Part-Time Explorer
My primary outlet for documentary videos is through my YouTube channel, Part-Time Explorer. Capturing footage for these videos often entails travel — and a lot of it! (Hence my channel’s name.) HFX Studios has produced videos detailing stories across North America: in 25 different states, four Canadian provinces, and nine countries. This map gives some idea of all the locations where my documentaries have been filmed. (Click to enlarge)
On this page, you will find links to some of my videos. If you would like to view all of my available videos, you may do so on my official channel.
HFX Studios has produced videos … in 25 different states, four Canadian provinces, and nine countries.
This is our passion.
Nothing can beat the moment when all of the hard work, research, computer modeling, and scripting come together on the set and the cameras start rolling. Accuracy is our primary goal. Most of our documentaries are filmed on location or from our home studios; but every now and then, more is needed. These stills from a green-screen shoot we did a few years ago show the moment the cameras started rolling.
Overseeing setup
Our founder, Tom Lynskey, personally inspecting the setup, ensuring that everything is ready.
Recreating history
As cameras start to roll and actors step into their roles, a moment from history springs to life once more.
Attention to detail
Making sure that everything is coming out exactly as it should be, one shot at a time, calls for extraordinary attention to detail.
Video Categories
Featured videos
EDMUND FITZGERALD: THE FULL STORY
(5oth Anniversary commemorative)
Release date: Nov. 2, 2025
On November 10, 1975, the freighter Edmund Fitzgerald – once hailed as “Queen of the Great Lakes” – vanished beneath the storm-torn waters of Lake Superior with all 29 crewmen aboard. Fifty years later, we return to the sites connected to her story to uncover how one of the most advanced freighters of her time simply disappeared.
THE SS UNITED STATES DEPARTING PHILADELPHIA
Release date: Feb. 21, 2025
On February 19, 2025, the SS United States was towed from her Philadelphia pier to begin the long journey down to Mobile, Alabama, where preparations would be made to scuttle her. This is the story of her final trip down the Delaware River in February, 2025.
THE WRECK OF “THE BROKER”
Release date: Feb. 5, 2024
On the misty evening of February 6, 1951, the deadliest rail disaster in New Jersey history took place in the town of Woodbridge, when the train “The Broker” derailed. We use modern computer technology to re-examine this three-quarters-of-a-century-old “cold case”, and find out what really happened.
THE DISASTROUS WRECK OF THE SS HUNGARIAN
Release date: Oct. 4, 2024
This documentary focuses on the wreck of the Allan liner SS Hungarian, in 1860, off Cape Sable island, Nova Scotia. It was our biggest documentary to date, not only recreating the disaster virtually, but showing viewers the locations, the museums, and the artifacts that helped tell this incredible story.
eXCLUSIVE TOUR OF CATALINA ISLAND
Release date: May 7, 2024
This video is very unique in the history of Part-Time Explorer. I was personally invited on a behind-the-scenes tour of three of the most iconic and historically interesting structures on Catalina Island, a tourist destination visited by over a million people every year.
THE DEADLIEST ROCKSLIDE IN NORTH AMERICA – THE FRANK ROCKSLIDE OF 1903
Release date: Oct. 17, 2023
An entire town, buried under a rockslide of 110 million tons of limestone. That is what happened to the town of Frank, Alberta, on the night of April 28, 1903.
CENTRALIA, PA: AMERICA’S BURNING GHOST TOWN
Release date: Aug. 21, 2022
This is one of the most dramatic ghost town stories I’ve ever covered. The entire town of Centralia, Pennsylvania — home to about 3,000 people — was abandoned after an underground fire that has burned for over 60 years, and will burn for over 250 years into the future.
THE GHOST TOWN OF GRANITE, MONTANA: “tHE sILVER qUEEN”
Release date: Dec. 12, 2023
This is the story of Granite, Montana, once one of the biggest cities in the State of Montana. At its height, this city was the largest producer of silver in the world
Titanic, Maritime, & Shipwrecks
IN THE WAKE OF TITANIC: THE RECOVERY AND BURIAL OF THE DEAD
Release date: April 15, 2025
The most notorious shipwreck in history still has tales to tell. In this 90-minute documentary, we explore one of the darkest and least-told stories of Titanic‘s history: the recovery and burial of her dead. This is a haunting, tragic tale, but one that is important to understanding what become of the 1,496 men, women, and children who perished in the sinking — and the extraordinary efforts made to recover the victims and give them a proper burial.
WE SWING OUT A LIFEBOAT: WELIN DAVIT DRILL EXPLAINED
Release date: May 16, 2025
This video was filmed aboard the SS Milwaukee Clipper, in Muskegon, Michigan, which happens to have Welin lifeboat davits similar to those aboard Titanic. Our HFX Studios team went out one night during our team excursion to the ship, and tried to get some idea of what it was really like to swing Titanic‘s lifeboats out and prepare them for lowering during the notorious disaster.
SAVING RMS OLYMPIC‘S PIANO
Release date: Mar. 19, 2024
This video introduced the Titanic community and the world to the newly-formed non-profit organization, The RMS Olympic Steinway Association. It had been formed by an international team, and my longtime collaborator, J. Kent Layton, and I were invited to serve on the Board of Directors. The purpose? To purchase and display for the world an piano built for Titanic‘s sister ship Olympic, and which traveled aboard the ship from 1913 until the time she left service.
In late 2024, the work of the Association led to the foundation of The White Star Line Quintet, a new musical ensemble dedicated to bringing the music of Olympic & Titanic‘s time to life. Through HFX Studios, I have proudly helped to get the group off the ground and make their recordings available worldwide. Stay tuned as the Association works to make sure that this historic instrument is shared with the world!
THE TERRIFYING WRECK OF THE SS ATLANTIC
Release date: Mar 28, 2023
It was the other notorious wreck from the White Star Line, and it took place April 1, 1873, 39 years and two weeks before the sinking of Titanic. Indeed, Atlantic was only the second White Star liner to enter service, after the company had come under the management of Thomas Henry Ismay, and the disaster took place at a time when the fledgling line was still trying to establish itself on the North Atlantic. The sinking of Atlantic was the worst disaster up to that time in the history of the North Atlantic — a grim and unenviable record that would stand until it was superseded by Titanic.
This documentary was created to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the tragedy.
THE FIRST LADY OF THE SEAS: TOURING THE SS UNITED STATES
Release date: Jan. 14, 2023
While the SS United States sat dormant at Philadelphia’s Pier 82, I had the chance of touring the ship with the assistance of the SS United States Conservancy. This documentary not only told the history of the great liner, but also documented her condition shortly before leaving Philadelphia for the final time.
A SHAMEFUL, FORGOTTEN WRECK: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SS INDIAN DISASTER
Release date: Oct. 29, 2024
The wreck of the Allan liner SS Indian in 1859 was a tragic, sad chapter in Nova Scotia maritime history. This was a massive ship for its time, and the loss of life was substantial; yet, it is all but forgotten today. Join us as we tell the untold story of this incredible disaster!
THE DRAMATIC WRECK OF THE SS LAUREL (1929)
Release date: Apr. 23, 2024
This documentary explores the 1929 wreck of the cargo steamer SS Laurel. She was beached in a hurricane on Peacock Spit, Washington, at the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria, Oregon.
THE FULL STORY OF THE SS EASTLAND DISASTER (1915)
Release date: Nov. 19, 2022
This documentary explores the story of the sinking of the steamship Eastland sinking at the Clark Street Wharf in Chicago, Illinois, in 1915. The top-heavy, unstable boat capsized before leaving the dock, and the disaster became the deadliest day in Chicago history, but it’s often forgotten today. This program tells the complete story of the Eastland — from construction to the epic disaster.
Ghost Towns
BONNIE CLARE, NEVADA: GUNFIGHTS, TRAIN WRECKS, & GOLD
Release date: Feb. 11, 2023
The abandoned mining town of Bonnie Clare, Nevada is certainly photogenic. however, there is nearly no documentation about this town’s history. This documentary gives a glimpse into what we know about this small town right out of the pages of history.
THE GHOST TOWN OF LUSANNE, PENNSYLVANIA: completely buried
Release date: Dec. 3, 2024
Historians claim that the small town of Lusanne, Pennsylvania — once known as “the Switzerland of America” — played a critical role in kickstarting America’s Industrial Revolution. However, the town is completely gone today. What do we find during our exploration?
EXPLORING THE DANGEROUS RUINS OF THE WARREN GLEN PAPER MILL
Release date: Mar. 4, 2025
The local police department in Warren Glen, New Jersey invited us to explore the dangerous and incredible ruins of the Riegel Paper, and later the FiberMark, paper plant in the wooded hills, allowing us to document it before it was demolished.
THE GHOST TOWN OF GRIFFIN, NORTH DAKOTA
Release date: Jul. 12, 2024
This town in Bowman County, North Dakota was originally settled in the 1890s, but it is so poorly documented, so forgotten, and so wiped out, that its story is one step away from being wiped out forever. It was full of life and stories that deserve to be remembered.
THE GHOST TOWN OF COMET, MONTANA
Release date: Mar. 4, 2023
Few have ever heard of this tiny town that twice reached a population of about 300 people, all working at the local silver mines and flotation mill on the hillside. Yet it has the reputation of being one of the best ghost towns in Montana.
ELKHORN: MONTANA’S MOST ICONIC GHOST TOWN
Release date: Oct. 22, 2022
Elkhorn, Montana is debatably the most iconic ruin in the state, and has to be the best preserved ghost town I’ve seen in the Northwest.
GONE WITHOUT A TRACE: THE GHOST TOWN OF HOPEFIELD, ARKANSAS
Release date: Oct. 3, 2025
Hopefield started as a Spanish outpost along the Mississippi River, standing in the way of the expansion of the newly-formed United States; it later became French, then as it grew even gave the metropolis of Memphis, Tennessee some competition. Now, nothing remains to be seen of the town.
THE GHOST TOWN OF THURMOND, wv: A GOOD TOWN GONE BAD
Release date: Apr. 9, 2022
This town was built as a junction for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, first settled in the 1870s. It quickly gained a reputation for treachery and murder. Today, only a handful of people call this town a home, which also happens to be located within one of the United States’ newest National Parks.