Big Jim Video Productions

04/26/2026

Happy 425 Day!! One of the few locomotive "days" that I actually commemorate, because the four-and-a-quarter is one of my favorites. Normally I'd simply share a YouTube video, but this time I wanted to go a different route. Over the fourth of July weekend in 2017, Reading & Northern sent 4-6-2 #425 to Jim Thorpe for an extended weekend of Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway trips. Cab rides are available for Lehigh Gorge trains, so I took advantage of that fact and bought a ticket for a ride in the locomotive on that day. I also asked the crew if I could mount a GoPro on the locomotive, and I wanted to catch some driver action. I placed the GoPro on the frame where I could see the drivers at work, and got this footage of the locomotive accelerating at CP Coal, getting up to track speed out of the Jim Thorpe yard. For more from this weekend, including in-cab footage, visit https://youtu.be/I5yL8yYt_14 - and enjoy!!

04/07/2026

Part of the weekend's festivities for the 2026 East Broad Top's Winter Spectacular were a pair of Lerro Photography photo chaters on Thursday, February 12 and Friday, February 13, 2026 - which were supposed to be led by 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive #16. However, during test/shakedown runs a few days prior, the locomotive was taken out of service while repairs were made. Pressed into service then, was the railroad's newest locomotive, #19, a recently-purchased diesel locomotive that serves as steam's backup power (and occasional off-season motive power as well). Word is that before the EBT ended common-carrier service, they had looked into purchasing diesels for use. This photo event provided a nice "what if" scenario, if that had actually happened.

I hope you enjoy this clip, and for more from the weekend, visit https://youtu.be/k5Z5hekLUmM

04/03/2026

After a few unseasonably warm days, there wasn't a ton of snow left on the ground, but East Broad Top #16 was still out and about running for the railroad's Winter Spectacular event on Sunday, February 15, 2026. Here, #16 works her way over the Runk Road bridge outside of the town of Orbisonia, heading back to the depot on a very overcast day.

04/01/2026

Railway preservation in the modern age doesn't exactly go to plan all the time. Such was the case between February 12-15, 2026 in the Orbisonia, PA area, as the East Broad Top Railroad hosted the 2026 Winter Spectacular. The weekend certainly didn't start the way that anyone had anticipated, but by the end of the weekend, things were pretty darn good in south central Pennsylvania.

The weekend was supposed to be filled with steam, starting with two Lerro Photography photo charters on Thursday and Friday of that weekend - but 2-8-2 #16 was down with unforeseen mechanical issues - so the railroad pinch hit their newest locomotive, narrow-gauge diesel #19 instead, creating scenes of a late steam-era coal-hauling operation that could take place just about anywhere.

After that, repairs continued to be made, while #19 and the famous M-1 motorcar held down the schedule of passenger runs on Saturday. Finally, on Sunday, February 15, steam returned for the final few trips of the day.

Enjoy this extended look at the "East Broad Top Winter Spectacular 2026: A Most Unusual Experience"!

Railway preservation in the modern age doesn't exactly go to plan all the time. Such was the case between February 12-15, 2026 in the Orbisonia, PA area, as...

02/02/2026

One more look from Maryland a few weekends ago - former Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-2 #1309 climbs through the iconic Helmstetter's Curve, just outside of downtown Cumberland, MD with an Allegheny Winter Express trip to Frostburg via the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The area has grown in over the years quite a lot - it would be a pretty large undertaking to clear the trees and brush to restore it to it's former open glory - but you never know! For more clips from this weekend, check out https://youtu.be/ZGBIIHVCpAk - and thanks!

01/19/2026

For two weekends in January of 2026, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad ran their former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 #1309 on the Allegheny Winter Express, their off-season trips from Cumberland to Frostburg, MD and return, as a way to celebrate the beginning of the new year on the railroad, and to provide a bit of fun for all involved before off-season maintenance for the steam locomotive. Big Jim Video Productions was there for the second of two weekends, January 10 and 11, and experienced all sorts of weather - from fog and rain, to snow and sunshine, and I captured a little bit of everything during my weekend in Maryland. Enjoy this look at Winter Steam on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad!

For two weekends in January of 2026, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad ran their former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 #1309 on the Allegheny Winter Express, t...

01/14/2026

From snow one weekend, to rain, fog, snow and a brief period of sun the next, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's first two 2026 weekends of the Allegheny Winter Express experienced all sorts of weather during its trips up the hill from Cumberland to Frostburg, MD. On Saturday, January 10, former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 grinds upgrade underneath the former Western Maryland signal bridge at Trimble Road in the fog. Enjoy this clip, and more to come soon!

01/12/2026

On Sunday, January 11, 2026, former Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-2 #1309 was on the point for her second weekend pulling the Allegheny Winter Express at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad from Cumberland to Frostburg. The weekend before, snow was on the ground as #1309 journeyed across the railroad, but rain and warmer weather had melted it all away for this weekend. Yet, thanks to some brief snow squalls, flakes were falling once again. Here the train works her way upgrade at Patty Baker Road towards the terminus at Frostburg. More video coming soon...

12/23/2025

New Hope Railroad's 2-8-0 #40 is going down for her 1472-day inspection at the end of 2025, so I made one last trip up to see her in operation on Sunday, December 21, 2025, before the rebuild happens. While there, with major thanks to a friend, I was able to access a dream location for me - a low angle underneath Ingham Trestle (better known as the "Perils of Pauline" trestle leaving the town of New Hope. This was (obviously) shot on private property - so do not attempt to come down here unless you have permission/access!

For more video from the day, visit https://youtu.be/gdoNFJkpgbo - and enjoy!!

12/16/2025

Promoting rails-WITH-trails in the Shenandoah Valley, VA. Tourists, passengers, and freight have so much to benefit from SAVING THE RAILS on the Shenandoah Rail Corridor. "Rails-TO-Trails is a bad fit for the Shenandoah Valley, rather "rails-WITH-trails" is much better for the long term community an...