https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/e6dca9d9-eada-4a60-987e-5cfacfd82f60 Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCddem5RlB3bQe99wyY49g0g/join Help us preserve, scan and post more rare and endangered films! Join us on Patreon. Visit https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Visit our website www.PeriscopeFilm.com This episode of the "March of Time" TV show is a profile of America's busiest river; the Monongahela. It focuses on the movement of coal down the river. It displays the coal industry in the mid-1930’s as well as what life was like for the river men including the changes presented by the addition of females on the boats as well as the change to diesel fuel. The Monongahela is the busiest of Pittsburgh’s three rivers carting barges of supplies such as petroleum, coke, iron and steel; about 17 million tons annually for US industry. It features footage from within the Pittsburgh seam. This TV show was produced by and shared a name with the popular newsreel series, the "March of Time" which ran from 1935 to 1931. That series was narrated by Westbrook van Voorhis and produced and written by Louis and Richard de Rochemont. Opening shots feature the Monongahela (:28). Black smoke billows from a steel plant (:31). The historic towboat known as W.P. Snyder Jr. rolls by (:45). Coal is sourced from the Allegheny Mountains (1:03). Steel producing centers follow (1:15). Another notorious towboat; W.B. Larimer Jones appears (2:00). The river begins at the junction of the west fork of the Tygart rivers in the lower hills of Western Virginia (2:24). The L.M. Smith rides by (2:48). Point of view footage moves through one of the locks (3:09). An abandoned coal tipple (3:30) is contrasted against a newly developed coal bed (3:38). Monongahela valley is noted on a map (4:09). Miniature trains run through an underground mine (4:40) carting miners (4:49) to the coal seams. A giant cutting machine (4:59) and other modern machinery are pictured. A miner hacks at coal (5:20). This footage is derived from the 'Pittsburg seam'. Mechanical equipment shuffles coal (5:48). Bill Cunningham (6:12) captains the Shannopin (6:17); a modern diesel river boat. Mine number five (6:38) was owned by the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. A deckhand (6:51) cuts loose the empties. The Shannopin makes runs from mine to mill (7:09). Loads of coal wait on the river in barges (7:22). The process of moving coal barges follows. Six barges are lashed together (7:31). Barges tighten (7:55). The captain sits within the pilot house (8:39). A sternwheeler runs by (8:52). Bill makes a call over a warning light (9:13). The Shannopin’s chief engineer takes the call (9:16) and begins maintenance work (9:42). The captain discusses benefits of the diesel boat versus the steamboat (10:11). A female cook readies a pie on the towboat (10:42). Food allowance aboard the ship is discussed (11:13). Lock three is pictured with heavy traffic (12:28). Gates are closed (12:37). The barge load lines up with the lock gate (12:56). The all clear signal is given (13:09). Cunningham delivers a response (13:15). The lock master opens the gates (13:27). The barges move through in sections (13:38). Barges enter the lock (14:04). Lines are passed to timber heads on the lock walls (14:33). Barges are cut lose from the Shannopin (14:50) and the gates are shut (15:01). The Shannopin enters the lock (15:14). Dangers often faced during this operation are discussed (15:28). The Shannopin makes a pit stop in Morgan town (16:48). Ship hands enter a popular local restaurant called ‘Vinces’ (17:10). One of the river boat men plays a tune (17:53). Miners are river boat men converse (18:42). Throughout the film the argument is posed over diesel versus steam boats. Fog rolls over the river (19:47). A warning blast is fired (20:06). Steel mills line the river bank (20:32). Smog from smoke stacks fill the air (20:39). The dangerous Greenfield bend is pictured (20:44). A ferry carts workers across the river (21:46).  Steel mills and foundries (22:24) of chemical plants appear. Blast furnaces operate in the night (22:46). Slag is dumped (22:55). Steel workers (23:40) operate the complex machinery. The city of Pittsburg is viewed from the ground (24:24). Westbrook van Voorhis appears to wrap up the film (25:45) and detail where the series was to visit next. Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0regPr8p0J8 Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:16:18 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/e6dca9d9-eada-4a60-987e-5cfacfd82f60 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.