Producer: Green Frog
Locations: USA
Timeframe: 1934- 2011
Length: 81 minutes
Railroad mishaps from 1934 to 2011. Disasters on the High Iron. Various source material which spans decades since the Steam Era. Many railroads and locations.
A single DVD-R. Fullscreen 4×3 aspect ratio. Both color plus black and white films. Old newsreels are used for some older material. Green Frog material is also a source.
Main Chapter Menu is detailed by Railroad or Location. Hidden Chapter Advance. On-screen graphics. Narrators are Peter Youngblood and Bob Carrera.
To the Trains…
First up. The Potato Wreck on Boston and Maine. Clinton, Massachusetts on November 3, 1934. A Consolidation powered freight rear ended another engine. Burlap sacks of potatoes are on the ground. Check that steam powered crane lifting a boxcar.
Long Island Railroad. The Work Train locomotive was rear-ended by New Haven boxcabs at Albany Street in Brooklyn, New York. Circa 1934.
Santa Fe wreck on April 10, 1936 at Olathe, Kansas. There were 25 tank cars. Some filmed were still on fire. Here is a Santa Fe crane lifting a Mobilgas tank car.
Milwaukee Road Olympian fell off a collapsed bridge into the swollen Yellowstone Creek in 1938. Custer Creek, Montana.
Southern Pacific at Carlin, Nevada in 1939. Train 101 was The City of San Francisco. Unsolved sabotage to the track. Humboldt Creek.
New York Central. Little Falls, NY in 1940. Lakeshore Limited had excessive speed on a curve and derailed.
Pennsylvania Railroad at Woodbridge, New Jersey in 1951. The Broker had 1,000 commuters and derailed from a temporary wooden trestle.
Union Pacific at Wyuta, Wyoming in November, 1951. Eastbound City of San Francisco rear-ended the City of Los Angeles at 77mph. An extended look at the wreckage strewn across the snow.
Northern Pacific 6502A leads near Fargo, North Dakota circa 1950s. A Passenger Train eases past a derailed freight on a temporary soo-fly. There is a series of assorted NP mishaps here.
Louisville and Nashville engine 222 was derailed at Evansville, Indiana in 1942.
Southern Railway had some Propane Tank Cars explode in 1970. The WCIA news cameraman caught some of the large explosions. Crescent City was mostly destroyed.
Rock Island derailment at 167th Street Curve in 1971. Chicago suburb. Here is a lift from one of Green Frog’s Rock Island shows. Roger Koenig film.
There are other wrecks on various railroads. Some of the roadnames: Norfolk Southern, Toledo, Peoria and Western, Indiana Harbor Belt plus Baltimore and Ohio,
Derailments, Crashes, and Wrecks
Coverage of well-known and lesser known train wrecks from the USA. Film sources from National Archives, Emery Gulash, Steve Neff, Robert Koch, Roger Koenig and Gene Miller are notable Cinematographers listed. There are some lifts from other Green Frog shows. A wide variety to see.
Soundtrack has a variety dubbed sounds, live audio and music. Balanced levels and clear narratives. Quality throughout as expected from Green Frog.
Coverage ranges from detailed to minimal information. Casualties are included on many. Length also varies on the individual wrecks.
Overall, this is a brisk paced program. Steam to diesel. Many locations across America. Some scenes are not good viewing for small kids. An interesting show for the Railfan and Model Railroader.
Rating: 5 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 