The Park County Historical Society presents The Old Colorado & Southern and Engine No. 9 for the first time on DVD, with enhanced audio, from the best source materials available from both original film and VHS versions.
In 1937 a narrow gauge railway locomotive pulls two passenger cars up the steep slope of the Rockies on it's last ever journey from Denver to Breckenridge. See the train pass through several small towns along the South Platte, including Strontia Springs, Buffalo Creek, and Pine. Hear colorful tales of small town and mountain life, stories of the train's crew and passengers. See ice cutters on the Maxwell Lakes at Shawnee, a Depression era Fourth of July celebration in Bailey, the roundhouse in Como, and much more. The Old Colorado & Southern and Engine No. 9 was filmed by school teacher (later Marine Major) Helen McGraw Tatum, between 1933 and 1937, and originally shown for the local movie night. In 1954 Helen and Thomas G. Tatum recorded a sound track with narration by Helen. They recorded sound effects from The Denver and Rio Grande locomotive at Knotts Berry Farm in California. Later copies of the film were restored by Alexander Film Services, of Colorado Springs. Mrs. Tatum transferred the film to videocassettes in the 1980s.
