and peculiar history of how to haul or move heavy items starts the film. First, Native Americans in headdresses are seen walking through the woods. Then, White men chop down trees as they clear the forest as part of “Progress”. The lumberjacks try to figure out a way to remove the huge logs. A log cabin. Stone boat was a useful tool but heavier objects had to be rolled. Men roll a heavy rock (:21-2:50). Primitive wheelbarrow is used to move sticks and rocks. Ox-drawn cart helps pull people in a wagon. Horses pull wagons. In the western United States, the Pony Express is utilized. In the snowy North, dog sleds are used (2:51-4:10). The DeWitt Clinton, America’s first steam locomotives. A hand holds a piece of paper that reads ‘Schenectady to Albany.’ People board the DeWitt Clinton train. It moves down the tracks slowly (4:11-5:18). Horses pull trolley cars down the street in major American cities, this shows New York Railways on Broadway (5:52). When the trolley stops, people exit and enter. Electric street cars in big cities. Elevated trains above city streets. Subway trains go into a tunnel (5:19-6:46). People migrate westward across fields. Transcontinental railroads on tracks. The ‘King of the Rails’ is built, this locomotive is powered by electricity. One of the motors is placed into position as the train is constructed. The railcar is being built (6:47-8:20). The railcar is brought to the assembly factory and placed on a truck at G.E.’s Erie Works in Erie, PA. Railcar body is lowered onto the trucks. Electric train goes down the tracks. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific railroad has electrified 660 miles of track from Harlowton, Montana to Avery, Idaho and from Othello, Washington to Seattle and Tacoma. Rainbow Falls, Montana, the Missouri River was harnessed to help give electric energy. Great Falls, Montana hydro-elecric dam. Inside the dam’s walls (8:21-10:44). Voltage is transported to other substations to assist. Transformers help convert as well. A pantograph goes up and down, the railcar starts moving as the pantagraph is up. Rocky Mountains, a train on the rails. Silverbow Canyon in Montana (10:45-12:15). Train goes through Pipestone Pass is in the Rocky Mountains in MT. Into a tunnel near the Continental Divide. Train goes over a bridge on the Eastern Slope. Through Jefferson Canyon. Eagles Nest train tunnel. Electric train goes down the tracks as seen from the side (12:16-13:59). Trains used for freight service. Electric train goes downhill, using regenerative braking. A steam locomotive on the rails (14:00-14:59). No end credits.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) classes EP-1 and EF-1 comprised 42 boxcab electric locomotives built by Alco in 1915. Electrical components were from G.E. They were composed of two half-units semi-permanently coupled back-to-back. As built, 30 locomotives were assigned to freight service, classified as EF-1 and numbered 10200–10229. The remaining twelve locomotives were assigned to passenger service as class EP-1, numbered 10100–10111, with higher-speed passenger gearing. The design was highly successful, replacing a much larger number of steam locomotives, cutting costs and improving schedules. General Electric self-proclaimed this electric locomotive to be the “King of the Rails” in a silent promotional film from 1915. In 1919, with the arrival of a newer generation of passenger power, the EP-1 locomotives were converted to EF-1 freight locomotives, and renumbered 10230–10241. In this role, they served until the 1950s, when the arrival of the Little Joe locomotives began to replace them in freight service.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
