The Latest News

Hi Folks:

I have not blogged you all in a while and must tell you there has been a lot going on. On Wednesday Nov. 10th, I was in Ocala, FL with Jim Manzone, president of the Ocala Model Railroaders Historic Preservation Society. Jim is painting the model train donated by Bachmann Trains, we will be using in the film. He is doing a great job and you can see the photos from my trip in a new section of the website you can find here: http://www.engineeringtragedy.com/The_Model_Train.html

We have also picked up a new sponsor The Canton Bandag Co. and they are repairing the wheel of the fire steamer owned by Dave McCaff, so we can use it in the film. The Canton Bandage Co. is the ONLY company in the world that still makes old solid rubber tires. The wheels on this 1892 American La France Fire Steamer are large, heavy and they don't make parts for them anymore. I am very lucky that the only place in the world I could get this work done is right in my back yard. Dave McCaff was kind enough to allow us to use his fire steamer in exchange for getting the wheel repaired. Normally this repair would be around $2,700.00. Thankfully the owner of the Canton Bandag Co. (Dave Richards) likes our film project and has offered to do the repair as a donation. WOW, what a blessing that was!

The first photo you see is Patti looking at the broken wheel on the steamer in the barn and the second photo is the steamer outside the bar before it had a broken wheel and was still in operation.

The dirt moving at the Peterson farm in North Bloomfield, where we are building our outdoor movie set is done. Now we are waiting for the bridge and then we can start laying track, and decorating the mini set with trees and ground cover. 

I have about four more behind the scenes videos I need to edit and get up on the website. As soon as I get time to do that, I will get them up.

That's all the news for now!

Len Brown

Last Film Location Scouted

Hi Folks:

Yesterday Gary Tabor and myself went to the last film location that needed to be scouted. The Pymatuning Dam just over the Ohio line in Pennsylvania. This is an area we can use as the location to film action which takes place on the wooden pump house stairs.

We can also film victims being pulled from the gorge here. Its a much better location then Zoarville, Ohio and its closer to the area we are filming other scenes. Now I just have to get permission to film there. I talked with a Ranger at the park office, but the main Ranger I needed to speak with was not in. I left a business card and hope he will call me sometime soon.

After that, Gary and I stopped by Roger Peterson's house to drop off the train track Bachmann donated and experiment with the little Mantis rototiller to try and break up the large dirt balls created during the bridge set excavation. It worked great! Roger has done a great job getting this area ready for the bridge, but we have a few more work days up there before the snow flies to get it ready.

Its been a busy summer and now I need to start getting our grant applications in to finish our fundraising. If I can't get the funds raised all the other stuff we've been doing is for nothing. However, I have faith its all going to come together and I keep pushing forward.

Keeping the faith!

Len Brown

The Rest of the Train Is Off To Florida

Hi Folks:

On Monday the three train cars we were short and all the train track we needed for our mini movie set arrived as another donation from Bachmann Trains. Bachmann Trains out of Philadelphia, PA had been an AWESOME company sponsor for this film. They have donated close to $8,000 worth of product so we can recreate the Pacific Express #5 and bring it back to life on camera. Also, I can't even begin to thank all of the other people who have been working on this project, donating their time and money to help make this film a possibility.

Yesterday, I sent the last three train cars to Jim Manzone in Florida for painting and will be going to his home next week to interview him and film some of the painting process for the behind the scenes video.

At the end of this week I will be taking the track to Roger Peterson, in North Bloomfield, Ohio to use on the outdoor set he is building for the bridge and train for us to film.  I will also be going back to the Ohio and Pennsylvania border to scout another film location. 

Its all coming together!

Len Brown

More News As We Move Forward

Hi Folks:

Today was a busy day. I was up at Case Western Reserve University filming them removing the wooden Howe Truss bridge they built from the indoor engineering lab to the outside of their building for weather testing. As you remember, this was the same style of bridge that replaced the all iron Howe Truss of Ashtabula after it collapsed Dec. 29th, 1876.

I also received news that Bachmann Trains is coming to our rescue once again! They have decided to  donate the last three cars we needed to complete our train, as well as all the track for our outdoor film set and two coal tenders for the engines. So as soon as I get them, the train cars will go to Florida to be painted with the others and the track will go to Roger Peterson, who is building out outdoor film set.

I have also added more photos to the website of my latest film scouting trips to Century Village in Burton, Ohio and the rolling mill in Cleveland, Ohio. I found the rolling mill very interesting because it is the same kind of rolling mill that was used to make the iron I-beams for the Ashtabula Bridge. This is the only working 19th century rolling mill in the country, and its still used today to make train track parts.  You will find all the new photos on page 2 in the photo section of the website.

Donations are also still coming in for the making of the film, but we have a long way to go, so tell everyone you know.

Take care!
Len Brown
Director / Producer

We Made The Papers!

Hi Everyone:

Team member Barbara Hamilton wrote a great article for us in The Gazette a local Ashtabula County paper. I think it will help us get more interest in the community in the film. Great Job Barbara! I could not find the article on line to add the link, so sorry about that.

In today's news, I was back in Ashtabula and Jefferson scouting more film locations and talking to more people. I am so happy with how supportive everyone in the area has been to this film and how nice everyone in the community is. Gary Tabor, found me a great set of double tracks so film one of our scenes as well as got us access to the Antique Engine Club Grounds where we checked out another depot building. Unfortunately it won't work for us.

I also stopped by the Ashtabula Fire Dept. and spoke with Lt. John Paul who was kind enough to allow me to burrow two disks with old historic photos on them to use in the film. What a great bunch of guys at the Ashtabula Fire Dept!

Barbara and Bill Hamilton were nice enough to take me all around again so I would not get lost. :-)

I still need to make contact with the Chestnut Grove Cemetery Staff and have been working on that for about a week with no luck, but I'm sure they will be contacting me shortly.

I also got a surprise call today from a man named Nathan Clark. What a wealth of information he was and I think he even found me two more film locations! I did not realize that Greenfield Village in Detroit, MI had working engines similar to ours in the film and he sent me photos of them. One even has the LS&MS logo on the side. WOW! Thanks Nathan, I hope we can meet some day.

Team member Roger Peterson is still hard at work on the grounds where we will be filming the model train and bridge. Roger is one hard working super motivated guy that I am so happy is on the team. His enthusiasm for this project and willingness to do just about anything to help me out is just amazing.

That's all the news to report for now.

Len Brown
Director & Producer

It's Been A Busy Week!

Hi folks!

Wow, what a week! Monday was my visit to the Century Village in Burton, Ohio scouting more film locations. What a great place and great film location! They have a multitude of 19th century buildings including a train depot we can film in. Elizabeth Wantz was my tour guild through the property and with her help, I was able to find many of the locations we need. This location coupled with the Ohio Village in Columbus, OH will just about complete our location needs. Hopefully I can find the rest of our locations in Ashtabula on Thursday when I go there.

I was joined by my dad Leonard Brown Sr. and by team members Barbara and Bill Hamilton, with their friend (and my new friend) Gary Tabor. We were all snapping photos like crazy and talking about new developments in the project.

From the Century Village it was off to North Bloomfield, Ohio to check out the progress and work of team member Roger Peterson, as he started constructing the outdoor set where we plan to place the bridge and train for filming. Roger and his father have gotten out the backhoes and bulldozers and started excavating the area we plan on shooting this section of film. If you look at the photos below, you can see the Ashtabula gorge taking shape. The bridge is 15.5 feet in length and will be placed between the dirt mounds you see in the last photo. I know it does not look like much now, but when the landscaping is done and the miniature trees and the bridge are in, its going to look great! GREAT JOB ROGER!

I also spoke to Jim Manzone in Florida today, who is painting our train cars. He has them all apart and plans to start painting them this next week. He also has all the decals ordered and I plan on visiting him Oct. 10th at his shop in Florida, so be looking for the video coming soon.

Thanks
Len Brown
Director / Producer
Beacon Productions

Scouted More Film Locations

Hi Everyone:

I was back in Jefferson and North Bloomfield, Ohio this last Saturday with Patti, checking out the location Roger Peterson is going to be digging for the model bridge set. We also stopped by the Jefferson Village to see if any place there would work for filming. However, the owners of the Jefferson Village will be in Florida in February, when we plan to film, so it looks like the Jefferson Village is out. In better news, we found another village called "Century Village in Burton, Ohio that looks like it will fill the rest of our needs and I plan to visit there this next week.

On Monday Sept. 11th, I was in Cleveland and visited the Cleveland Track Material Company to see the only hand rolling mill still in operation in the United States. The rolling mill equipment was build in 1890 and is still being used today. It was very impressive to watch these men pull hot steal ingots  from the furnace and roll them into track material. It will make a great film location and the owners are happy to help with this project.

From there I went to the Midwest Rail Preservation Society round house (also in Cleveland) to see if there shops could be a stand in for the LS&MS rail shops and yard, but it does not look like they will work. 

From there it was off to Stan Hywet House in Akron, Ohio to find Amasa Stones office, bedroom and bathroom he committed suicide in. What a great location, I scored a touchdown at this property! Now I just need to see what the location fee is going to be to film there.

That's all I have for you now, but there is more to come so stay tuned.

Len Brown