Empire Builders to Milwaukee

Producer: Pentrex

Timeframe: 1971

Locations: Wisconsin

Length: 50 minutes

Source: Joseph Hunter

The formation of Amtrak. Electromotive bulldog nose diesels and rainbow consists. Add in some freight trains. Milwaukee and other towns in Wisconsin.

A single DVD. Detailed Chapter Menu.  On/ off narration. Map is included. Bonus Section. A large Preview Section.

Dave Drui with a solid narrative.

Highlighting the wide variety in this show. Many Milwaukee Road painted passenger trains are operating as Amtrak. The former Burlington Northern  offers variation.

Pre Amtrak

Milwaukee Road Hiawatha trains. Number 5 trains the most frequently shown.

BN Empire Builder/ North Coast Limited at Hinsdale, Illinois.

CNW line.

CNW F7 arrives at West Bend with #153. This used to be The Flambeau 400 on Chicago NorthWestern.

Milwaukee Road lines

Milwaukee Road was still operating its own Cannonball for local service in 1971.

Four ex: Northern Pacific F units on #31, are West of Pewaukee, by County Road J.

Rainbow consist example on Amtrak to Seattle in 1971.

Check the 3 Great Northern F-units in the Sky Blue scheme on #31 Seattle section.

A former Burlington Route E unit at Pewaukee Lake on #3125. Looks like an F3B trails behind that CB&Q.

Duplainville Tower. F3A and B units can be found. Keep a sharp eye on Northern Pacific and Great Northern lash-ups.

A 4 unit lash-up of ex: GN with #31 pass the Brookfield Depot.

At Hoyt. Milwaukee Road GP40 with a random FP45 on a Westbound freight. He shoots a little too tight on most freights. An extra track compensates with great results here.

Schlitz Circus Train on CNW towards Milwaukee. Two GP35 units for power.

Bonus Footage

Black and White from an earlier era.Twin Cities Zephyr. Also, in grainy color, a quick trip to Chicago on the North Shore.

A generous Preview Section with this show.

Empire Builders to Milwaukee

This show is better than expected. Much of the visuals seem to be from 16mm film. Live soundtrack. Narration and train sounds. Good levels. Nice colors.

The majority is nearly all original paint. So, a vintage appeal on these early Amtrak trains. Oh, there are some scenes of the silly looking Amtrak Turboliner. Keep it.

A constant parade of trains, circa 1971. Fine in all areas. Excellent location awareness. Early Amtrak utopia!

Rating: 5 Stars