Robert,
The movie was shot by Gottfried Wilhelm "Billy" Bitzer (April 21, 1874 - April 29, 1944). He was a pioneering cinematographer notable for his close association with D. W. Griffith. It is said that Bitzer developed camera techniques that set the standard for all future motion pictures. Among Bitzer's innovations were:
The fade out to close a movie scene.
The iris shot where a circle closes to close a scene.
Soft focus photography with the aid of a light diffusion screen.
Filming entirely under artificial lighting rather than outside.
I have also seen other prints of the film that give credit to Thomas Edison, Inc. I believe that it wasn't shot by Edison, but rather published and/or distributed by his company. There are a number of films in the Library of Congress that Edison Inc. published. You can find quite a few of them on YouTube.
As for the Maechner video… I was hoping it was something special. It wasn't. Just your basic home movie/video. Not trying to be harsh, but there are plenty of videos out there that are much more professional.
Please realize that I live in the suburbs of Denver and have ridden the Loop many times since the late 1980's. The highlight for me was being pulled by C&S #9 a few years ago.
Thanks!
Doug
Doug Heitkamp
Centennial, CO