Then & Now Centralia

Producer: Mary McPherson

Location: Centralia

Timeframe: 1950s – 2021

Length: 2 hours + 42 minutes

Sources: George Redmond, Kurt Jensen, Mary McPherson

Another entry in the Then and Now series. Centralia is the location, featured by Diverging Clear. This city has seen, significant Railroad related changes over the decades. Historical and Current scene.

Two DVD-R set. Chapter Menu. Narration. Vintage and Current films. Live and dubbed audio. Maps are included.

Comprehensive coverage of this traditional hot spot. Tracing back to Steam Era. The Heritage Railroads histories here, are individually done.

Contemporary scene. Three Diverging Clear cameras are out filming. Todays trains are in modern standards.

Currently: BNSF, Canadian National and Norfolk Southern. These are the main railroads that are running through Centralia, Illinois.

Highlights only.

Disc One

About 69 minutes long. Mary McPherson narrates. Short movie clips from Steam Era. This Disc ends in 2003.

This Disc contains Historical films. Old Steam is Black and White. Nineties videotape is a bit a soft on HDTV. The colors are good. Historical value. The 2003 looks best.

An example of high quality still photograph. Steam to Diesel era. Mary augments the narrative, with an assortment of visuals. Nicely done!

Mary begins with history. A mixture of still photos and vintage films. Overhead Route view. Illinois Central Mainline is first up.

CB&Q, or Burlington Route. Black and White movie film. Various brief bits, from Steam Era to illustrate discussion.

Southern 4501 and NW 1218, are both shown on fantrip films, at Centralia.

Frisco 1522 visits this city, in the 1990s twice. Least common of those touring Steam locomotives. Here it is.

Illinois Central black paint unified the fleet. Some earlier ICG units are seen. The new image IC is featured here.

Plenty of Norfolk Southern appears. Old Southern looks better. This was the St. Louis line for Southern Railway.

Burlington Northern is mainly limited to Unit Coal business here. Powder River Coal, to be exact. Hence, a distant third in screentime.

Missouri & Illinois is a forth railroad, that entered Centralia. Absorbed into Missouri Pacific.

It’s 2003 now. Take a cab ride on Canadian National tracks. Above, Centralia Yard, as seen from the locomotive cab. This was the former Illinois Central facility.

Continuing in 2003. Railfanning. BNSF has superceded BN. The usage of a caboose has been discontinued. Norfolk Southern has some restenciled Conrail power. Above, BNSF in assorted paint.

Closes with a rearward view from an Amtrak. Again, looking at Centralia trackage (CN). We already saw this area, on the cabride. Unnecessary, but there you go…

Disc Two

Length shows as 93 minutes. The factory cover has the main Railroads on display. Could end the review right here.

Let us continue…

We are now in 2021. Same three Mainlines. Union Pacific owns Missouri Pacific. Updates in locomotives and equipment. This goes for Video gear, as well.

An hour and a half of trains. Much more traffic from BNSF in 2021.

Kansas City Southern power on Canadian National rails.

Norfolk Southern eastbound, meets Amtrak 390. Checkout that Amtrak Charger power!

* Show Producer Mary McPherson is also an Amtrak Conductor. Keep a sharp eye. Like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. You may catch a glimpse!

As far as the new Amtrak Charger. Mary gives that one a thumbs up.

Southbound A408. This Illinois Central 1007 SD70 led train. Note the CN GP7, buried in the lash-up. Mixing old IC and newer CN. Even a GP7! This train best represents the Then & Now.

April 29, had 3 Camera Crews called out. Nice flowers. Canadian National units. CN 5670 leads this Northbound Oil Train, which is empty.

Here is a DPU on a Coal Move. Some of you need one. Centralia Crossing action.

Plenty of great action at busy Centralia Crossing. Norfork Southern above. Many moves back here. BNSF coal is abundant. A show within the show!

The local BNSF ‘switcher’, as she calls it, is too cool. A GP30 in 2021.

The 2nd Disc is professional in every aspect. Stand alone as a Centralia Hot Spot in 2021.

Nicely filmed by the three Cameras of Diverging Clear. Chapter count is 27. Live audio to match. In Dolby 2.0. Sharp editing. Mary’s narrative lets trains be heard.

Let’s revisit Disc One for a moment. Yonder were those cabooses! Every railroad used them. Missouri and Illinois, hosted this road worthy, transfer caboose. Mike and Ike, to Mary. Missouri Pacific to most others. 🙂

Then and Now Centralia

This is a double feature. Majority of the first Disc is vintage. Second Disc is all 2021. Both are fine players.

As with many DCP releases. Shorter running time, would work better for me. Apply that mainly to the second Disc.

To be fair. Disc One is Excellent. Disc Two is Excellent. Even if the second one runs long. Maybe, fans of the current era, can’t get enough of 2021.

Then and Now Centralia. A traditional hot spot. Diverging Clear has delivered a solid release. Between the Then and Now, a great addition to anyone’s collection.

Rating: 5 Stars