Canadian Trio

Producer: Pentrex

Locations: Canada

Timeframe: 1985-1987

Length: 2 hours 40 minutes

Source: Bob Pfister

These videos were originally produced by Wild Rose Productions in the 1980s. Pentrex has combined these three shows on a single DVD. Continental Divide. SD40-2s in the Rockies. Warehouse on Rails. All were on VHS tape, back in those days.

A single DVD. Fullscreen aspect ratio 4×3. Soundtrack of live audio and music. Good levels.

Main show menu. Preview section. No maps. Narrated shows.

The Canadian Rockies have beautiful and spectacular scenery. The videography is well done. Picture quality is sourced from mid-eighties videotapes. Pretty good colors. Videography is well done. Not modern viewing standards. Historical value.

Each title will be listed separately for this review. Combined rating of the total package.

To the Trains… 👉

Continental Divide – 56 minutes – 1987

A Winter’s Journey. Narrated by Russell Oughtred. Travel on VIA Rail. The Canadian is the featured train. Three elderly F units along the Kicking Horse River.

F40PH-2 is the latest VIA locomotive model.

CP Rail SD40-2 5829 leads an ailing VIA lash-up with: F40PH-2, F7B, and a steam heating car. This is out of Field, British Columbia, to Calgary for repair. Even gets paced from a highway.

VIA makes a Spiral Tunnel exit.

A 1950s made film on The Canadian is included. Dated and unnecessary here. Doesn’t even look good. Returns to the main 1980’s footage. Exteriors, interiors, and more station stops. A cab ride aboard an F40PH-2 is interjected.

SD40-2s in the Canadian Rockies – 42 minutes – 1985

Narrated by Bill Hutchison. This is in the CP Rail ‘pac-man’ paint era. Starts with a synthesizer instrumental at a too long 7 minutes. In fact, the 1980s musical interludes are hopelessly dated. Back to the SD40-2. The DRF-30 is the CP Rail designation. Diesel Road Freight, 3000 horsepower. Solid lash-ups of SD40-2 diesels are shown.

SD40s are paced behind 5830/ 5702 in the Yoho area. Note the large and smaller pac-man emblems.

Some scenes from onboard the locomotives include bits from cab interiors.

This program has an interesting narrative. Locomotive details, history, and stories of the line. Videography is fine. Locations could have used better attention and a map. Too bad about the music. Some other 1980s shows have even worse old synth soundtracks.

Warehouse on Rails – 1 hour- 1986

 Operations of a Railyard. CP Rail’s Alyth Yard in Calgary.

Narrated by Bill Hutchison. Location is Alyth Yard is in Calgary. Good historical and operational information in this show. Many different functions are shown at this facility.

Yard shots lead into shop scenes with wheelsets. Maintenence focus. A diesel is given the once over in the 24-hour diesel shop. Hump operations are also shown in detail.

EMD type switcher #1206 hauls some local freight. Ride aboard a switcher.

This one also has a dreadful synthesizer instrumental in the soundtrack. Video quality is the weakest of the trio. A bit more grain and some tape flaws. Watchable for when it was recorded.

Canadian Trio

The VIA show is the best overall. SD40-2 power is a fine idea. Nicely shot and a good narrative. Warehouse on Wheels is educational. The video is a little fuzzy.

Looking at the entire three shows. The imagery is good overall. Soundtrack has predominately natural audio and synthesizer based instrumentals. Narration is informative. Balanced video colors and audio levels. Sharp editing, although those random cab jumps play a little disjointed.

A decent value for a three show package. Canadian railfans may find higher value.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars