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Rails, Tales & Sales
Greetings from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the foothills of the Colorado Rockies, southern California and Quebec to the Arkansas Ozarks. Marilee, Percy and I hope you are faring well as "living in the Twilight Zone" seems to be coming to a gradual close. The return of local Amtrak routes is planned for mid-summer, with stations and staff being prepped.
RAIL NEWS
Many were blindsided by a decision to move or demolish the historic New Haven Junction station, a community landmark since its August, 1868 construction. This beautiful brick depot, elegant in its simplicity, has seen the passing of Rutland Railroad, Vermont Railway and Bristol Railroad (1892-1930) trains. Enough of us have united in opposition, and it appears the building will be relocated to New Haven village, a good mile from the tracks. It's story appears throughout our latest book, NEW HAVEN JUNCTION-BRISTOL, VERMONT: Crossroads to Caskets. Get your signed, low number (still in the 200s) directly from us.
Tell-Tale Productions' footage acquistion began during the 1990, while I was a Colorado resident. We faithfully documenated Tennessee Pass' final decade of operations, concluding with a mainline cab ride during the fall of 1997. This amazing route has been dormant for nearly a quarter of a century. Portions are being used as a recreational trail, of sorts, despite the tracks remaining in place. Several proposals have been made to reactive this line, and local NIMBY's promise to battle anyone hinting at reviving the sleeping giant. Stay tuned! In the meantime, we invite you to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear with our Colorado Collection. Get all TEN for only $99.95 or only $12.50 each, with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. (sorry no foreign orders). A PERFECT FATHER'S DAY OR GRADUATION GIFT.
Heart-breaking images of pulled rail at Lake Placid, NY are appearing on social media. The Adirondack Rail Trail is part of a larger $19.1 million project to rehab 45 miles of tracks between Tupper Lake and Big Moose, connecting to Utica, over 100 miles distant. Lake Placid and neighboring Saranac Lake are among the Adirondack's most popular tourist destinations. They are now trackless. See better days in our ALCO HEAVEN video series. We enjoyed many visits with our Adirondack Scenic Railroad friends and faithfully recorded the ALCO's F's, and less exotic creatures.
This new edition of RAILS, TALES AND SALES follows an absence of six months or so. My heart hasn't been in it, following the passing of my father and mentor, Robert C. Jones (1934-2021) on January, 13th. Truth be told, webmaster Pete Land created a template for a special memorial edition in February, that I never completed. Because dad was never one to call attention to himself, perhaps this simple paragraph would be more to his liking, anyway. His private service of May 22nd, was only witnessed by a few dozen family and close friends. A gathering at their local church followed. Dad was fond of telling the rail tale of his father, Cecil O. Jones' job search during the summer of 1916. He interviewed with a Waterloo, Quebec bank and the Canadian Pacific Railway. As you would imagine, Cecil was hired by the CP, for a nearly fifty year run as local agent along the CP's lines in Eastern Quebec and Vermont. My dad picked up the infectious railroad bug, now spread to two more generations. The punch line dad often used, when giving railroad talks and relaying this story: "had Cecil Jones been hired by the bank, I might be speaking to a gathering of bankers this evening!" That mischievous Bob Jones grin appeared as the audience chuckled. It is true, we have all been "railroaded!" My mother (Bob's wife, Janet) became the hostess with the mostest as train guide and assistant ticket agent on the Green Mountain Railroad and Sugarbush Express. My brother, Marc, devoted time to Central Vermont maintenance of way, manned the East Alburgh trestle drawbridge in the early 80s, and was an original New England Central engineer in 1995. Dad lived long enough to hear of his grandson's (Marc and Carol's son, Will) new career on the NECR. Long-time Tell-Tale Productions know of my passion for transportation history and media. For several decades, I had the best of several worlds-- as a nationally syndicated radio personality, Colorado-based railroad videographer and author of two Colorado rail chronicles. A return to Vermont meant selling my classic 1959 Chevrolet Impala to start Tell-Tale Productions. Some folks, upon witnessing my energy and devotion to this endeavor, assume I have struck gold. I did the math recently, and it appears we may have cleared a few hundred dollars since our 2003 founding. Would I do it over again? you betcha. Lastly, to those who detected that I am the only Jones to have resisted the calling of train service... I recently agreed to be serve as an occasional fill-in agent at our local Amtrak station. Dad must be smiling from above! :)
THREE WEBSITES, ONE TELL-TALE PRODUCTIONS
Don't let the VIDEOS reference with our three website domains fool you. We're big on BOOKS. These good old-fashioned publications require no password, power or playback device. Our special edition NEW HAVEN JUNCTION TO BRISTOL, VERMONT: Crossroads to Caskets and KEESEVILLE, AUSABLE CHASM & LAKE CHAMPLAIN RAILROAD: ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN GATEWAY come signed and numbered.
EYE BEFORE YOU BUY with previews of all forty rail-themed documentaries. Tired of DVD's and prefer to download? We've added select titles starting at only $4.95
With safe wishes to you and yours,
James R. "Jim," Marilee C. and Percy Lincoln Jones
RAIL NEWS
Many were blindsided by a decision to move or demolish the historic New Haven Junction station, a community landmark since its August, 1868 construction. This beautiful brick depot, elegant in its simplicity, has seen the passing of Rutland Railroad, Vermont Railway and Bristol Railroad (1892-1930) trains. Enough of us have united in opposition, and it appears the building will be relocated to New Haven village, a good mile from the tracks. It's story appears throughout our latest book, NEW HAVEN JUNCTION-BRISTOL, VERMONT: Crossroads to Caskets. Get your signed, low number (still in the 200s) directly from us.
Tell-Tale Productions' footage acquistion began during the 1990, while I was a Colorado resident. We faithfully documenated Tennessee Pass' final decade of operations, concluding with a mainline cab ride during the fall of 1997. This amazing route has been dormant for nearly a quarter of a century. Portions are being used as a recreational trail, of sorts, despite the tracks remaining in place. Several proposals have been made to reactive this line, and local NIMBY's promise to battle anyone hinting at reviving the sleeping giant. Stay tuned! In the meantime, we invite you to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear with our Colorado Collection. Get all TEN for only $99.95 or only $12.50 each, with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. (sorry no foreign orders). A PERFECT FATHER'S DAY OR GRADUATION GIFT.
Heart-breaking images of pulled rail at Lake Placid, NY are appearing on social media. The Adirondack Rail Trail is part of a larger $19.1 million project to rehab 45 miles of tracks between Tupper Lake and Big Moose, connecting to Utica, over 100 miles distant. Lake Placid and neighboring Saranac Lake are among the Adirondack's most popular tourist destinations. They are now trackless. See better days in our ALCO HEAVEN video series. We enjoyed many visits with our Adirondack Scenic Railroad friends and faithfully recorded the ALCO's F's, and less exotic creatures.
This new edition of RAILS, TALES AND SALES follows an absence of six months or so. My heart hasn't been in it, following the passing of my father and mentor, Robert C. Jones (1934-2021) on January, 13th. Truth be told, webmaster Pete Land created a template for a special memorial edition in February, that I never completed. Because dad was never one to call attention to himself, perhaps this simple paragraph would be more to his liking, anyway. His private service of May 22nd, was only witnessed by a few dozen family and close friends. A gathering at their local church followed. Dad was fond of telling the rail tale of his father, Cecil O. Jones' job search during the summer of 1916. He interviewed with a Waterloo, Quebec bank and the Canadian Pacific Railway. As you would imagine, Cecil was hired by the CP, for a nearly fifty year run as local agent along the CP's lines in Eastern Quebec and Vermont. My dad picked up the infectious railroad bug, now spread to two more generations. The punch line dad often used, when giving railroad talks and relaying this story: "had Cecil Jones been hired by the bank, I might be speaking to a gathering of bankers this evening!" That mischievous Bob Jones grin appeared as the audience chuckled. It is true, we have all been "railroaded!" My mother (Bob's wife, Janet) became the hostess with the mostest as train guide and assistant ticket agent on the Green Mountain Railroad and Sugarbush Express. My brother, Marc, devoted time to Central Vermont maintenance of way, manned the East Alburgh trestle drawbridge in the early 80s, and was an original New England Central engineer in 1995. Dad lived long enough to hear of his grandson's (Marc and Carol's son, Will) new career on the NECR. Long-time Tell-Tale Productions know of my passion for transportation history and media. For several decades, I had the best of several worlds-- as a nationally syndicated radio personality, Colorado-based railroad videographer and author of two Colorado rail chronicles. A return to Vermont meant selling my classic 1959 Chevrolet Impala to start Tell-Tale Productions. Some folks, upon witnessing my energy and devotion to this endeavor, assume I have struck gold. I did the math recently, and it appears we may have cleared a few hundred dollars since our 2003 founding. Would I do it over again? you betcha. Lastly, to those who detected that I am the only Jones to have resisted the calling of train service... I recently agreed to be serve as an occasional fill-in agent at our local Amtrak station. Dad must be smiling from above! :)
THREE WEBSITES, ONE TELL-TALE PRODUCTIONS
Don't let the VIDEOS reference with our three website domains fool you. We're big on BOOKS. These good old-fashioned publications require no password, power or playback device. Our special edition NEW HAVEN JUNCTION TO BRISTOL, VERMONT: Crossroads to Caskets and KEESEVILLE, AUSABLE CHASM & LAKE CHAMPLAIN RAILROAD: ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN GATEWAY come signed and numbered.
EYE BEFORE YOU BUY with previews of all forty rail-themed documentaries. Tired of DVD's and prefer to download? We've added select titles starting at only $4.95
With safe wishes to you and yours,
James R. "Jim," Marilee C. and Percy Lincoln Jones
