MOVIN’ ON BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS RAILROAD HISTORY PART 1 57864

Part 2: Movin’ On is a 1968 documentary presented by the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainment that was produced and directed by Harold Mayer. It recaps the history of the American railroad, with an emphasis on the people who built the railroads and operated the lines. Illustrations and monochrome photographs constitute the majority of visuals in the first half of the film, which also features folk music from the respective decades. The film opens with contemporary footage of men working on trains and railroads. The film shows scenes of American countryside as trains pass through. Illustrations and photographs take viewers back to the birth of trains, as they show early train models, the first railroad men, and the first train stations in American towns and cities. Illustrations depict Irish immigrants arriving in the U.S. and living in impoverished conditions. A photograph shows Abraham Lincoln visiting troops during the Civil War (06:00). There are also photos of the first “Troop Trains,” images of trains and tracks blown up, and general scenes of death and destruction from the Civil War (including fields and town streets strewn with corpses). A photograph shows Lincoln’s funeral train as it takes the late president home to Springfield, IL (07:28). There are photographs of men mining for gold, going to Omaha, a railroad going through mountains (09:51), and pictures of American wilderness. The film then shows photographs of the race to complete the transcontinental rail line between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies: Chinese men build the rail line for Central Pacific (12:35); “Hell On Wheels” towns spring up with saloons, housing, and more; Native Americans are caught in the conflict of the railroad expansion and displaced; a train engine is stuck in snow (16:26); and Chinese workers rest in snow fields next to track construction. A photo shows Promontory, UT (17:40) where the two lines link up; photos show men posing next to trains with Governor Stanford holding a hammer. Footage shows a train engine driving on a track (19:30). The film then shows viewers illustrations and photographs of the lunch houses on the Santa Fe line, cowboys sitting atop horses (21:33), homesteads, people packed on trains heading west to join the homesteading stampede, wanted posters of Jesse James, and one of the largest train stations of the time (24:48). The film then shows photographs of various train wrecks (25:46) to highlight the dangers of the industry. Trainmen in the late 19th Century pose for a picture prior to a railroad worker strike. Part One of this film ends with illustrations depicting the strikes and ensuing violence in Pittsburgh.