Flagler's Train: The Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad | Full Documentary

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  • Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
  • Flagler's Train is a one hour documentary, produced by South Florida PBS, which chronicles the imagination and achievements of Henry Morrison Flagler, who spearheaded the development of the over-seas railway connecting Key West to the existing Florida East Coast Railway.
    #floridakeys #documentary #history

Комментарии • 246

  • @yucasola
    @yucasola 11 месяцев назад +35

    I came to America on a boat from Cuba in May of 1980; it docked in Key West. My first car ride in this great nation was on the overseas highway from Key West to Miami. Thanks Henry.

    • @teddyjackson1902
      @teddyjackson1902 7 месяцев назад +7

      Fight to keep this nation as you found it in your youth.

  • @nickwarner8158
    @nickwarner8158 Год назад +209

    My great great grandfather was the engineer on this job. My great grandma was there as a child and wrote a book about it at the age of 100. Its called "The Bridges Stand Tall" by Priscilla Pyfrom if anyone is interested.

  • @denjhill
    @denjhill 7 месяцев назад +9

    I was in the Army and stationed at Homestead at the tail end of the Cuban Missile Crisis for a couple of years. Drove that route to Key West many times. The legend of a railroad intrigued me and I spent many hours and days exploring the backwaters down to Key Largo finding remnants of it. This is a great video and while it brings back many memories it also makes me realize how I miss that area. I know that today it is not all like it was and I would probably be disappointed at what I find. Today I'm about as far away as you can get up in the boonies of far NE Washington state and too old to go that far ever again. By the way evidence of that 1935 hurricane were still evident in the '60's. Blown down and blasted trees in the Everglades.

    • @saboabbas123
      @saboabbas123 5 месяцев назад +1

      It has changed tremendously, but it has not lost it's charm or it's personality.

  • @jackduguid177
    @jackduguid177 Год назад +22

    I grew up in Key West
    in the 50’s through
    the 80’s..
    This is probably one of the best documentary on Flagler’s Railroad I’ve seen..

  • @stevenwolff6866
    @stevenwolff6866 Год назад +51

    Congratulations! This is by far the best documentary off all time about this great engineering event. You also did a great job telling about the individuals involved in its completion. I've visited Whitehall a couple of times and have always been interested in Mr Flagler. Well done!

    • @KingGalby
      @KingGalby 11 месяцев назад

      Hi Flagler!

  • @RVWeekendsRC1
    @RVWeekendsRC1 Год назад +16

    Riveting video. Brightline has just sent it's first passengers via high speed railway from Orlando to Miami. I'm central Florida born in 1965 and rode in my parents car to the Keys many times over the original overseas hwy. Even to this present time I drive to Key West every year and camp at Bahia Honda State Park. I love the Keys and have my reservations for next August. Thank you Mr. Flagler.

    • @davidcouch6514
      @davidcouch6514 Год назад +1

      Have you seen any of the remains of the attempted “Florida Canal.” My Dad would point out to us kids driving through Central Florida.

    • @charlesgallagher8450
      @charlesgallagher8450 8 месяцев назад

      I love Brightline. I hope it suceeds.

  • @bullettube9863
    @bullettube9863 Год назад +28

    What Flagler and his board couldn't imagine was that the US Navy decided to switch to oil to power their ships in 1910, thus the coaling stations were no longer needed, including the Keys coal dock. Oil allowed naval ships to cruise longer distances at greater speeds for less cost, and tankers were designed to refuel ships while at sea. This decision began the long decline of coal as oil and natural gas displaced coal as a fuel in shipping, homes, and industry. Even the railroads stopped using coal in the 1950s when they converted to diesels! Eventually Florida would become more modern with an electrical grid that allowed electrification of homes and industry so that by 1940 everything that Flagler had envisioned became a reality.

    • @dcasper8514
      @dcasper8514 Год назад

      Thank you for your comments too.

  • @benstrout3231
    @benstrout3231 Год назад +14

    What an incredible achievement at the time! The piano soundtrack is a wonderful complement to the historical stills and film footage. Flagler's grit and drive were truly remarkable; building a raised embankment across the everglades and a seven-mile bridge all the way to Key freaking West simply because it had to be done.
    Makes me think of the Old Ridge Route in SoCal, carved along the snaking spine of the mountain range east of where the 5 fwy is now by men with picks, shovels, and horse-drawn scrapers in 1911 because there was no paved road connecting the area to the Central Valley that didn't get washed out every year. It was built so well that almost all of the original concrete remains in very good condition, 112 years later.
    And don't get me started on the epic California Aqueduct! lol
    Hats off to guys like Flagler, who just make it happen.

    • @caryleepierce2605
      @caryleepierce2605 11 месяцев назад

      The piano track is subtle and haunting at the same time. Her voice is so soothing

    • @sickstreaming
      @sickstreaming 9 месяцев назад

      Yeah, too bad they left out the part about Henry Flagler utilizing slave labor to build everything.

  • @mikehart6708
    @mikehart6708 Год назад +41

    For those of you who enjoyed this documentary as I did, I would heartily recommend Les Sandiford's book, The Last Train To Paradise. It is an extremely entertaining but very scholarly treatment of Henry Flagler and his development of east Florida. Mr. Sandiford's description of the intensity of the hurricanes that came through the region during the construction of the over-sea railroad as well as the famous 1935 hurricane which is reputed to be the most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in the US, are basically masterpieces of description. Mr. Sandiford's descriptions really bring it home.

    • @eddieafterburner
      @eddieafterburner Год назад +2

      I was just going to add a comment saying the same thing but since you already brought it up, I will just add to yours and say that I wholeheartedly agree. Les’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic.

    • @firemanmike1619
      @firemanmike1619 Год назад +2

      It's amazing that I JUST finished the very same book and found this looking for more information.

    • @TheCrazyCatColony
      @TheCrazyCatColony 11 месяцев назад +1

      Yes I have that and loved it. Great book.

    • @musntang1
      @musntang1 10 месяцев назад +2

      Thank you for the recommendation, I will definitely check it out. 👍

  • @jimmeltonbradley1497
    @jimmeltonbradley1497 11 месяцев назад +5

    I will be visiting Key West in January. Until I watched this documentary I knew nothing about Flagler or his railway. It's a real shame that it failed to survive the Great Depression. A highway is no substitute for a railroad.

  • @robertgoidel
    @robertgoidel Год назад +4

    An outstanding production of this historical achievement. A truly wonderful production by PBS. Wish they could show this production on the broadcast air. Only PBS could do this. An Excellent production.

  • @model-man7802
    @model-man7802 Год назад +24

    The 1935 labor Day storm was absolutely hell.Simple as that.

  • @desertwindauh
    @desertwindauh Год назад +3

    What an interesting story of such a fascinating man. Little did I know the depth of achievement of Mr Flagler when I visited his splendid home in West Palm Beach.
    Thank you for sharing with us. Truly the internet at its best.

  • @natalia-grace
    @natalia-grace 11 месяцев назад +5

    This is truly, one of the greatest accomplishments. Imagine not having the technology there is today, the architects were spot on. It’s incredible !! The only thing they couldn’t beat, was Mother Nature.

  • @ShakespeareCafe
    @ShakespeareCafe Год назад +13

    A train would make even more sense today with the crushing amount of automotive traffic and gridlock. The transportation of tourists would be much more efficient by train. You don't need a car visiting Key West or any key for that matter. All you need is a suitcase and your body.

  • @lynnhubbard844
    @lynnhubbard844 11 месяцев назад +2

    I drove down that highway/bridge with my dad...truly spectacular

  • @Naber_Dan
    @Naber_Dan Год назад +4

    I was stationed at Boca Chica and was in awe of the bridges.

  • @mikebutler7605
    @mikebutler7605 9 месяцев назад +1

    Love Ms.Pennington’s voice. Easy to listen to.

  • @jimslaughter4579
    @jimslaughter4579 11 месяцев назад +5

    It's a shame there is no longer a train to Key West. The drive is soooo long!

  • @Jeff-fx1zy
    @Jeff-fx1zy 16 дней назад +1

    Thats why i aint been to Florida in yrs. That Tropical climate just kicks my ass.

  • @raymartin3527
    @raymartin3527 Год назад +3

    I've been traveling to the keys since the late 60's when I began camping in Key West with the Webelos.

  • @barbnahoumi65
    @barbnahoumi65 Год назад +2

    Excellent Historical Documentary,

  • @williamkirkland7002
    @williamkirkland7002 Год назад +5

    I once read a library book called " The Train That Went To Sea" it was about an attempt to build a train to Cuba from the Keys.A hurricane took it out and was never accomplished. Could be this is the same train build. I can remember going to the Keys in the 70's I was only 12 and seeing remnants of an old bridge with the pilons still sticking out if the water... going south toward the Keys they were on the right of the long bridge. I think it was a 7 mile bridge.

    • @davidcouch6514
      @davidcouch6514 Год назад +5

      That was the adjacent old bridge to key west; there is a 7 mile portion.

  • @gordonjustin4787
    @gordonjustin4787 Год назад +3

    This was an Excellent Video ! Henry Flagler had a lot of courage to build this railroad ! Thank You for producing it.

  • @davids6533
    @davids6533 Год назад +4

    A beautiful, sad, and well told story. : )

  • @christopherashley6804
    @christopherashley6804 7 месяцев назад +1

    Very interesting story. I've driven to Key West and saw some remnants of the railway. The credits say it was narrated by Jack Kelly but I swear it sounds like Peter Coyote.

  • @jeffreyg201
    @jeffreyg201 5 месяцев назад

    I worked at The Breakers in the early 1980's as a culinarian. Awesome experience going to the beach after work in winter.

  • @danielrothe3902
    @danielrothe3902 11 месяцев назад +2

    I have been on that 7 mile road in the 1960's and people bumper to bumper and hardly moving with ocean on both sides during a storm and it does scare you quite abit.

  • @chasm351
    @chasm351 Год назад +20

    Around 1995 visitors to Pigeon Key were being shown a very short video clip with no sound. I had bought one of the first digital editing system on the market and looking for a project to learn it on, I offered to redo the video, lengthen it and add sound. Word of mouth and an ad in local media about an after hours photo capture session at the Marathon library produced a treasure trove of private pictures from family albums that had never before been seen by the public. I'm proud that my first project was a success.

    • @dcasper8514
      @dcasper8514 Год назад +1

      You should be very proud.

    • @chasm351
      @chasm351 Год назад +5

      @@dcasper8514 My only regret was I never got to add the planned narration. I had the script but the powers got in a dispute over which of three large donors who wanted to do it to choose and rather than alienate nice, generous folks we left it like it was. It's been my secret up to right now that the soundtrack was from a subliminal motivational feel good tape.

  • @smokingfoxx
    @smokingfoxx 7 месяцев назад +1

    Anything IS possible in America! 🎉

  • @stuco
    @stuco 19 дней назад +1

    Can't imagine how hard that work must have been.

  • @bzzcks
    @bzzcks Год назад +4

    Unmentioned: Flagler and Rockefeller got Standard Oil rolling in Cleveland before relocating to New York City.

    • @dcasper8514
      @dcasper8514 Год назад +2

      Cleveland is where it all began. ESSO, (Standard Oil), gas stations were found everywhere .

  • @mickcardiff3044
    @mickcardiff3044 Год назад +3

    great story..

  • @omarscomingyo651
    @omarscomingyo651 16 дней назад +1

    who knew flagler was behind those damn trains! that made me wait when i was on a rush to score a room on those motels on okeechobee lol

  • @SR-bh5jd
    @SR-bh5jd Год назад +3

    The first Duval Crawl!

  • @merrillalbury8214
    @merrillalbury8214 5 месяцев назад +1

    My father told me many stories of the 1935 hurricane and what really happened. He was there 22 years old and was working on the keys projects.

  • @user-qm7nw7vd5s
    @user-qm7nw7vd5s 9 месяцев назад +11

    And our legacy is that we gave away the Panama Canal, let our infrastructure rot, and don’t even know how to build anything except smart phones…

    • @jp__878
      @jp__878 5 месяцев назад

      lol what. The Panamanian gov is essentially US client state so there’s that. America still leads the world is pretty much all medical research and high tech inventions. Smart phones aren’t difficult to make, you just need to millions of them so China does it. You still haven’t figured out how the whole capitalism thingy works 😂

  • @Henrik-Pedersen
    @Henrik-Pedersen Месяц назад

    Thanks for sharing. When was this documentary made?

  • @almeggs3247
    @almeggs3247 9 месяцев назад +3

    BRING IT BACK BRING IT BACK BRING IT BACK!!!

  • @patricktrakzel9657
    @patricktrakzel9657 11 месяцев назад

    Great documentary. Enjoyed it very much. How come it has only 3k thumbs up? Should be 3m!

  • @daveherring1765
    @daveherring1765 11 месяцев назад

    great piece. thank you.

  • @You-can-fix-it-yourself
    @You-can-fix-it-yourself Год назад +4

    The first railroad in this country was the Lieper Railroad, in the Crum Creek valley of S.E. Pennsylvania. It was started during colonial times for the Lieper granite quarries.

  • @jtedd57
    @jtedd57 11 месяцев назад

    The beginning of the end of Paradise 🌴🌅

  • @robbenkovitz
    @robbenkovitz 11 месяцев назад +1

    Why has it been posted at 240k resolution? Was it made and uploaded in 2003??? I would be very interested in watching it, but not like this. BTW have several books on the subject - fascinating.

  • @Mr100741
    @Mr100741 Год назад +5

    I can remember riding on the highway down to Key West in 1954 and when we looked off to the right one could clearly see the Wood Pylons/Poles that were still sticking out of the water that used to support Flagler's R.R. Tracks. There was nothing made of concrete visible like this video shows.

    • @FadkinsDiet
      @FadkinsDiet Год назад +1

      Weren't the concrete piles taken over by the highway for much of the length?

    • @oinkoink870
      @oinkoink870 11 месяцев назад +1

      The road built on top of the Railroad structures

  • @OGJeff685
    @OGJeff685 Год назад +1

    I wish someone would rebuild this railway. It would get rid of all of the ridiculous traffic in the keys !

  • @annrn6148
    @annrn6148 7 месяцев назад

    I grew up down there. We use the old RR bridge (hwy) as fishing piers now.

  • @robinfryer479
    @robinfryer479 Год назад +3

    Despite being English, b.1848; I feel sad about the circumstances that led to the end of the original Rly. Even more so having listened to your excellent narrative. All the builders from the architects to the ‘Navvy’s,’ as they were called in GB, we’re as brave and dedicated as military servicemen. They deserve better than to have their dream evolve into a dreary, bridge for boring and ubiquitous -and polluting- road vehicles. I don’t think our Chunnel comes near the Key West Bridge, for inspiration and enjoyment.

  • @mariondiemert430
    @mariondiemert430 Год назад

    Amazing!

  • @testube
    @testube 11 месяцев назад +1

    She sounds like the voice from The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds"

  • @staffy73
    @staffy73 Год назад +4

    Damn!! These engineers and flagler’s staff and indeed Flagler himself seemed to really be on the ball. Some of the smartest people in the country and maybe the world. So which genius thought it a great idea to house these workers on oversized hous boats and remain on them while riding out a Florida hurricane?!?! That was a death sentence for those poor men and I’m sure th[laborers knew it!! I hope someone was charged with this heinous crime for god’s sake! So many dead fathers sons brothers husbands. They destroyed much more than just their work force 😢

  • @mikewilliams4438
    @mikewilliams4438 6 месяцев назад +1

    Saved by a 400 ton loco? That's some engine

  • @wronggg
    @wronggg Год назад +2

    Can you please reupload this at original quality? 240p is garbage.

  • @rayfridley6649
    @rayfridley6649 4 месяца назад

    @53:00- That highway became the extension of U.S. route 1.

  • @oldodger
    @oldodger Год назад +1

    Very poor video resolution...can't watch it when it's so blurry. "Quality 240 P"

  • @lawrencelewis2592
    @lawrencelewis2592 9 месяцев назад

    See Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Who Murdered the Vets" about the storm and it's aftermath.

  • @merrillalbury8214
    @merrillalbury8214 5 месяцев назад +1

    The Guilded Age success because of less government. Could not be done today. My father helped to build the overseas highway and the water pipeline to Key West.

  • @carlbeaver7112
    @carlbeaver7112 8 месяцев назад +2

    South Florida PBS can't post a better copy than 240p??? WTAF?

  • @23Sunrise
    @23Sunrise 9 месяцев назад +1

    If only.....there would have not have been the storm and perhaps the railway would have survived.

  • @TinLeadHammer
    @TinLeadHammer Год назад +1

    240p ?

  • @Jeff-fx1zy
    @Jeff-fx1zy 16 дней назад

    Ya know, aĺ those bridges between the keys, stood up to that hurricane. It was the tracks on the Keys, that washed out. If theyd had the corporate protections then, It wouldve continued, but it just wasnt to be.

  • @GamelleO-g7t
    @GamelleO-g7t 7 месяцев назад +2

    Standard Oil made it's millions from buying and scrapping our nation trolley systems which at the time travelled for miles out into the farm
    land countryside .Forcing people to buy a car or walk.

  • @NathanPurvis-hm8nc
    @NathanPurvis-hm8nc 9 месяцев назад

    Why would you assume that the marine shipping lines would make a bee line to key west when they already had well-developed port facilities along the gulf coast?

  • @teddyjackson1902
    @teddyjackson1902 7 месяцев назад

    What an exciting time…. Imagine an era of unapologetic achievements and ambition instead of state institutions trying to indoctrinate, tax and demoralize you into self-flagellation and serfdom.

  • @charlesgallagher8450
    @charlesgallagher8450 8 месяцев назад

    The problem with the Florida Keys is once you get there, there's no there there.

  • @NathanPurvis-hm8nc
    @NathanPurvis-hm8nc 9 месяцев назад

    Re: the title. Flagler didn't build a 'train' he built a railroad

  • @Jeff-fx1zy
    @Jeff-fx1zy 16 дней назад

    Saltwater for concrete? Thats called Ferroconcrete. If nobody was convinced about the value of that, i think the Japanese fortifications on Tarawa convinced a few nonbelievers.

  • @jimshoe402
    @jimshoe402 Год назад +1

    😁😁😁😁😁😁

  • @pauladams7344
    @pauladams7344 Год назад +3

    The glorious days before income tax !

  • @altacat9702
    @altacat9702 Год назад +1

    : )

  • @nunyabuziness8421
    @nunyabuziness8421 8 месяцев назад

    And the keys still gets wiped out by hurricanes. The us should abandon it

  • @sugarkillsall7297
    @sugarkillsall7297 Год назад +1

    Thta man died of type 1 diabetes.

  • @yourgooglemeister6745
    @yourgooglemeister6745 11 месяцев назад +1

    Mmmm. Interesting no strong independent women working on the railroad??

  • @NathanPurvis-hm8nc
    @NathanPurvis-hm8nc 9 месяцев назад

    Hahaha 😆 the train at 46:52 is HO scale Athearn crap 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

  • @caryleepierce2605
    @caryleepierce2605 11 месяцев назад

    The woman narrating resembles a blonde Sara Gilbert.

  • @scottbaker-ScottyB
    @scottbaker-ScottyB 5 месяцев назад

    The Tartarians built all the palaces , railroads , tracks , locomotives , bridges , we only inherited and used historians using a purposely false history narrative.

  • @chrissignal8857
    @chrissignal8857 2 месяца назад

    He ruined it

  • @musicmanmatt87
    @musicmanmatt87 Год назад +1

    0:05 #climatechange
    The keys may stay unaffected, they'll just stay unaffected underwater lol.
    But realistically, they're already starting to disappear 😢

    • @_.Leo_.
      @_.Leo_. Год назад

      Source?

    • @thislightful
      @thislightful Год назад

      @@_.Leo_. what do you mean source? This is a very well-known fact. Look it up online it’s pages and pages of reputable scientific proof. Florida has always been sinking. We’re just thinking a lot faster now with the rising tide.

    • @justaskin8523
      @justaskin8523 Год назад

      I'm with Leo. Source? Hey, when Barack Obama and his wife buy a seaside home, I'm pretty sure that tells you everything you need to know. The water ain't rising, but the BS sure is!

    • @runzelstilzchen8392
      @runzelstilzchen8392 Год назад

      ​@@justaskin8523Obama and his w i f e??
      Michelle...sorry, Michael Obama was a Man!

    • @jim2041-o9b
      @jim2041-o9b Год назад

      Been going there since 1985, haven't seen any disappear yet.

  • @MikeLikesChannel
    @MikeLikesChannel Год назад +36

    Seth Bramson was my professor of Florida history many years ago at FIU. Absolutely fascinating course (got an A). Glad to see he's doing well!

    • @VirtualRailfan
      @VirtualRailfan Год назад +3

      He’s a great guy, absolutely fascinating!

  • @catholiccrusader5328
    @catholiccrusader5328 Год назад +10

    Thank you South Florida PBS for this excellent program. Ever since I was a child, I'm 78 now and have always wondered about Mr. Flagler's railroad. Now I know. From Chicago much obliged.

  • @mackpines
    @mackpines Год назад +18

    Fantastic documentary!
    My Mother grew up in Miami and her family would go down to the keys every summer, driving on the old railroad bridges.
    Just incredible to think they built a railroad line across the sea!
    I highly recommend reading any of Seth Bramson's books.
    He is south Florida's foremost historian.

    • @davidcouch6514
      @davidcouch6514 Год назад +1

      I grew up in Miami 59-67. Went Fishing in Keys on something called “The Old Railroad Bridge.” It was wood and it seemed to never went anywhere. Skeeters 🦟 so big, fierce and dense it was absolute misery.

    • @sickstreaming
      @sickstreaming 9 месяцев назад

      Hmm. I wonder if Seth’s historic account details the situation as it was with Flagler, ie; Henry’s fondness of slave labor? Which, if google is correct, was utilized by Henry in contracting every last bit of his empire. Not just a shame, but a damn shame, to deny the people who truly built that bridge any form of acknowledgement….but, that’s how it goes in the good old USA. (FYI, I never knew about this until I had gotten a hunch while watching this video, in particular, when the individual spoke about the employment conditions in which harry was rumored to scoop a bunch of immigrants fresh off the boat. Even though this was refuted, it still caught my attention bc wtf is she saying all this for, if not to correct a common “misconception” about the labor practices. With that in mind, I googled “Flagler, Slavery” and what do you know!! a whole treasure trove of evidence regarding Mr.flaglers use of “forced labor”. I encourage you to look it up for yourself. Not everything is what it seems on the outside. even after watching a seemingly “in depth” documentary. You must always conduct your own due diligence, especially in this day and age.)

  • @donnabrown8853
    @donnabrown8853 Год назад +10

    I love the history of Flagler's Key West railroad and that you can still see part of it today. Living in Michigan I remember once driving on the Overseas Hwy while they were building the new one. Great documentary.

  • @dominikz.1376
    @dominikz.1376 Год назад +8

    I remember my dad coming home and dusting his jacket as he hung up his keys and took off his boots. Ladies and gentlemen, I can assure you this is all accurate recollection

  • @MrJimmyolson
    @MrJimmyolson Год назад +8

    Very nicely done!! Great to see Claudia Pennington displaying her calm and poignant thoughts about this part of history. Congrats to all!!

  • @saboabbas123
    @saboabbas123 5 месяцев назад +2

    I haven't been everywhere, but I've to a lot of places in this increasingly small world and I have to say Key West is the most unique place I have ever been.

  • @renardfranse
    @renardfranse Год назад +16

    when America WAS America. no longer sadly!

    • @dcasper8514
      @dcasper8514 Год назад

      It can be again with honorable people in charge.

    • @nicoleking772
      @nicoleking772 Год назад

      @@dcasper8514 It's more than the people in charge. It's the people who built that railroad, and this country. The MEN who did the heavy lifting.
      Those men are GONE.
      Replaced by weak, emotional valueless beings, where "likes" mean more than commitment or hard work and sacrifice.
      America will NEVER be Made Great Again

    • @itzhakbentov6572
      @itzhakbentov6572 11 месяцев назад +1

      Too many referees and compliance officers. We are not innovators now. We live in the nanny state.

    • @MrElapid
      @MrElapid 10 месяцев назад

      ​@@dcasper8514True. But it will take at least a generation when or if we make it back to sanity.

  • @wtxrailfan
    @wtxrailfan Год назад +4

    It's 2023 and you couldn't upload this doc in anything better than 240p? 🤔

  • @TheBandit7613
    @TheBandit7613 Год назад +4

    Flagler's Key West railroad was a gift to Florida. Without, who knows how long it would have taken to settle Florida.

  • @lolorick5885
    @lolorick5885 Год назад +7

    It's a pity the resolution of the video was so poor that it cannot be enjoyed to it's full potential

    • @joscallinet6260
      @joscallinet6260 Год назад +4

      When 1080p and 2160p videos are now STANDARD FARE on RUclips, why is this video being presented in the lowest-possible resolution? Answer: It is largely because this particular subject matter (HISTORY plus OLD TRAINS) is of very little interest to the great majority of today's viewers - therefore, naturally, what we have here is a miserable CRUMB tossed at the tiny handful of people who'd even bother to take the time out of their busy lives to watch it. It's a shame, because whoever created this film in the first place put a lot of hard work into researching and producing it - but never mind all of that - what we have here reflects the harsh reality of today's media universe, and what it prioritizes and values versus what it does not. Remember, also, that Public Broadcasting is the poor stepchild of the major news and Internet streaming news services, and so their material gets short shrift.

    • @weevie833
      @weevie833 Год назад +9

      This is likely a copy of a copy of a copy of video file that has been compressed umpteen times because no one knows where the original master is located. No bad intent was involved, I assure you. I used to deal with broadcast TV as an editor.

    • @eddieafterburner
      @eddieafterburner Год назад +3

      It’s quite fanciful to dream up story lines about purposely degrading historical content, or posit that funding woes are somehow responsible for an inability to upload in 1080 (as if these two things are even related?!), but the lousy quality appears to be a case of human error, plain and simple. To wit, even the copy of this on PBS’s very own website-which is its “original source”, so much for the “copy of a copy of a copy” theory, too-is equally degraded.
      This program is from 2012, which was well into the hi def era, so there has to be a pristine 720 or 1080 version on somebody’s hard drive somewhere. Someone just goofed when they uploaded it.
      There’s a reason for that old saying about the simplest explanation usually being the most plausible.

    • @nicoleking772
      @nicoleking772 Год назад

      @@joscallinet6260 This program first Aired: 01/23/2012
      The original source material is old stock black and white film stock, filmed 100 years ago
      PBS/WPBT is a top shelf broadcasting company that has created MANY outstanding documentaries for decades.
      Sorry that your sensibilities are hurt because of a lack of 1080 p
      I guess you missed the message behind this documentary.

  • @roballen3281
    @roballen3281 Год назад +3

    thank you for this great video, I always wanted to know the history behind the overseas railway.... driving to and from The Key is such a bore!

  • @Jeff-fx1zy
    @Jeff-fx1zy 16 дней назад +1

    10 ft.? Nobody stopped to consider a "real" hurricane. 10 ft aint nothin but a lameass tropical storm.

  • @Jeff-uj8xi
    @Jeff-uj8xi Год назад +11

    This was an excellent documentary. I love PBS. Being a rail and transportation historian, I've been aware of the Flagler and Florida East Coast story for years.
    One of my favorite movies is Key Largo from 1948, which starred Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor. Mentioned in that film are many of the places in the Keys. They even mentioned that hurricane of 1935 when the train was washed off the tracks. The story was told by Lionel Barrymore.

    • @caroleminke6116
      @caroleminke6116 11 месяцев назад

      I ❤Key Largo but only the opening dock scene was filmed there

  • @deliriousgastronomy
    @deliriousgastronomy 11 месяцев назад +2

    I've read Flagler was paid 8,000 acres of Florida land for every mile of rail he built. Makes sense he went all the way to Key West.

  • @TrapperAaron
    @TrapperAaron 8 месяцев назад +2

    I live just down the road from Flaglers home on the island, this and The Breakers should be UNESCO sites. Truly beautiful places. Flagler was however a terrible person, with no problem usuing Jim Crowe Slavery, and prison labor with no compensation to prisoners. He's also the reason Florida is an ecological disaster, and unmaintainable for human habitation. Should i evenentiin Rosewood, or the fact that as of 2022 the only indication thebtown had existed or the tragedy that had taken place was a small faded green sign that said "Former site of Rosewood". The whitewashing of the workforce, as a workers paradise. The fact they literally said at least there wasnt any slavery is DISGUSTING! No mention of native labor. Or mention that the only reason flaglers first surveyors returned at all was with the help of several tribes who found these guys starving and sick in the glades and got them home.

  • @stpetebackyardorchids
    @stpetebackyardorchids Месяц назад +1

    “Nobody was keeping any slaves…”. Read the XIII th Amendment to the US Constitution.

  • @hollisholland4902
    @hollisholland4902 12 дней назад +1

    The narrator Claudia Pennington has the most soothing voice. I wonder does she narrate any other documentaries.

  • @esmenhamaire6398
    @esmenhamaire6398 Год назад +3

    I don't understand why the modern video is such poor quality, and a little "fuzzy", as if shot in very low resolution. It's a shame, as in style this appears to be one of the better US-produced documentaries I've come across, but the video is doing bad things to my eyes, so I'm having to bail out. Might come back to just listen to it, one day, though. I had no idea that Florida was SO unpopulated at the time, I hadnt heard about the railroad, and I love learning new things about history and large engineering feats!

    • @FadkinsDiet
      @FadkinsDiet Год назад

      Looks like instead of using the original 1080p video, they ripped it /re encoded it at 240p to save disk space and upload faster.

  • @anthonyvalenti9093
    @anthonyvalenti9093 Год назад +2

    So, what happened to the rest of train system? Did it become commercial only(freight)?

    • @ltmundy1164
      @ltmundy1164 Год назад +1

      Overseas Highway. Developed upon the remnants of the 1935 hurricane, A1A south of Dade County would become the successor to the original Overseas Railroad. FEC still operates freight rail from Dade northbound. Brightline passenger rail operations currently use this right of way between Miami and W Palm Beach, with newly built extensions now serving MCO/Orlando, with plans to extend to Tampa/St Petersburg.

  • @deanedeane4318
    @deanedeane4318 Год назад +4

    Wanderfull journey and thankyou !!! 😉😎

  • @n1mogator
    @n1mogator 7 месяцев назад +1

    Amasing the things Our forfathers and there Money and engenewatie has buit and the Men that work 60hours a week for years to finshes? its a Wonderment!!!]