The Big 3 in KC

Producer: MoKan Video

Locations: Kansas City

Timeframe: 1995

Length: 2 hours

Source: Bob Ernst

This MoKan show focus is on Kansas City. Possibly the best railfan mecca, this side of Chicago. Three major class ones are featured. Burlington Northern, Santa Fe, and Union Pacific. The year is 1995.

A single DVD-R. No main Chapter menu. On-screen graphics. Hidden chapter advance. No maps. Limited narration by Bob Ernst with his very dry style.

Fullscreen aspect ratio. Mostly a very good – vg+ picture. Not modern clarity, but it looks good. Live environmental audio. Digitally remastered in 2013 with a Railfan Depot credit.

Although locations are regularly displayed via subtitles. They are mostly meaningless, without any map references.

To the Trains… 👉

Santa Fe

No verbal introduction. Dives right into Santa Fe trains. A T-Rich Train is departing Argentine Yard. These symbols are combined TOFC and COFC Intermodals.

Santa Fe 2877 leads with yard slugs in this lash-up. Morris-WB H-KCBE is the subtitle. The narrative does not offer the breakdown. Kansas City to BE. For example, where is BE?

Westbound T train. Passing KC Union Station.

Electromotive GP60 147. It fronts a double-stack at Rock Creek Jct. EB S-LBCH. Eastbound Long Beach to Chicago double-stack.

Union Pacfic

Union Pacfic 9463/6333/ 6142 haul coal.at Independence Station. Helpers are needed on Independence Hill. This traffic is diverted from the flooded River sub to the UP Sedalia subdivision in 1995.

CNW 8520, Conrail 6456 and Norfolk Southern  at Leeds.

At Santa Fe Jct. UP 9461 and CNW 8542 Wyoming Centennial. Empty coal hoppers.

SD40-2 pair haul tank cars on this EB Manifest.

Burlington Northern

The last 40 minutes are for BN. Plenty of leased power here. High percentage of General Freight and Coal moves. Many of the Road Trains are filmed close to trackside. The city scenes are preferred. Some slight distance frames better on a TV screen.

BN 7176 on a Northbound Manifest.

BN 5100/ 7021 with a Coal Train.

Train 151 at Holsum Food Products to Tulsa. A scene for the Model Railroaders.

Whiteface 2938 leads Train 151 with KC in the background.

The Big 3 in KC

An intriguing show. The split presentation is like a 3 for 1. Well organized with each railroad presented separately. The subtitles cover the individual trains. Bob adds some details. Although, the live soundtrack is dominant.

Appearance wise. This is one of the best of these original series from MoKan. Clear images and accurate colors. Lighting is proper overall. Could have used additional narration. Some map references would have achieved a higher rating.

Model Railroaders will appreciate some of the older Kansas City industrial/ warehouse scenes. Railfans also get to see much of the actual train consists. Everyone gets a nice mixture of 2nd and 3rd generation locomotives. One of the top older MoKan releases!

Rating: 4 Stars