Producer: Highball
Locations: St. Louis area
Timeframe: 2009
Length: 2 hours 10 minutes
Highball visits the St. Louis area. This city is in the top three. Chicago and Kansas City are above. Still, a mecca! Many railroads and only a selection seen here.
A single DVD-R. Widescreen image. Live environmental audio.
No chapter menu. Has a chapter advance fuction. On-screen graphics. No maps. Although the main locations have graphic titles. Narration has on/off. Oddly, the default is narration off.
To the Trains…
Starts on Norfolk Southern trackage in Granite City. Engine SD40-2 6126 on a freight.
Kansas City Southern with a double-stack.
Terminal Railroad Association. GP40 units 2009/2004 in clean paint.
Union Pacific up on the Eastside Merchants Bridge. Locos 6849 and 6204 on a Unit Coal. Good details on the bridge.
Norfolk Southern is exiting the huge spans. Engine 9469 and ex Conrail 5424 with a Stacker.
Four BNSF pumpkins fronted by 5480 with general freight meet a TRRA on TRRA rails.
UP 5700 crosses over a standing freight train on TRRA rails and onto the MacArthur bridge. This huge structure is over 18,000 feet long.
Norfolk Southern 9721 leads two units on MacArthur Bridge.
Plenty of switching at the Alton and Southern East St. Louis Yard.
Grand Avenue is another spot with multiple railroads to watch. Besides the heavy freights. Some sort of light rail type of electric commuter service runs through here (at left). A bit of narration could have defined the commuter operation.
A visit to Kirkwood, Missouri, to conclude. Freight and passenger trains. Former MoPac trackage.
Rails Around Saint Louis
A grand tour of the metro St. Louis area. Excellent videography on a variety of lines. Natural audio is dominant for the soundtrack. While the overall narrative is rather sparse. Some worthwhile information is present. It’s a much better program versus some of those dreadful Highball Hotspot shows.
An excellent selection for one of the inconsistent Highball titles.
Rating: 5 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 