Rail Flicks

Rail Flicks: Tehachapi, Union Pacific’s Mojave Sub

July 23, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson

By Tommy Johnson

Title	Tehachapi, Union Pacific’s Mojave Sub
Producer	7idea Productions
Format	Wide Screen DVD
Playing Time	2 hr 25 min
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased	7/10/2012
Price Paid	$27.95

This DVD is the latest addition to my collection and it turned out to be one of my very best railroad videos.
When 7idea Productions puts out a video on a subject, you need to buy a copy, no matter how many videos you might have on the same subject by other producers. When you watch the 7idea Production video you will feel that you are really seeing the subject for the first time. That’s how much better the 7idea Productions videos are compared to the others.

We watch in wide screen splendor as we travel timetable south from Bakersfield, CA, to Mojave, CA, following the Union Pacific’s route through the Tehachapi Mountains. The Tehachapi’s lie between the San Joaquin Valley to the north and the Mojave Desert to the south. The view of the railroad action is virtually unobstructed since these mountains are covered by grass and shrubs with no large trees.

BNSF has trackage rights on this sub and we actually see more BNSF action than UP action.

The grade is 2.2% for much of the climb to the summit of Tehachapi Pass near the town of Tehachapi. The word “Tehachapi” means “hard climb” in some native American language. We encounter two very interesting sections of track on our way to this summit, Caliente Horseshoe and Tehachapi Loop.

The Caliente Horseshoe is a place with some good RR action as trains climb out of Caliente Canyon. We can see portions of the same train going in opposite directions at this location .

The time spent at Tehachapi Loop makes this video worth the price of admission. It is absolutely fascinating to see trains looping over themselves. The head end of the train passes 77 feet above the trailing cars as they go through the tunnel.

This video comes with my highest recommendation. I think any rail fan would enjoy this one.

Rail Flicks: The Milwaukee Road Volumes I, II, & III Combo DVD

June 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson, Videos

railflicks

Title	The Milwaukee Road Volumes I, II, & III Combo DVD
Producer	Pentrex
Format	Full Screen
Playing Time	2 hr 46 min
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased	8/27/2009
Price Paid	$22.96

If you found Gary Ostlund’s presentation at our March meeting interesting, you will like this DVD. Some of the still pictures in his presentation were taken at the same locations covered in this video.

The video was shot during 1972 and 1973 and the action takes place on the electrified portion of the Milwaukee Road in western Montana and the Idaho Panhandle. The eastern end of the electrified rail was Harlowton, MT, and the western end was Avery, ID. There was another section of electrified rail in Washington State but that was not covered in this DVD.

The image quality is surprisingly good considering the technology of the times in the early 1970s. Digital enhancement was used to great effect on this DVD. The narration is very informative.

We see box cabs, steeple cabs, and Little Joe’s in the video and we are treated to some nice shots of RR action at the tunnels and trestles between the St. Paul Pass Tunnel on the ID-MT border and Avery, ID. This section of right of way has been converted into a bike trail, which I have ridden twice. It is a beautiful area.
You will like this one!

Rail Flicks: Workin’ on the Railroad

May 20, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson

By Tommy Johnson

Title	Workin’ on the Railroad
Producer	Pentrex
Format	Full Screen
Playing Time	1 hr 35 min
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased	6/13/2011
Price Paid	$24.95

This DVD was interesting, informative, and entertaining; it was well worth the purchase price. The action takes place between 1995 and 1998.

We watch Norfolk Southern’s “Timber and Surface Gang 1” as they use tie cranes, spike pullers, spike loaders, anchor spreaders, tie pulling machines, tie insertion machines, tie plate machines, spike driving machines, anchor machines, ballast regulators, and a tamper machine. It is a fascinating process to watch.

We get so see an undercutting machine in operation a little later in the DVD. This machine pulls the ballast out from under the rails and uses a vibrating machine to separate and remove the dirt and debris. The good ballast is redistirbuted and the dirt is piled alongside the tracks.

Things get even more interesting when we see the P-811 concrete tie laying machine in operation. This machine, the flat cars hauling new concrete ties, and the flat cars used for collecting and hauling the old wooden ties that have been removed make up a work train.

The DVD gives us a break from maintenance of way action and takes us to the NS car re-body shop in Roanoke, VA, where gondola cars are stripped down to the center beam and the trucks and are given completely new bodies.

We also visit the NS Pochahantas Division Dispatch Center in Bluefield, WV. The Chief Dispatcher is a guy by the name of Tommy Johnson. With a name like that, you know he just has to be one very cool dude, right?

This DVD will make a great addition to your collection. I think it will be one that you will watch several times over the years.

Rail Flicks by Tommy Johnson

April 22, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson

This is a very good DVD. As would be expected with a 7idea Productions video, the videography is excellent. The picture quality is extremely good and the camera work was done very professionally.

Starting from Portland, Oregon, we take a trip up the Oregon side of the Columbia River on the Union Pacific’s Portland Sub in this video. We are treated to spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge as we follow the UP route alongside the river, our tour ending at Hinkle, OR, where the Blue Mountain Sub begins. The video was shot between June of 2011 and February of 2012.

Along the way we see the Bonneville Dam, Multnomah Falls, The Dalles Dam, and the John Day Dam. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round water fall in the U.S. We also see some wind farms with their huge wind generators turning.

This is a DVD that you will come back and watch again and again.

Title	Columbia River Gorge Part 1: Union Pacific’s Portland Sub
Producer	7idea Productions
Format	Wide Screen
Playing Time	1 Hr 58 Min
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased	03/15/12
Price Paid	$27.95

March 22, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks

By Tommy Johnson

Title	Trains on the Montana Rail Link
Producer	Plets Express
Format	Full Screen
Playing Time	1:46
Purchased From	RailFanDepot
Date Purchased	1/4/2010
Price Paid	$31.34

Montana Rail Link is a Class II regional railroad serving southern and western Montana since 1987. Its eastern terminus is Huntley, MT, and the western terminus is Spokane, WA. The MRL connects with the BNSF on both ends and has 939 miles of trackage, most of which was originally built by the Northern Pacific.

The MRL runs through some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. A printed map showing the route is included with the DVD but an on screen map would have been nice.

The producer selected some very good points along the route from which to shoot video footage and he did a great job of capturing the trains from interesting camera angles.

The narrator tells us about specific locomotives seen in the video, identifying their type, the year they were built, and which railroad originally purchased them.

We see trains struggling over Bozeman pass with the benefit of helper locomotives and later we are treated to scenes of westbound trains climbing the 2.2% grade up to Mullan Pass.

I found this video to be very informative and entertaining. The scenery is gorgeous and the RR action is great with good background info provided by the narrator. I recommend this one.

Rail Flicks by Tommy Johnson

February 26, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks, Tommy Johnson

This is a very enjoyable video that shows the narrow gauge Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad being cleared of snow in early May of 1997 by a steam powered rotary plow. The C&TS RR runs the 64 miles of track between Chama, New Mexico, and Antonito, Colorado. This is a section of what was once Denver & Rio Grand trackage that ran from Alamosa,CO, to Durango, CO, and was abandoned in 1968.

The viewer is given a very informative tour of the features and the controls of the rotary at the beginning of the video.

Even though it is early May, there is still 4 to 6 feet of snow over the track near the summit of Cumbres Pass, which is at 10,015 feet in elevation.

The scenery is great and the camera work is very good, capturing the snow plow from all angles. There are good, tight shots of the rotary in action and also some nice vista shots.

This is a good video and is worth the price.

Title	Rocky Mountain Snow Plow
Producer	Greg Scholl
Format	full screen
Playing Time	1 hr 30 min
Purchased From	http://www.trainvideodepot.com
Date Purchased	01/04/12
Price Paid	$27.95

New Feature! Rail Flicks By Tommy Johnson

January 24, 2012 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks

Title	Illinois Central
Producer	Green Frog
Format	full screen
Playing Time	2 hrs and 20 minutes (2 DVD Set)
Purchased From	Green Frog
Date Purchased	10/02/09
Price Paid	$23.97

This is a very good DVD covering the Illinois Central RR from the 1950s through the 1980s. It is a two-DVD set and the first DVD is almost entirely devoted to the last days of steam locomotives. At the end of the first DVD we see the transition to diesels.

The video quality is surprisingly good for the 1950s scenes and we get to see 4-8-2 mountain type locos, 2-8-4 Berkshires, 2-8-2 Mikados (mainstays on the I.C.), and even some 2-10-2’s.

There are several train meets, lots of scenes with steam locos billowing huge clouds of black smoke, and some nice high speed pacing shots of steam locos.

Disc 2 shows trains with diesel locomotives from the 70s and 80s mostly shot in Illinois. There is a scene showing the City of Miami on its last run before Amtrak took over.

This DVD set is worth the purchase price in my opinion.

Rail Flicks: Indiana Rail Road, the Indianapolis Subdivision

October 23, 2011 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks

Greetings, fellow members of the Western Kentucky Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. I hope that I can provide information through my monthly reviews that will be useful to you in your search for entertaining and informative RR videos. I have eighty-four different RR videos at this time and plan to continue adding to my collection as time goes by.

As we continue this monthly feature, I would like to share with you my favorite on-line vendors for RR videos. I have found the following websites to be excellent sources of good videos and the vast majority of my collection has come from these sites:

www.trainvideodepot.com

www.railfandepot.com

www.greenfrog.com

I will try to rate the videos in an objective manner but we all have our favorite railroads and we all have connections to particular areas of the country. If I review a video that has special meaning to me, I will warn the reader that my review might not be entirely objective.

Title	Indiana Rail Road, the Indianapolis Subdivision
Producer	Railway Productions
Format	Wide Screen DVD
Playing Time	1 Hr 30 Min
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Date Purchased	9/12/2011
Price Paid	$27.89

Excellent use is made of Google Earth to show the topography of the route from Indianapolis to Newton, IL. The entire route of the Indianapolis Sub is former IC RR trackage. The scenes progress from Indianapolis to Newton, which is considered to be “southbound,” although the actual route of travel is almost due west after Bloomington.
They don’t let the viewer know when the scenes he is viewing were shot. I had to skip ahead to the very end to find that the copyright date is 2009. This information is not on the cover or at the beginning of the video. We get some nice looks at Indiana Rail Road’s new SD 90/43 MACs with their bright red paint.

It is very annoying that the narrator mispronounces “Monon” every time her refers to it, which happens several times during this DVD. He does not put any emphasis on the second syllable. It is supposed to be pronounced MO’-NON’, not “MOWN-un.”

It is also very irritating that the seasons change from one scene to the next. One minute you see the trees in full summer foliage and the next minute the trees are totally bare; then you go right back to full foliage in the next scene and back to winter conditions again in the next scene. There are also some spring and fall scenes mixed in with the summer and winter scenes. This is very hard to ignore as you watch the video.

There is some really nice footage of trains crossing Richland Creek Viaduct, also known as “Tulip Trestle.” It is one of the largest RR trestles in the world, reaching 175 ft in height at its tallest point and running 2295 feet in length. It was built in 1905.

Rail Flicks

October 23, 2011 Jim Pearson No Comments Rail Flicks

Thank you, Bill Thomas, for allocating some space in the Pennyrail for my reviews.

As we kick off this monthly feature, I would like to share with you my favorite on-line vendors for RR videos. I have found the following websites to be excellent sources of good videos and the vast majority of my collection has come from these sites:

www.trainvideodepot.com

www.railfandepot.com

www.greenfrog.com

Let’s start this thing off with a 7idea Productions video entitled “Marias Pass, BNSF’s Hi Line Sub.”

Title	Marias Pass, BNSF Railway’s Hi Line Sub
Producer	7idea Productions
Format	Wide Screen DVD
Playing Time	1 hr 52 Min
Time Period Covered	Fall 2009
Geographic Area	Western Montana; Glacier Park area; Marias Pass, the northernmost crossing of the Continental Divide in the Lower 48 States by a RR (originally, the Great Northern RR).
Purchased From	TrainVideoDepot.com
Comments	I highly recommend this DVD. The scenery is magnificent, with beautiful fall colors and some fresh snow on the mountain peaks.The image quality is even better than Pentrex quality, and that says a lot. I have never been disappointed with a 7idea video. In every case where I have the same area covered by two or three producers, the 7idea video is always the best by far.There is good RR action, including the use of helper locomotives and even some footage of the Empire Builder. There are tunnels, snow sheds, and trestles included in the scenes. The sound quality is excellent.