Producer: Midwest Video
Locations: Chicago, Gary, Burns Harbor, LaPorte, South Bend, Elkhart
Timeframe: 1997
Length: 1 hour 26 minutes
Source: Robert Calvert
This is obviously what the title displays. Conrail on Chicago to Elkhart line. There are additional tracks, such as CSX. About 70 trains are seen.
A single DVD-R. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Not modern visual quality. Live environmental audio with good sound.
No chapter menu. Railroad locations via illustrations. Several basic route maps are used to explain the various trackage details. Narration by Robert Calvert is informative.
Foreign roadnames are plentiful. Some as run-through, others on home rails. Amtrak, CNW, CP, CSX, LMS, NS, SP, UP, Chicago Short Line, and the South Shore.
To the Trains… 👉
Hayford Junction kicks off the Chicago area action. Conrail 6247 and 5525 are paired here. This BRSE move is on the way from Belt Railway to Selkirk Yard in New York.
Belt Railway of Chicago engines. These venerable Alco C-424 engines are pilot power for BRPI today. Belt 602, 603 lead newer Conrail SD80MAC units 4128, 4124.
The Belt Railway’s East End Junction. Two Conrail Dash 8 40B locos. 5068, 5078. Another Selkirk manifest.
Train IHIN travels east. A Coiled Steel move. Two SD40-2 motors haul this steel from Indiana Harbor Belt to Indianapolis. Conrail 6972 leads 6971 as this fast mover blows past the camera.
CSX 2655, 6557, 8529 appears near Conrail on its own ex: B&OCT rails. Parallel to the Conrail route here.
At Burns Harbor and soon to interchange freight within the Conrail yard there. Chicago South Shore GP38-2 2001, 2005, 2000, 2003.
Conrail C40-8W 6080 and SD60 6840 (former EMD demo) hits the Norfolk Southern diamond at Laporte. Symbol is BRSE.
Westbound is behind Union Pacific. ELPR is Elkhart to Proviso Yard.
GP15 1669 in local service on train RDL18 at Elkhart.
Conrail SW1500 9520 passes the abandoned Bend Tower with a transfer caboose out of Elkhart.
Conrail Chicago to Elkhart
As with most Midwest Video Productions. The informative narration is a strength. Audio is strong. Picture is the weak spot. Colors are good overall. Exposure, lighting, and foreground blurriness are problematic. Images lack sharpness. Although the cameraman has composition. The issues are from the equipment used.
The concerns being noted. It is a show full of Conrail in the advertised areas. It’s better overall than some other MVP shows.
Conrail fans and Model Railroaders may find this program as a historical release to own. It’s not a top shelf visual selection, but it does tour the Chicago to Elkhart route.
Rating: 3 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 