Empty Harbours, Empty Dreams

Cavalcade of San Francisco

1940

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

She's a Railroader

1978

Karen Zaitchik jumps on and off moving boxcars, throws switches, pulls brakes and uncouples freights with ease and confidence. She's a railroader for CN and that's what this 21-year-old highly individualistic woman wants out of life for the moment. This colourful short film shows how Karen manages in the traditionally male world of the railroad.

Hear That Train a Comin'

2006

Meet the crew of the Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985, the largest and most powerful steam engine in the world. This colorful documentary is a behind-the-scenes look at the conductors, engineers and mechanics who keep this fickle train running, an engaging history of steam power, and a scenic tour the Great Plains -- from Cheyenne, Wyo., through Denver and across Nebraska to the Omaha headquarters of the Union Pacific.

TGV, la réussite française

2017

The Acadian Connection

1995

National Film Board of Canada documentary of stories of Acadians (French Canadians from the eastern Maritime provinces). Hundreds of thousands of Acadians emigrated to Louisiana following deportation by the British during the Acadian Expulsion of the mid-18th century, hence the term 'Cajun.'

1910: The Uncovering

For many years the only transportation link across Canada was one railway line. This tenuous, nation-building ribbon of steel was built through high, snowy, and unpredictable mountains. The tragic avalanche that occurred at the Rogers Pass summit in March of 1910 remains Canada's deadliest. 58 railway workers, majority Japanese died while attempting to clear a snow slide from the tracks when another larger avalanche struck from the other side in the middle of the dark night. This documentary project also delves into the lives of two unlikely friends today, a downtown Vancouver businessman, and a Japanese-born ski guide brought together by their need for purpose, healing, and a shared passion for researching the mysteries and injustices of this event. During production, the team was surprised with a visit by a 1910 victim’s great grandson from Tokyo.

Thrills for You

1940

Pioneering 3D promotional film about the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Panoramic View of Conway on the L. & N.W. Railway

1898

A hand-colored ride along the Bangor-Conwy-Colwyn Bay railroad filmed from an express train from the London and North Western Railway; Stations, vistas and a tunnel under the Conwy Castle (misspelled in the title) in North Wales.

London's Railways in the 1960s

2010

The British Railways modernisation programme of the 1960s radically changed the rail network, and the British Transport Films unit and the TV news were there to capture it. Compiled here is never before released colour footage of Southern steam at Waterloo (with Nine Elms depot), all the major London stations, The Blue Pullman and early diesels, The Golden Arrow and Night Ferry service, goods and mail, steam on the Metropolitan Railway and building the Victoria Line.

Hitler's Steel Beast

2017

Trace the history of Hitler's armored private train, a 15-car mobile headquarters boasting state-of-the-art communications and anti-aircraft cannons.

The Outer Circle: Melbourne's Forgotten Railway

2014

In the 1870s Victorian politicians debated the virtues of constructing a 20km-long railway through Melbourne's east, simply to circumvent a privately-owned railway from South Yarra to Flinders Street Station. By 1878 the private railway had been purchased by the Victorian Government and there was no longer a need to build the orbital railway. But greedy politicians pushed legislation through parliament, authorising the construction of the railway through their own private land holdings. This is the story of Melbourne's Outer Circle Railway.

The Transcontinental Railroad

2003

Documentary filmmakers offer a fascinating look at one of the most spectacular engineering feats of the 19th Century as the story of the Transcontinental Railroad comes to life in a film that's sure to appeal to historians and railroad enthusiasts alike. As legions of tireless workers toiled for six years to realize the vision of shady entrepreneurs and imaginative engineers, the remarkable railway dream slowly became a reality. But not everyone was so pleased with the remarkable achievement. Despite the devastating effect that the tremendous transportation breakthrough would have on the Native American population, the lasting impact of the Transcontinental Railroad on the politics and culture of a rapidly expanding country would forever mark it as an invaluable component of the American success story.