Producer MVP Productions
Locations: Eola
Timeframe: 1996- 1999
Length: 1 hour 25 minutes
Burlington Northern Santa Fe action at Eola Yard. Northwest of Aurora, Illinois. Appears to be filmed on a cheap, consumer grade camcorder. Compare this with many other productions from the era. These pale in comparison to much better shows of the time.
On the plus side. Very informative narration. Subjects are often on the unusual side, as far as featured locations
A single DVD-R. Poor image quality on a large widescreen TV. Play this in 4×3 aspect ratio. Audio is decent, when allowed. Train sounds get nearly muted, to let the narrative dominate. Not well timed, as far as listening to locomotives.
No menu, maps or graphics.
To the Trains… 👉
Begins in 1999 and proceeds chronologically in a reverse order. BNSF 4490 leads Z-PTLCHC. Portland,Oregon to Chicago Cicero Hub. Burlington Northern paint shall dominate the locomotives as we move backward on the timeline.
Amtrak 4. Southwest Chief from LA to Chicago. The Eastside of Eola Yard. Check this Passenger Train behind four locomotives. Next stop is Naperville. There are multiple Amtrak moves in this program. Fortunately, he limits the hordes of local Metra to only a few scenes.
BNSF with a RoadRailer Train. The Ice Cold Express. Reefer trailers are in the consist. Q-NPVSBD. Naperville to San Bernardino, California.
Canadian National units with a Conrail painted engine. Train is CN241 as it travels Westbound on trackage rights. Note the EJ&E overpass in the background. This from April, 1997. There are plenty of foreign locomotives in the show.
Still wearing BN paint, this trio is led by 3101/1385/1397. Symbol is M-BRCNTW. Belt Railway Chicago to Northtown Yard at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As a train passes above on EJ&E rails, BNSF 7808 ducks underneath with a transfer to Conrail.
Newer scheme SD70MAC engines with 9470/9477. M-CHCGAL. Chicago to Galesburg, Illinois. Still in 1997.
A pair of SD-9 engines perform flat switching at Eola Yard in 1996. Numbers 6157/6107. He overstays here, and constantly crossing bells ring in annoying fashion.
This Grain Train is G34. Eastbound to Chicago. Originated from Northtown Yard at Minneapolis. Three EMD SD40-2 engines 8041 /7101 /6351, provide the horsepower. Running at a slow speed as it is stopping for a crew change at the Eola Yard in 1996.
This shot provides a partial view of the Eola Yard. Southern Pacific 184/105/365 locomotives.
Hot Spot Eola
The updates to newer hi-def screens are not kind to some older, lower quality shows. At this point they are better served by viewing on small, laptop screens. It is no fun to look at watery images.
Too bad. The Trains are present and camera work is steady. Strictly a low visual quality ruins the viewing.
Between 0 to 1 Star. It received a bump up for the solid narrative. Hardcore only.
Rating: 1 Star
American Train Video Reviews 