Producer: Highball
Locations: Oroville, Serpentine Canyon, Keddie, Clio, Portola
Timeframe: 1997
Length: 2 hours
The former Western Pacific Feather River Route. Since 1982, this has been operated by Union Pacific. Both UP and BNSF are still running some power in pre-merger paint schemes. To add to the confusion, BNSF has trackage rights. Not to mention leased locomotives. Line coverage from Oroville to Portola.
A single DVD-R. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Live environmental audio.
There is not a main chapter menu. Several maps. It plays like and old school videotape. No extras. Narrated by Peter Falconi.
A much needed map is included in the show. It is helpful to sort out the route.
To the Trains… 👉
Oroville is not like this once important place on Western Pacific of earlier times. It barely gets a look. A Southern Pacific AC is seen with a Union Pacific SD 90MAC near James.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe has just exited a tunnel at James. It is Eastbound on the High Line.
Pair of Chicago and NorthWestern. C44-8W and a C40-8 have crossed Rock Creek Trestle.
BNSF crosses over I-70. There is a blend of distant shots that highlight scenery and zoomed in trains.
Union Pacific SD50 5068 and SD40-2 3437 lead a Manifest at Tobin.
UP 6349 (SD60M) fronts this train bookending a CNW (SD40-2) 6877, and UP 8071 trailing is hauling containers through Serpentine Canyon.
Three Santa Fe units in the canyon.
Union Pacific 9726 (C44-9W) and MPI SD45 9028 under rockslide detectors.
Keddie Wye is featured. Again, with problematic bright sunlight.
A pair of GE C40-8 engines 9202 and 9023 are moving auto racks. Exiting a tunnel and onto Keddie Wye.
Another famous location is Williams Loop. CNW 8606 (C44-9W) is in the tunnel with an Intermodal. There are several more trains in very bright sunlight. The show continues to its conclusion.
Along the Feather River
The spectacular scenery often has a vastness. The camera takes a leisurely view to take it all in. Locomotive lash-ups get lengthy looks. Plenty of freight cars are seen.
This extended approach can overstay its welcome. Distance and washed-out scenes are not supportive of long format distant scenes. Bright sunlight bouncing around in an uncontrollable fashion is a concern.
Image quality is very good for the time period. It’s not as sharp as more recent video. Outside of some lighting issues, it is well framed.
The narrator mentions a track project that caused a downturn in traffic on the week that they filmed. Perhaps the reason for the substandard shots.
The soundtrack is excellent with balanced levels. Sometimes, the narrative dissappears. Much prefer callouts on every train.
Overall, it’s a decent enough show on Feather River Canyon. Interesting locomotive lash-ups. The show gets a slight bump for the highly scenic territory.
Rating: 4 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 