Producer: Dick Eisfeller
Location: South Bend
Timeframe: 1997
Length: 3 hours 45 minutes
Source: Dick Eisfeller
A triple disc set. The busy Conrail Chicago Line crosses the Grand Trunk Western mainline at South Bend, Indiana. The time is May, 1997. A revised track arrangement is under 1 year old. They advertise 100 trains in 27 hours.
Grand Trunk is under Canadian National at this time. There are CN repaints on Grand Trunk locomotives. Plenty of Conrail blue. Additional power includes engines from: BNSF, CNW, NS and Union Pacific. Even some more.
A trio of DVD-R. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Live environmental audio.
Main Chapter Menu is a detailed one. A chapter advance. Discussion of track alignments with a map. Narrated by Dick Eisfeller. Very informative.
To the Trains… 👉
Disc 1 – 78 minutes
GTW train #391 on May 9, 1997. Three GP38-2 led by 5813. This begins the show. Canada to Clearing Yard on Belt Railway. A light rain is falling this morning.
Conrail work train pulled by CR 3370 at 2:09 pm. Boxcars and camp cars.
Switcher Conrail 9520 (SW1001) on a local. Symbol Y-DSP2.
A trio still in GT livery. Note the old Studebaker factory. GT 6402. Flat Rock to Belt Railway.
GT and CNW. Train 255 from Hamtramack shall be interlined to Union Pacific.
Night falls at 52 minutes. The lighting is an improvement over an earlier Big E show. Not a fan of night videography. However, they strive for completeness. GT 6220 (GP38-2) goes Eastbound from IHB. Night trains run until the end of Disc 1. Time used is about 26 minutes.
Disc 2 – 75 minutes
Night trains continues. Daybreak begins at 51 minutes. About 8 trains remain on this disc. Near 86 minutes total were shot at night. WB 145 is at 5:30 am. CN 5619 on a Laser move. A 7,000 feet in length of predominantly steamship containers from Canada.
CN 5924 is a North American scheme repaint. Check the GTW sublettered cab.
Disc 3 – 71 minutes 33 Chapters
Union Pacific and Southern Pacific run through power leads a GT move from Dolton.
Westbound Amtrak Capitol Limited appears at 8:01 am. Serves DC to Chicago.
Conrail 6497 (SD40-2) and 6523 front a huge Intermodal at 8,300 feet in length. Westbound TV-261. This Trailvan departed Syracuse the night before. A Kearney origin. Note the Studebaker factory in the background.
Conrail & GTW
A brisk pace has trains constantly on the move. A variety of freight trains. This is about as good as it gets for 1997.
These trains have almost no graffiti. Slow to moderate speeds should satisfy viewers. Model Railroaders in particular can benefit from the complete consists shown.
Narration is jam packed with information about each train. Symbols, origin, destination, freight, length and total tonnage are some items that can be in the descriptions. Even more details might be present.
Image quality is very good. Minor tape flaws and a little grain reveal the videotape source. Still, is very watchable. Videography is workman like with trackside viewpoints. Live audio is fine, although the narrator is almost constantly speaking over it.
This show delivers on the advertised. A fine one for Railfans and Model Railroaders. Enthusiasts for both railroads get their share. Lack of graffiti is like a bonus. While night trains are not to my taste. Viewers can easily skip them. This location is a winner.
Rating: 4 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 