Author: Jim Pearson

This video gives us a look at the Kansas City Southern, a Class I railroad that was founded by Arthur E. Stillwell to connect Kansas City with the Gulf of Mexico.  Construction was begun in 1890 under the railroad’s original name, The Kanas City, Nevada, and Port Smith RR.  By 1893 the railroad had reached Joplin, MO, but the steep grades that would have been encountered in the Boston Mountains forced the line to relocate and by-pass Fort Smith, AR.  Because of this, the railroad was re-named the Kansas City, Pittsburgh, & Gulf RR.  By building hundreds of miles of new line and by acquiring existing railroads Mr. Stillwell reached Port Arthur, TX, in 1897.

The RR experienced hard financial times in 1899 and fell into receivership.  It emerged from bankruptcy in 1900 as the Kansas City Southern RR.  Sadly, the board of directors forced Mr. Stillwell out of the company.

No on screen maps are used but Mr. Plets includes a map insert with the DVD.  I would prefer that the maps be on screen but at least we do have a map to refer to.

A great variety of locomotives can be seen in this video which was shot between 2004 and 2013.  I didn’t check them off as I watched the video but the back of the DVD case lists the following locomotive types as being shown: SW1500, GP38-2, GP40-3, GP40-2LW, GG20B, SD40, SD40-2, SD40-3, SD45-3, SD50, SD60, SD70MAC, SD70Ace, AC44CW, and ES 44CW.  There is also a good mix of trains: unit grain trains, unit coal trains, stack trains, and mixed manifest freights are shown.

Prior to watching this video my only exposure to the Kansas City Southern was the occasional appearance of their locomotives as foreign power in videos on other railroads.  I found this video to be very entertaining and informative.  The KCS is a Class I railroad and it was good to learn about its current operations and its history.

This DVD was extremely enjoyable to watch.  It is another gem from 7idea Productions and definitely lives up to the high standard of excellence for which 7idea Productions is known.  The format is wide screen, the image quality is superb, the camera work is professional, the RR action is good, the scenery is beautiful, the narration is informative, and a nice 3-D map is used early in the video to show us not only the route we will take but the topography of the terrain as well.  It would have been nice if  the map had been referred to from time to time as we progressed westward but it was only used at the beginning.

We travel  westward over the length of Union Pacific’s Green River Sub from Grand Junction in western Colorado to Helper, Utah.  Construction of this stretch of track was finished by the Denver & Rio Grande RR in 1884 and it completed the link between Denver and Salt Lake City.  It was originally narrow gauge but was converted to standard gauge in 1990.  Grand Junction is the division point betwee the Glenwood Springs Sub to the east and the Green River Sub to the west.  While in Grand Junction we see the arrival and departure of Amtrak Train #6, the eastbound California Zephyr.

After leaving Grand Junction we follow the Colorado River into Ruby Canyon where we cross into Utah.  I can still remember seeing the state boundary marked in paint on the canyon wall during my trip on the California Zephyr in 1960 when I was just eleven years old.  That same boundary mark is shown in this video

The most spectacular scenery is encountered on the 37.4 mile long Cane Creek branch line.  This branch line descends 1000 feet in elevation to a potash mine in the Colorado River Canyon.  Beautiful red rock cliffs line the right of way and there is a scene where a train is viewed through the opening of a natural arch known as the Corona Arch.  The trip down this branch line and back is worth the price of the video by itself.

If you like western scenery and good train action, then this video is one you won’t want to miss.