About Sunday River Productions
Alva Morrison
Sunday River Productions grew out of the lifelong passion for railroading
of one man, Alva Morrison. A railfan since his childhood, Morrison collected
scores of reels of unique footage of trains throughout his life. These included
many of the great named streamliners of the fifties and sixties, and irreplaceable
footage of the death and reviving of narrow gauge steam in Colorado.
In the early 1970s, friends and fellow fans began asking Morrison if he could
make copies of his movies which they could show in their own homes. When reproduction
prices proved exorbitant, one friend suggested he order in bulk and advertise
the extra films for sale. Our company, Sunday River Productions, named for Morrison’s
favorite river in the mountains of western Maine, got its start selling reproduced
films which could be shown on an 8mm home movie projector.
Demand immediately exceeded all expectations. But quality was never sacrificed.
The company’s reputation was built by leaving all but the best film on
the cutting room floor, and being scrupulously accurate about adding sounds
like whistles, steam, and diesel horns. Morrison also did in-depth research
on any subject covered, so as to provide commentary that is both interesting
and accurate.
Due to his emphasis on quality, Sunday River’s reputation spread among
railfans throughout the nation and around the world. Calls and letters came
in from train photographers who owned an incredible variety of unique and fascinating
footage, some going back to the early days of motion pictures. Many begged Morrison
to produce their films in a marketable format just so they would be preserved.
Morrison began producing features about trains which have not rolled for decades.
When video cassettes were standardized, Sunday River became the first company
to offer railroad videos, and early on set the standard by which train videos
are measured for quality and accuracy.
Morrison, like many of the people who shot the footage in our library, has
passed on. But we, his children and heirs, have committed ourselves to making
the entire library available to the public in modern DVD format so that access
to these treasures will not be lost. We hold ourselves to the tradition of excellence
that was established by our father, and we eagerly solicit your comment on our
endeavors.