Classic Hot Spots – Valley Junction

Producer: Nostalgia Rail

Locations: East St. Louis

Timeframe: 1998

Length: 1 hour 20 minutes / Drops out at 1:19

Source: George Redmond

George Redmond made 3 trips to film to East St. Louis in 1998. He captured plenty of trains at Valley Junction. It has a reputation for being the busiest hot spot in the St. Louis area.

The power on local action includes: Alton and Southern, Union Pacific, Chicago and Northwestern, Cotton Belt, Gateway Western, Manufactures Railway, TRRA, Norfolk Southern, Southern Pacific, CSX and Amtrak F40PH’s in freight service. Even more via cameo appearances.

This is my first look at a Nostalgia Rail show. Have seen plenty of George Redmond video elsewhere. He is a capable Videographer.

A single DVD-R. Videotape source. Appearance is a little soft. Colors are solid. Live environmental audio. Good audio levels.

This plays like an old fashioned video tape. Push play, no advance feature. Zero graphics. No maps. Narrated.

To the Trains… 👉

Cotton Belt 8079 leads mixed diesels.

Alton and Southern. This is a local switching railroad. Owned by Union Pacific. A former owner was Chicago and NorthWestern. Hence, a strong resemblance to the CNW paint scheme. This pair works at Gateway Yard.

A rare Union Pacific GP40X on a freight going to Gateway Yard.

Illinois Central 3138/ 3101/ 3102 (GP40R) power a detoured move on Gateway Western rails. Ironically, on former Illinois Central trackage. Check the famous Arch in the background.

Gateway Western Yard. This one is former Illinois Central. TRRA switchers on transfer with general freight.

Southern Pacific 2718 (MP15AC )switches cars.

NS 8646 (C39-8) and Amtrak 220 back their train into the yard.

Rare blue paint on this Gateway Eastern 2000 leads a black and yellow Gateway Western lashup.

CNW 8693 (C44-9W) with SP 7379 waits on clearance to enter into the former Cotton Belt yard at hot spot Valley Jct. An Intermodal consist waits on this power.

Inside Gateway Yard

This seems to be non-narrated bonus footage within the yard. NO Narration. Zero information. Too bad, as it covers additional roadnames. A non-starter as it is optional bonus footage. No deduction here.

Classic Hot Spots – Valley Jct.

Now this show was problematic to review. A defective first disc. The replacement also doesn’t play to the listed completion time. Actual running time is short by about a minute. Hence, no end credits as it suddenly halts playback. The time only displays until the sudden Cut-Off. So it was manufactured this way.

Apparently, most of the action is centered at or near Gateway Yard. A former Cotton Belt yard yields additional trains. The show has freight trains operating at yard speeds. Slow movers allow plentiful close trackside viewing. A wide variety of roadnames and locomotives. Not a bad show in itself.

Narration is a decent basic one. Announcer has the wherewithal to let the power sets be heard. Really needed to have a corresponding map included for context. Hence, the locations are given. Yet, not very helpful if one has never been there.

The show has a not recommended rating for the two problem discs. The location has much variety to see. Although any given disc may have manufacturer defects, maybe another can play fine. Disappointed after the attempts to play the flawed DVD-R’s. Caveat emptor.

Rating: Not Recommended – 2 Defective shows