The Stormy

Producer: Pentrex

Locations: Tucson to Lordsburg

Timeframe: 1995

Length: 90 minutes

Southern Pacific’s Lordsburg District. Filmed in the spring of 1995. Last of the semaphore signal usage there. Some new double track installation, along with signal upgrades.

Both Southern Pacific and Cotton Belt diesels are operating here. This was a power short Southern Pacific. Leased units abound. No cabooses. Not much variety in general here. Double stacks and more double stacks. Shortline interchanges such as Arizona Eastern.

A single DVD. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Balanced soundtrack. Pro shot video.

Detailed Chapter Menu. Full narration by David Drui. Plenty of graphic extras. Maps at appropriate times.

The show begins at the SP yard in Tucson, Arizona. It will proceed East until the conclusion at Lordsburg, New Mexico.

The last of the vintage semaphore signals are shown in operation.

There are some sizeable bridges.

Much of the fleet needs repainting in 1995. Variety of locomotives.

SD units are the dominate road power.

There are some old structures from the steam era, still standing along the route. Check the GE on the head end.

Amtrak makes several quick appearances.

Willcox still has a Station in use by SP. Pentrex can be great at identification of trains. On screen graphics, combined with narration, decide this information.

The camera crew captures all of the major highlights.

Lordsburg provides an anti-climatic conclusion. Fairly quiet. Oddly enough, Pentrex returns to Tucson!

The Stormy

The route traverses scenic, yet relatively barren desert terrain. Sleepy, small towns. In fact, outside of the speeding freights, the show does have a sleepy feel. Most of the time, trains are the only thing moving.

Rating: 4 Stars