Producer: Pentrex
Locations: Alliance, Middle of nowhere to Ravenna, NE.
Timeframe: 1990s
Length: 1 hour 25 minutes
BNSF stars as it hauls unit coal trains across Nebraska. Thete are 236 rail miles between Alliance and Ravenna, NE. Plenty of rail traffic is on the BNSF Sand Hills subdivision. Newer EMD SD70MAC power in executive paint haul most of the coal. There are older unrepainted BN units, as well. Some Santa Fe is intermingled. Priority freight and Intermodals also use the mainline.
A single disc. A fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Live environmental audio. High-quality Pentrex production. Notice how the wind is obviously blowing. Yet, Pentrex deftly edits out or greatly reduces wind noise. A fail on some competitors.
No chapter features. Press play like an old videotape. Preview section is the other choice. Detailed onscreen graphics with: location, train symbol, origin, and destination. Maps are included. Narrated by Dave Drui.
To the Trains… 👉
A multitude of unit coal trains are similar. A paif of SD70MAC engines on the point. Powder River Coal is huge business. The Sand Hills line hosts about 30 unit coal trains daily. Note the typical information graphic for this program.
Alliance Yard hosts the many coal trains.
A General Electric C30-7 pulls C-BTMCIM to Chicago. Crossing a wildlife wetland area at Whittman.
Dash 9 is on symbol H-Linspo. BNSF Heritage paint. General freight from Lincoln, NE to Spokane, WA.
Note the large BNSF lettering. Train C-NAMMEA at Aneslmo going eastbound. Destination is Metropolis, Illinois.
BNSF 9869 in Heritage 2 scheme leads 9707 on this coal move to Kansas City.
Former Santa Fe in Superfleet paint leads this Seattle bound train. Q-BIRSSE. A Birmingham to South Seattle priority Intermodal. Largely hauling COFC traffic.
Broken Bow still has a vintage CB&Q depot. A variety of trains are seen here. Wonder if Broken Bow has a McDonald’s? Yes, they do! Checked while a coal train rolled past. Lol.
Whiteface BN GE 5057 gets underway at Mason.
Fresh crews start to move these trains out of the yard. Ravenna Yard is this shows endpoint.
Black Diamonds Through the Dunes
To give it straight. Repetition is not my jam. Any single subject of same-same trains doesn’t really float my boat. However, this is Pentrex. Always worth a view.
Take this BNSF Unit Coal episode. A former CB&Q line has been transformed into a busy double track mainline. Yes, it is like a giant conveyor belt for coal. That is part of modern railroading. Optimization, in other words.
The trains cross the middle of nowhere within Nebraska. A strong effort has been made, as not to be a total drag. Some general freights and intermodals are mixed into the parade.
BNSF still provides an intriguing lineup of 2nd and 3rd generation locomotives. There is also some variety among the hoppers.
At the end of the day. A well filmed and produced release. Excellent colors. Good narrative. Soundtrack has balanced levels.
While the route toured doesn’t make me want to move to Nebraska. It is a fine show for the given assignment. Besides, this is a train video, not a real estate commercial.
Rating: 4 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 