Driver 8, Take a Break – Chessie System in R.E.M.’s “Driver 8”

So far on The CineTrains Project, we have talked about trains that have appeared in Movies and Television shows. But in this post, we jump into a genre that we have never discussed before, Music Videos. We will be discussing each Music video in the same format that you have come to expect, however, each post that is about a music video, will also have the video embedded into the post as well.

“Driver 8” was the second single from the 3rd Album released by the band R.E.M. in September 1985. The Album, Fables of Reconstruction, reached to #28 on Billboards top 200, however, the song itself, made it into the top 25, reaching #22 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart. However, with the somewhat popularity that the song got in the United States, it was never released to the European market. The song is about a passenger train, The Southern Crescent, that was operated by the Southern Railway until 1979, when the train was handed over to Amtrak. Even though the song was about the Southern’s most famous passenger train, the trains featured was the Chessie System, and the video was mainly featured, Railfan style, in and around the Clifton Forge, Virginia area, including inside the locomotive shops there. We will be discussing only a few of the locomotive seen in the film, and those are the ones that are featured prominently in the music video

Chessie System SD50 #8558 at the start of the Video

The video is mainly Black and White, with a few bits of color footage in it. The video starts with a wonderful sweeping shot of a a pair of then nearly new Chessie SD50’s. Only 1 of the locomotives is identified, and that is the lead locomotive, C&O 8558. The locomotive was constructed by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in February of 1984, about 6 months before the footage was shot. Released from the EMD factory with Frame #837057-6 (Serial # unknown), the locomotive was released in, what I think is the best looking paint scheme every imagined, the Chessie System Family colors of Yellow, Orange and Vermilion (Very Dark Blue). The Chessie System was not long for the world however, and in 1986, the year after the video was released, the Chessie merged with Seaboard System to form CSX Transportation. After the merger, the Unit became CSXT 8558. Not much more history remains with unit, however, in 2009, the locomotive was rebuilt by CSX into what it calls “SD50-2”, however, when the rebuild took place, the locomotive kept its number. The 8558 is still working hard today for CSX, nearly 30 years after being built by EMD.

Here’s a photo of the 8558 in her Chessie System colors (She is the 2nd unit):                 http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2646851

Here’s a photo of the 8558 as she looked before she was rebuilt into SD50-2 standards: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=865566

Here’s a photo of the 8558 as she looks today, as CSX SD50-2 #8558:                                  http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2822538

B&O 4329 in the Music Video

Chessie System (Baltimore and Ohio) GP40-2 #4329 is the next unit we will cover. She is only 5 years younger than the 8558 that we discussed above, constructed by in February, 1979, the locomotive was released by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors with Frame #787227-8 (Serial # unknown). The Unit, also released in the magnificent Chessie System paint scheme, the unit toiled around, as part of Chessie’s back bone fleet.  After the CSX merger, the unit became CSX 6228, and today, she remains part of CSX’s fleet of local road power.

Here’s a photo of the 4329 as she looked during her Chessie Days:                                       http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=847626

Here’s a photo of the 4329 (Now 6228) right after the merger, she has only been patched by CSX: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2559074

Here’s a photo of the 6228 as she looked wearing the classic Yellow-Blue-Grey CSX “YN2” scheme: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1561966

Here’s a photo of the 6228 as she looks today on the CSX roster:                                             http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2461827

B&O 3802 and unknown C&O GP9

The next locomotive that we will cover is now a Museum piece. The locomotive, Chessie System (Baltimore and Ohio) GP38 #3802, was, in the early 1980’s, named TRAINS MAGAZINE “ALL AMERICAN DIESEL” and after the announcement was made, the locomotive was automatically tapped at the event, for placement at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum outside Baltimore. where she would forever be preserved as a “Typical American Locomotive” for all to view. She was released from the EMD La Grange, Illinois plant in October 1967 as B&O 3802. When released, she was painted in B&O’s then standard Dark blue paint scheme. When B&O’s owner, the Chesapeake and Ohio formed the holding company of Chessie System, the unit was painted into the standard Chessie Colors, along with other railroads that were in the fold (TORCO, B&O, C&O and Western Maryland). In the early 1980’s, the locomotive was named TRAINS MAGAZINE’S ALL AMERICAN DIESEL, and a plaque was dedicated onto the front of the locomotive, which was subsequently stolen and never found. All the railroad do was stencil the lettering that was on the plaque where the plaque was. When the Chessie System merged with Seaboard System, the locomotive was renumbered from  B&O 3802 to CSX 2002. She carried this number until the mid 1990’s when she was pulled from regular service, and put into MOW service, and was repainted into a solid Orange scheme and renumbered to CSX 9699. it is interesting to note, this locomotive never wore any of the official CSX road-service paint schemes, until she was repainted all orange for MOW work. In the early 2000’s, the locomotive was finally retired and donated to the B&O Railroad Museum for public display.

Here’s a photo of the B&O 3802 in her as-delivered paint scheme:                                         http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=160469

Here’s a photo of the B&O 3802, after the plaque had been stolen:                                        http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1977714

Here’s a photo of Stenciling that the B&O 3802 wore for the remainder of her Chessie days: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2398007

Here’s a photo of the 3802, now CSX 2002, when she was only a patch job:                      http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=935178

Here’s a photo of the 2002, now in her Orange MOW paint scheme, a few months away from retirement: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1390275

Here’s the 9699, right after being donated to the B&O Museum:                                              http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=471896

Here is the 9699, now back to her original number of B&O 3802, inside the B&O museum: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1981461

NO IDENTIFICATION FOR THE GP7

CSX 8289 on Clifton Forge turntable

The next, and last locomotive that we will cover is Chessie System (Chesapeake and Ohio) B30-7 #8289. She was constructed by General Electric Transportation in their Erie, Pennsylvania plant in March of 1981. She carries serial #43266, and was one of the last B30-7’s delivered to the railroad. Being a GE, the locomotive was minority on the railroad, since this was a time before GE dominated locomotive building, and the GE products were still not as reliable as EMD products. When the Chessie/Seaboard System merger took place in the mid 1980’s, the locomotive  was renumbered to CSXT 5571. She remained on the active CSX roster until 2002, when she was involved in a wreck that slightly bent the locomotive’s frame, a fatality to a locomotive. She has not yet been scrapped, and can be seen in the CSX deadline in Waycross, Georgia.

Here’s a photo of the C&O 8289 when she was first delivered to Chessie:                           http://www.trainweb.org/chessiephotos/photos/B30-7/8289cs-c&o.jpg

Here’s a photo of the C&O 8289 after she was patched, now CSX 5571:                                        http://www.trainweb.org/csxphotos/photos/B30-7/5571cs.jpg

Here’s a photo of the CSX 5571 when she was in service:                                                             http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=248644

Heres a photo of how she looks today, derelict and wrecked, never to run again:                               http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=586982

Now, as promised, I am going to embed the music video into this post:

I hope you enjoyed this first venture The CineTrains Did about music videos! As always, if you have any suggestions, click the “Submitting Ideas” tab under the banner. All leads are investigated! HAPPY RAILFANNING!

Advertisement