Category: Videos
December 16, 2016 – West Kentucky Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society Christmas Train Display at Parkway Plaza, Madisonville, Ky Check the end of the video for times our display will be open. It’s free and open to the public! We’re right across from Santa Claus!
Our chapter member Jim Pearson produced this timelapse of CSX changing out the switch at Mortons Junction, Mortons Gap, Ky. He used his Nikon D800 to shoot a photo every 2 seconds and shot for a total of 8 hours which resulted in the video you see here.
Title – Montana Rail Link, EMDs in the Rockies Volume 1, The East End
Producer – C. Vision Productions
Format – DVD Wide Screen
Playing Time – 2 hrs.
Purchased From – Trainvideodepot.com
Date Purchased – 3/3/16
Price Paid – $26.95
Yes, my fellow Chapter members, yet another Montana Rail Link video review. Sorry, but I had short notice that we were going to resume my reviews and this is the best I can do for this month.
I have videos on the MRL by Pentrex, by Plets Express, by 7idea Productions, by Highball Productions, and now by C. Vision Productions. That might give you the impression that the Montana Rail Link is one of my favorite railroads. Yep, it is.
This is Volume 1, which covers the eastern half of the MRL, as the title indicates. MRL mainline Subdivisions 1 and 2 are included but we also see some of subdivisions 5, 6, and 13. We travel west from Jones Junction, the eastern terminus of the MRL, to Helena, MT, the western end of Subdivision 2.
Some of the geographic features we encounter are: the Yellowstone River, Bozeman Pass, Winston Hill, and Jefferson Canyon, a truly beautiful location.
The MRL put some SD-45’s back into service in 2014 and these are seen in action in this video.
C. Vision did a fantastic job in producing this video. Montana’s beautiful scenery is presented in wide screen format with top notch video quality. The railroad action is good with a variety of freight behind those gorgeous locomotives proudly displaying their deep blue MRL livery. Maps are used to keep the viewer aware of his location along the route and the narration keeps him informed about the action he is watching. I cannot think of any way that this video could have been improved. I highly recommend it.
I guarantee you that I will be purchasing Volume 2 when it becomes available.
Tom’s DVD of the Month Review July 2015 |
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| Title | Norfolk Southern Heritage Fleet Vol. 2 |
| Producer | C. Vision Productions |
| Format | DVD Wide Screen |
| Playing Time | 2 hrs. |
| Purchased From | Trainvideodepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 6/1/15 |
| Price Paid | $27.95 |
In 2012, to commemorate their 30th anniversary, Norfolk Southern painted twenty new GE ES44AC and EMD SD70ACe locomotives in the colors of the predecessor railroads that became part of their system. Ten of these units were shown in Volume 1 and this video shows the ten units that were not shown in Volume 1. It is presented in wide screen format and the videography is excellent.
First shown is the Heritage Unit that was the first one created in the series, the 8098 Conrail ES44AC unit. The 8098 is shown as the lead unit on NS trains in Michigan, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia.
Next up is the 8103, an ES44AC painted in the blue and yellow colors of the Norfolk & Western. The first looks at this locomotive were at locations in Illinois that are outside of the NS System. We see the 8103 beginning its pull in a yard at Butler, WI, just after a crew change. Finally, we see the 8103 in Virginia and Tennessee. The 8103 is lashed-up with a Pennsylvania RR Heritage Unit in one of the scenes in Virginia.
This brings us to the bright red Lehigh Valley ES44AC number 8104. We see the 8104 in several Indiana locations and finally in New Jersey.
We next see the Erie RR Heritage Unit 1068, an EMD SD70ACe. This locomotive is dark green with a light green band down the middle bordered in gold. We see this unit leading a unit steel coil train in Michigan and then we see it in Georgia and Tennessee. We get a nice close-up view of 1068 pulling out of a siding at Apison, TN. Our last look at the Erie RR Heritage Unit 1068 is from Virginia.
Up next is the Central of New Jersey 1071, an SD70ACe. The colors are blue and orange. We are given a couple interesting facts about the CNJ’s history: they were the first American RR to require that their employees wear uniforms and one of their locomotives set a world speed record in 1892 of 105 MPH. The 1071 is shone in scenes from Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Michigan.
We move on to the ES44AC Central of Georgia Heritage Unit 8101. We see the 8101 crossing the Mississippi River at Little Falls, MN, pulling a unit oil train of empty cars to the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota. After several locations in MN, we then move on to Chicago, IL.
We are next presented with ES44AC 8102, a Pennsylvania RR Heritage Unit. This locomotive is shown in scenes from Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
The Heritage Unit commemorating the Illinois Terminal RR is the next one we see in the video. This is an EMD SD70ACe, number 1072, with is bright green paint job with yellow trim. We see this locomotive in action in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. In the Indiana and Ohio scenes the 1072 is lashed-up with the Conrail Heritage Unit 8098.
Up next is the Penn Central Heritage Unit 1073, an SD70ACe. The 1073 is shown teamed up with the Illinois Terminal 1072 and operating as foreign power on BNSF trackage in Chicago on a unit crude oil train. This pair of locomotives is also seen in Minnesota and Wisconsin pulling unit crude oil trains. We see the 1073 doing some street running in Warsaw, IN, and then the last scenes with this locomotive were shot back in Illinois on a unit crude oil train with the NYC Heritage Unit at the rear of the train serving as a dpu.
This served as a good lead-in for our final Heritage Unit, the SD70ACe 1066 New York Central Heritage Unit. We are shown this unit in scenes from various locations in Indiana and then we see it leading unit crude oil trains in Illinois and Minnesota.
We are shown some vintage F7 A and B units as a bonus at the end of this video.
This is a very enjoyable video and it should be in your collection. The wide screen format, high quality image, good narration, and interesting subject matter make this video a “keeper.”
| Title | Utah’s Incredible Soldier Summit |
| Producer | Railway Productions |
| Format | Wide Screen DVD |
| Playing Time | 1 hr 30 minutes |
| Purchased From | RailFanDepot.com |
| Date Purchased | 10/15/12 |
| Price Paid | $24.95 |
This DVD gives us a good look at Union Pacific’s main line between the Utah cities of Helper and Provo. Soldier Summit is where the line crosses the crest of the Wasatch Mountains and grades of up to 2.5% must be overcome as westbound loaded coal trains climb up and over the top. This is accomplished with the assistance of mid train and rear end helper locomotives. We follow the route from Helper (elev 5840 ft) westward and over Soldier Summit (elev 7477 ft) to Provo. As one might guess, the town of Helper is named after helper locomotives and is the base of operations for them.
This line was once part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s main line from Denver to Salt Lake City but the D&RGW bought the Southern Pacific and took on the SP name in 1988. Then in 1996 the Union Pacific bought the SP and this track has been Union Pacific trackage since that time. The BNSF has trackage rights along this route and we see some of their traffic during the video. The Utah Railway also runs coal trains on this route, both on their own trackage and on UP trackage. The Amtrak California Zephyr runs this route just as did the original California Zephyr.
Features encountered along the way from Helper to Provo include a rock formation known as “Castle Gate,” the twin Nolan Tunnels, another pair of tunnels at Kyune, Soldier Summit itself, Gilully Loop, and still another pair of tunnels at Thistle.
This video gives us a nice wide screen view of the Price River Canyon where US Hwy 6, the Price River, and the Union Pacific RR run parallel to one another. The scenery and the railroad action are enough to make this video worth the price.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Authorities planned to keep an evacuation and shelter-in-place order in effect through Thursday morning as crews continued their efforts to put out a fire in a derailed train tank car near West Point, Ky.