Producer: Highball
Locations: Cooks Mills, Fairhope, Foley, Mance, Manila
Timeframe: 2010
Length: 2 hours 7 minutes
A two season tour of the Sand Patch East Slope. Filmed in the Spring and a second feature from the Fall. The overall result is a mixed bag.
A single DVD-R. Widescreen image. Live audio. Excellent Videography. Balanced soundtrack.
No Chapter Menu. On-screen graphics. Usually, milepost, location and train symbol. No maps. Hidden Chapter Advance. On/ off narration. Preview section lacks narration which is aimless.
To the Trains…
Begins in the Spring. Start at a place called Cook’s Mills. Amtrak’s Capitol Limited is seen. Symbol is R30.
Hyndman is without the tower anymore. CSX 145 is in the lead here. This is Train Q166 hauls COFC.
This freight travels upgrade at Fairhope. Power is CSX 4554/ 4807 pulling Q359. The many trains here pass the camera on an S-curve or nearby.
Q136. CSX 4830/4831 provide a fine sample of Fairhope trains.
Falls Cut Tunnel is a familiar spot. Train Q166 exits and immediately is transitioned to a deck bridge. Engines 7629 (GE C40-8) and 5269 (GE ES40DC – Evolution Series). lead this move
One of the Foley scenes from the overlook. That is Will’s Creek.
Kansas City Southern 4022 hauls Q216 through Mance. Checkout the old, former Post Office.
Train Q359 negotiates through curves at Manila, Pennsylvania. Locomotive 8515 is on the point.
CSX 5251 achieves the summit of the Allegheny’s with a solid blue lash-up on Q358. Unfortunately, rain follows this one. FYI – There are zero scenes at Sand Patch Tunnel within this show.
FALL
Change of season to the Fall. Mostly the same locations with little narration.
An older EMD #8407 leads K432 at Brackens. 112 The FALL half plays much like the Spring. Not as good though. More rain and even less narrative weaken the show experience into boredom… Yawn…
Number 663 hauls Q137 is on the steepest grade at Manila.
Sand Patch The East Slope
This is a well-filmed show in widescreen. Audio is excellent. On-screen graphics contain a few basics. Could have used some more narrative. A map would be an improvement. The milepost inclusions are useless without a reference point, such as a map.
Face it, the modernized edition of CSX is less intriguing without the Interlocking Towers and the circus-like diesel the previous years. Locomotives are nearly all CSX. Scenery is Mountainous and adds interest. Pushers are frequently seen.
Overall, a good look in the first half. The mostly non-narrated second half gets repetitive and is a boring unnecessary addition.
Rating: 3 1/2 Stars
American Train Video Reviews 