Union Pacific’s Sherman Hill

Producer: Bob Ernst

Locations: Cheyenne, Harriman, Laramie

Timeframe: 1997

Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Source: Bob Ernst

Union Pacific Cheyenne to Laramie. *Low Quality Alert!

A single DVD-R. Fullscreen aspect. Live environmental audio. This is not up to any modern standards of video or audio.. Sometimes, there is too much bright light bouncing harshly. Loud wind noise, which is extremely annoying. The audio should have been corrected in post-production!

No chapter menu. No chapter advance either. On-screen subtitles. No maps. Narrated by Bob Ernst.

To the Trains… 👉

Cheyenne Yard is first. The huge station and a brief look at the yard area.

Mark it at 3 minutes. WIND NOISE BANGS THE MICROPHONE. A Westbound Potash Train hauls empties and moves at slow speed. Ever heard of a windscreen??

9397 goes underneath the BN bridge on a yard lead. A well-known hotspot. **The wind noise bangs the microphone hard. Let’s see how long it takes to subside… There are to be limited highlights during the interim. Recommend fast forward to bypass this mess of a soundtrack. Oops! Nothing to watch then…

The ballast quarry at Granite is still too windy. 37 minutes in and no relief! Hits the ONE HOUR 53 MINUTE MARK. This windblown soundtrack is miserable.

Harriman water tank has several trains. This spot is approximately 5 miles from the famous Hermosa Tunnels. A definite highlight of any Sherman Hill feature. Not included! Instead, we hop to Perkins, which is 8 miles away.

The bulk of the visuals are poor. Blurriness and/or exposure issues are common.

Three CNW units in front of an Intermodal. Proof that I have suffered through this pathetic show. At Laramie. 1 hour and 47 minutes here. Concludes at the yard with an Eastbound.

Union Pacific’s Sherman Hill

The 1990s era MoKan issues do vary in quality. The wind noise is as bad as overdone crossing bells or constant horn blowing. Balance is a key to a good show. Keep the volume lower, as those wind frequencies may damage speakers. Ugh!!

Oddly enough, this version states a 2016 production update. They should have used an equalizer to limit the wind. Amateur to present it raw, like here. Ruins the show.

The poor quality video is blurry much of the time. The narration is dry as dust.

Major disappointment of a show. This release is the bottom of the barrel for MoKan. WASTE OF MONEY!

Much better off with the new 2024 remasters.

Rating: Not Recommended