"And Then There Was One" - Full Documentary [OFFICIAL]

My wife grew up right beside the track . There were many children in her neighborhood, but she was the smallest. At Christmas time the engineer would slow down and throw candy to the kids, but when he came, she wasn't ready and knew the other kids would get all the candy if she didn't hurry. So out the door she went almost barefooted. When the old engineer saw her with no shoes in the snow he stoped completely, and got down off train and with tears in eyes he gave her a whole bag of candy ! Every Christmas she tells me the story....60 years later.

This documentary is better than 99% of the garbage on regular TV. I grew up in Pennsylvania in the 70's and 80's, and it was always a treat to go to the Strasburg Railroad Museum and ride No. 31, No. 89 & No. 90. They now have No. 475, and one of the highlights of my life was taking my kids there and ride in the dining car. I'd like to visit the TVRM one day and ride 4501.

This film brought tears to my eyes repeatedly. It is essential that the 4501 not be forgotten. The sight of her cruising along spewing steam everywhere when she came out of retirement was a dream come true. The glorious sound of the conductor blowing her whistle is like no other sound in the world. I reside in California now but intend to go to Tennessee to ride on the 4501. God bless all the caring folks who helped keep her in existence all these years, and I am very grateful to y'all for doing so.

I'm 72 years old and I grew up in a house near a railroad crossing on the Central of Georgia Line. The men on the steam locomotives used to wave at me when I was a kid waving at them. Back then there was always a caboose at the end and they would wave to. I was still a kid when they started switching over to diesel engines. I hated to see the steam engines go. I remember feeling sad back then. It is great to know that I was not the only one who loved steam engines. This was a great video. I sat here and watch the whole thing from start to end. The people who did this did an excellent job. I would love to ride on a train one more time. Last time I was on a train I was in the Army back in 1967. It was from Fort Gordon, GA to Fayetteville, NC on my way to Fort Bragg, NC.

I'm 68 years old and ever since I was a kid, I have had a love of steam engines. Until tonight, I didn't know that my little H.O. gauge #4501 in green Southern livery was so famous. It's always held a special place on my layout which is set in the late 30's/early 40's Southern Railway with steam and first gen diesels. Now I know why. I felt a certain pride watching this amazing documentary. I couldn't look away. Thank you so much. Great job.

As a young child, I remember pressing my nose against the screen windows of my upstairs room in the middle of the night, inhaling the scent of spring lilacs, and hearing the mournful whistle of the steam locomotives calling from the rail line several miles to the north. I can hear them even now.

As a child I would be thinking about my life and the world around me before falling into restful sleep, but knowing the steam train would be coming about 10pm as usual I would listen and while the wonderful sound of the train horn blowing letting all know of its travelling through town. It was always a blessing to me, that all was well as I faded into deep sleep...

I have no particular interest in rail and I have no idea why I watched this, but this presentation filled me with emotion and pride in the skills of the men and women that made it all possible. I’m a 66 year old Brit and remember traveling by steam locomotive when I was in my teens. There’s a few restored locos running on limited private lines in the UK, and I had no idea that in the USA steam locos we’re playing any part in the 21 century rail system. I agree that unless you’re aware of from where we’ve come in the past, it’s impossible to comprehend where we should go in the future. This movie should be shown in every school and educational facility, it encapsulates all that it is essential for a worthy work ethic, pride in your product and the very reason why each and every one of us should develop our skills for the collective good of the product. A superb presentation, which is beyond adequate words of praise.

Seeing the 4501 run made me smile. She carries the love of 1,000's of volunteers and fans. What a great legacy. I bet it has a soul from all who ever loved her.

I had the opportunity to visit the steam shop in 1993. It was a very impressive operation. I am so ecstatic that we have these craftsmen to bring back these magnificent machines and not let Steam die. Believe it or not, this is one of the many reasons I am a Norfolk Southern stock holder!! Excellent work guys!!!

I can still remember watching the steam trains roll by while I held my father's hand. I was four years old...it was1959. This show made me feel four again!

Wow! Better made than many "made for tv" documentaries, and to find out it was created by volunteers without outside funding...Five Stars***

My father, Alfred P. Rogers, worked as a volunteer at the TVRM for many years. As a teenager, I worked on the dining car serving coffee on the fall excursions to Crossville. One year, I got to ride in the cab of the 4501 for over 40 miles full steam ahead (see 58:52 for example). It was exhilarating, hot as Hades, and rough.... I needed a seat belt and was genuinely afraid I would fall out of the window. It is wonderful to see it still in operation and well-preserved!

You know it's gonna be good when Danny Harmon is narrating.

My grandfather, Herschel Gilbert, would wave at every Northern Pacific train as they passed the homestead (at the bottom of a steep hill that led down to the Columbia River). He would wave from the apple, peach and apricot orchards he carefully tended during the day, then from the farm house at night. I remember as a two year-old boy seeing him reach over, grasp the kerosene lantern that rested atop the bedroom buffet and make three passes back and forth in front of the bedroom window at night. He would then return the lantern to the buffet as the engineer would return his salute using the train's whistle/ horn. Grandfather Gilbert's body did not move during this greeting except for that right arm. As such I could not ever tell if he really woke up when he did so, but he did not in 45 years miss his greeting of a passing Great Northern train. Over the years the family fought many grass fires to save the house, fires started by the train wheels slipping on the rails as the train would struggle up the grade above the ranch house. Shovels and wet blankets were the only tools we had to extinguish the fires that exploded through the cheat grass, sagebrush and sumac that covered the basalt and sand. As kids we would count the cars, the number of engines, and, with special glee, the caboose. During the winters, my grandmother a teacher in one-room schools that serviced the ranch children living along the Columbia as it split the volcanic cliffs South and East of Wenatchee, WA would walk her four daughters up the hill to the rail line and wait for the train to pass. She had no money, but the engineers were gracious enough to stop the train, allowing this group of ragtag females to board and deliver them to the little school house. When the blizzards obscured all visible terrain features past fifty feet from the rails, paying passengers were amazed to see these five women appear from the 25-below-zero "nowhere" to board the train. On the days when Northern Pacific officials were aboard, the engineers could not make this unscheduled stop. Those days the school kids had no school. Note: as one crosses the Columbia River into Wenatchee there remains a steam engine resting on a few tracks poised to greet you, a telltale reminder of the years when the fruit, grain, and gold from the Columbia River valley, hills, and basin were transported by rail to the outside world. Thank you for this well-done presentation. The memories evoked were special.

As a small child, in the mid 1940's we lived in Seymore, Indiana. There were four railroads running through the area and I can remember the sound of their steam whistles and the smell of coal smoke. The memories are still pretty clear. The last steam engine I saw on the rails was in 1963 and it was being towed into a steel mill to be cut up for scrap. It left a sad feeling which comes to mind often, even today. Unlike the diesel locomotives, the steam engines seemed to be a living, breathing, thing.

That shot of her coming over the bridge into Chattanooga is enthralling

The last half of an hour I was constantly wiping tears away just to be able to see to the end. I am 62 years old, always thought myself to be a tough guy, but this beautiful locomotive 4501 just broke me. I love you 4501.

Thank you to all that helped to create this video and put it on YouTube! It's so greatly appreciated! If you only knew how much I wish I could go back and be a part of those times. At almost 62 years old, it don't seem very likely.

The last thing we did together before my wife died was to ride a steam train. I am very grateful to those folks who keep steam locos running. This video was excellent. Best I ever saw. Thank you from another Old Fart.