Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 40 minutes ago
The daytime soap opera equivalent for silent films, “split reel” melodramas were the bread and butter of studios during the nickelodeon era. Railroads in particular were a favorite setting (as a lifelong train buff, I’m not complaining!) Here are three fine examples, two from 1904 and one from 1911 put onto a 10 minute compilation for you by Blackhawk films. Enjoy it here with my accompaniment. All aboard!
Scanned from my standard 8mm film print on a Wolverine Reels2Digital super and standard 8 film scanner.
IMDB for “Railroad Smashup”: imdb.com/title/tt0000496
IMDB for “A Railway Tragedy”: imdb.com/title/tt0000497/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB for “A Mother's Devotion; or, The Firing of the Patchwork Quilt": imdb.com/title/tt0001330/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
The daytime soap opera equivalent for silent films, “split reel” melodramas were the bread and butter of studios during the nickelodeon era. Railroads in particular were a favorite setting (as a lifelong train buff, I’m not complaining!) Here are three fine examples, two from 1904 and one from 1911 put onto a 10 minute compilation for you by Blackhawk films. Enjoy it here with my accompaniment. All aboard!
Scanned from my standard 8mm film print on a Wolverine Reels2Digital super and standard 8 film scanner.
IMDB for “Railroad Smashup”: imdb.com/title/tt0000496
IMDB for “A Railway Tragedy”: imdb.com/title/tt0000497/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB for “A Mother's Devotion; or, The Firing of the Patchwork Quilt": imdb.com/title/tt0001330/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
