BN Quarter Century

Producer: Charles Smiley

Locations: CO, ID, NY, IL, MT, WY, CA, AZ

Timeframe: 1983-1996

Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Sources: Tom Butterworth, Bill Whitfield, Dave Defendorf, Gino Pagliaro

Charles Smiley has this release on Burlington Northern. Covers about the last 13 years of the Railroad. Eight States for locations.

Wide variety of BN power. Some pre-merger Santa Fe. Foreign and leased locomotives. A little early BNSF to conclude the show.

Single silver DVD. Same plants, that manufacture for Hollywood.

Extras. Subtitles with information. Preview section at the end.

Film sources vary. Super 8mm movie film. Different video. All restored. Mostly excellent viewing quality.

Original live audio. The 1990s sound best.

Charles narration.  Although, he states a limited narrative.  To keep the attention on trainwatching.

Predecessor historical backgrounds. System maps.

By the way. White Face BN units began in late 1989. More common, during the 1990s. *I always preferred the original, standard paint 🙂

Just some Highlights…

The 1980s film includes notable places. Mullan Pass, Bozeman Pass and Crawford Hill. Entire or near whole consists. Fantastic for modelers.

A 1983 train. The former Colorado and Southern line. Watch this train pass.

Sandpoint, Idaho 1995. The Funnel. Pend Oreille River. Other towns and such. Very long Chapter. A local area map, would have been helpful here.

The GP30 is singular, amongst a horde of SD40 locomotives on the area trains. Sandpoint Chapter is jam packed. A large assortment freight traffic. Plethora of freight cars to view. Major trainwatching.

Lake Pend Oreille. A scenic highlight.

Idaho has SD40s that are plentiful. Run through and leased engines appear. This is a parade of BN freight trains circa 1995!

Powder River Coal Powder River Basin  GE C30-7.

Powder River Coal train. The GE C30-7 locos, lead a pair of Electromotive SD units.

CNW/ UP Coal train with fuel tank car. Yes, Burlington Northern has it too! There are some more surprises…

Various Locations: New York, Illinois, Iowa.

These 2 SD40 units are slightly different White Face. The trailing locomotive has the pinstripe on the long hood. Syracuse area, New York.

First and second generation EMD locomotives. These are seen at Savannah, Illinois.

BNSF The closing Chapter. An interesting assortment of transitional BNSF. Mullan Tunnel, Fort Collins, Tehachapi area. Superb Videography.

This lash-up displays 4 schemes on BNSF. Diverse lash-ups of early BNSF. The Tehachapi Pass area leaves viewers wanting more.

These Santa Fe Warbonnets have the BNSF relettering. Fort Collins, Colorado.

Difficult to find a caboose in the 1990 era. Idaho gave one up! No graffiti. That goes for the freight cars, as well.

BN Quarter Century

A fine look at some of the Burlington Northern. The inclusion of many freight cars is great. Huge Railroad. This is a taste.

Cinematography is excellent. All four sources have fine footage. The more recent ones, with improved appearance.

Narrative voice mixed loud, versus trains. Less noticeable, on smaller stock TV speakers or a laptop.

High concentration of 1990s era. Anyone interested in this time, benefits by viewing many freight consists.

This is a must have for Burlington Northern fans and modelers.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars