How did Schenectady, a sleepy little city on the Erie Canal, become home to a manufacturing giant and help usher in the modern era?

Part of the answer lies in the stories of great machines with grand names: Jupiter, Hudson, Challenger, Hiawatha, and Big Boy. But much of the answer also lies in the stories of everyday people who accomplished extraordinary things. The Iron Horse in Schenectady tells the stories of both the great locomotive engines and the men and women who built them.

WMHT Educational Telecommunications is proud to present The Iron Horse in Schenectady: Locomotives for the World, the tale of how a small city in upstate New York became linked to some of the greatest names and events in American history: Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Golden Spike Ceremony, the 20th Century Limited, and the campaigns of World War Two.

The work of award-winning documentary filmmaker Steve Dunn, this one-hour documentary details the history of the American Locomotive Company (Alco), the industrial powerhouse that at one point vied for supremacy with the country's leading locomotive manufacturers.

Spanning the years 1831 to 1969, The Iron Horse in Schenectady tells the story of the men, women, and locomotives that once made Schenectady "The City that Lights and Hauls the World." Through extensive historical research and interviews with former Alco employees and their families, the program brings to life the rich visual history of the company and people who built the original Jupiter, Hudson, and Big Boy locomotives.

WMHT hopes that by providing the first documentary look at Alco's long and vibrant history, the Alco story will receive the attention it deserves. The Iron Horse in Schenectady shows how Schenectady locomotives found work on every continent, and provides a classic illustration of how railroads connected one local community to history.

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