CLARKSVILLE, TN – The public is invited to the premiere of a documentary on Clarksville’s railroading history, “Departures and Arrivals: Clarksville’s Railroad Legacy,” at the L&N Depot, 189 10th St., this Sunday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. There is no admission charge.
Four years in the making, the documentary features interviews with journalist and author of nine books on railroading Todd DeFeo; local historian Jim Long; Dan Cherry, grandson of legendary L&N engineer Dynamite Dan; librarian and historian Raymond Rosado; railroad enthusiasts Dave Straka, C. David Elliot and John Blake, and Mayors Joe Pitts and Wes Golden.
Videographers and Austin Peay State University communication professors Karen Bullis and Kathy Lee Heuston sought out archival material and interviewed experts in three states to bring the story of Clarksville’s railroad history to life.
“We talked to so many historians, and they had such knowledge and such passion,” Bullis said. “It was good to put that information into a story. One of the most touching interviews was with Dan Cherry. Hearing him share stories about his grandfather, who had raised him and been a big part of his life, was exciting.”
Heuston noted that one of the biggest challenges the pair faced was taking the interesting small stories and weaving them into a cohesive whole. “There’s just so much,” she said, “and we worked to make it flow, always asking ourselves what would be interesting to a viewer. I’m extremely proud to have a story that’s told, and we were able to show and put light on our local train station.”
While interviews hold the piece together and give important information, Bullis said a lack of archival video from the 1850s and ‘60s to illustrate interviewer stories became their biggest challenge. “We had to learn a different strategy,” she suggested. “We did have newspapers, and we could digitally search back to the 1850s,” when trains first began to run through Clarksville. They also took advantage of still photos to tell Clarksville’s rail history.
The video was commissioned by the Clarksville Arts and Heritage Council through a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Because the documentary will be given to Clarksville Parks and Recreation to show to visitors at the L&N Depot, the documentary’s focus was on the buildings that saw departures and arrivals of Clarksvillians and visitors, including troops and recruits arriving for and leaving from Camp, and later Fort, Campbell.
Bullis commented, “I hope this piece will be a part of the history of the building—to show its importance. It was such a wonderful process to learn that history—how Clarksville was part of the L&N line, to shape stories to bring that importance to the public, to a larger audience.”