Category: Green Frog Prod.

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ATVR Reviews Green Frog Prod.

CN North America Volume 4

Complete Set Cover

Producer: Green Frog

Locations: Niagara Falls, Toronto, Windsor

Timeframe: 2005

Length: 90 minutes

Source: Rich Schied

Green Frog continues this series on Canadian National. This one begins at beautiful Niagara Falls. A tour on Canadian National in Southern Ontario is the main feature.

DVD-R. No Chapter menu. Hidden Chapter advance. On/ Off narrative option. No maps. Narration by Peter Youngblood.

As with the other volumes. Available in single releases or the entire set.

Excellent Videography. Natural environmental audio. Unfortunately, at times it picks up too much passing freeway traffic. This is a distraction. On the plus, limited occurrences.

To the Trains…

Amtrak 63 crosses to Canada

Niagara Falls is the start point. Spectacular views. Here is Amtrak train 63 as it rolls across the CN bridge. This scene is viewed from Canada.

Niagara Falls

CP Rail freight pulled by SD40 locomotives. Stunning shots by Rich Schied of this area!

MacMillan Yard

Toronto at the CN MacMillanYard. The largest on the system.

Abundance of area passenger trains. GO Commuter train is Northbound at Toronto.

Toronto streetcar

Toronto has these modern Streetcars are shown at length.

Hamilton Lake

CN auto racks on a mixed freight are seen at Hamilton Bay. Hamilton, Ontario. Noisy freeway traffic!

Hometown of Wayne Greztky

VIA train stops at Brantford, Ontario. The depots vary in architecture. Well preserved and maintained structures.

Early morning at Woodstock, Ontario

Eastbound freight passes Woodstock.

Cab ride sees a GP9 slug set

A Windsor origin cab ride in a Conrail engine to Detroit. Too bad that it was filmed in rainy weather. The train travels through the Detroit tunnel.

CN North America

This show needs maps. Going from town to town across part of Canada. Maps would provide scale to the distances and define unknown locations. After the larger cities, it is hard to visualize.

A high percentage of various passenger trains. Prefer more freight action. However, Canadians seem to prefer these for intercity travel. Some nice, classic depots are fine scene setters. It is what it is.

The previous three volumes were of higher interest. Of course, fans of everything in Canada likely prefer this over the Michigan focused shows.

Reliable Green Frog quality. Volume four covers the advertised. Niagara Falls is memorable.

Rating: 4 Stars

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ATVR Reviews Green Frog Prod.

CN North America Volume 3

Producer: Green Frog

Locations: Pontiac, Detroit, Royal Oak…

Timeframe: 2001

Length: 1 hour 35 minutes

Source: Rich Schied

Travel on former Grand Trunk Western in Michigan. New is the CN North American livery. Start in downtown Pontiac on Holly subdivision. Goes to Detroit. South to Lang Yard in Ohio. End of CN North America division is there.

This is available as part of a Green Frog CN North America set in 4 Volumes.

DVD-R. Hidden Chapter advance. No map. Live audio. Narrated by Peter Youngblood.

High-quality Green Frog production. Image and audio are fine.

To the Trains…

Four Grand Trunk locomotives with 4921 on the point. Leads a freight, on the Holly subdivision.

CN 6401

Notice the Operation Lifesaver on this single GP40. The location is Toll Bridge Road.

Royal Oak is next. Grand Trunk  GP38 trio in snow with auto racks.

Detroit. Milwaukee Jct. Tower. Grand Trunk 4919, 6410, 4918 on a freight.

Amtrak Genesis locomotive is on the rear end. General Motors and a White Castle in the background.

CP out of Detroit River Tunnel with a pair of SD40 motors. Steep uphill grade.

Soo Line passes the old Michigan Central building. Canadian Pacific trains pass this same location.

Del Ray Tower is a hotspot. DWP 5911 is second.

CN at Del Ray. Note the North American logo paint.

Cab ride in a BNSF SD70MAC into Detroit Edison power plant.

CN 5931 is sublettered GTW on a Northbound coal train.

Train departs Lange Yard in Ohio. 5266 leads outbound.

CN North America Volume 3

The large percentage of GT blue shall please Grand Trunk fans. At Detroit the CN paint is in greater numbers. Amtrak shows up throughout the show.

An interesting narrative contains history as well as descriptive on the action. Videography is professional. Soundtrack is the train audio.

Another fine Volume in this CN North America series.

Rating: 5 Stars

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ATVR Reviews Green Frog Prod.

CN North America Volume 2

Producer: Green Frog

Locations: Battle Creek, Durand, Lansing, Pontiac..

Timeframe: 2001

Length: 1 hour

Source: Rich Schied

Here is the second of four volumes on Canadian National by Green Frog. *Also available in a complete four volume set.

A DVD-R. Chapter search function for 21 chapters. On/ Off narration. No graphics or maps.

Peter Youngblood narrates the show. High quality image and audio. As we expect from Green Frog. Digitally edited. Train sounds and some music. This sounds great on Stereo system.

Battle Creek begins this sojourn. The show travels East on GTW Rails via the Flint sub. Holly sub from Durand. Ends in Pontiac later.

Battle Creek

Detroit to Chicago freight with GT 6425 leading 2 GP units at Kelloggs Cereal City.

Battle Creek Amtrak Station

Amtrak #100 at Battle Creek Station. Chicago-Detriot service.

Out from locomotive service

Quartet of Electromotive units at Battle Creek yard. CN 6418 leads. A brief look at locomotive shop.

Bellevue

UP 4326 with run-through power on a Westbound auto rack train. Bellevue Grain Elevator.

Coaling Tower at Lansing

CN Toledo, Detriot to Battle Creek under the coaling tower at Lansing. CN 5277 on the point.

The show continues at a brisk pace. Durand Union Station is an often photographed hot spot. Plenty of action is here.

Durand Union Station

Going to Toronto. CN 2405 on a mixed freight.

Durand

Central Michigan Railway 9712 with the usual Interchange traffic for Durand.

Lapeer

VIA F40PH powers this Amtrak International at Lapeer depot.

Pontiac

At Pontiac,  5935 is a GTW sublettered CN North America painted engine is dropping cars with CN 5372 .

Powder River Coal

A BNSF 8809 led unit coal trundles into Pontiac with Powder River Coal.

Pontiac

GT 4918 4931 are identified as chop nose GP9 units. Pontiac.

CN North America Volume 2

This tour of Southern Michigan is satisfying. It does offer a nice variety of locations. Assorted paint and power are present at this time. Run through locomotives add interest.

A well written script. The show moves along at a quick pace.

Another successful Volume in this series from Green Frog.

Rating: 5 Stars

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ATVR Reviews Green Frog Prod.

All Aboard: Rock Island Line

Producer: Green Frog

Locations: Joliet, Chicago, Kansas, Iowa..

Timeframe: 1950s- 1977

Length: 26 minutes

Sources: Emery Gulash, Jerry Carson,  John M. Koch

Here is one chapter from the large, All Aboard boxset by Green Frog. This is an abbreviated version of Green Frog’s, The Rock Island Line full-length show. Edited for PBS television.

Howard says… All Aboard!

Hosted by Howard Goodwin. Frank Kyper adds additional commentary.

Excellent film quality. The main cinematographer is Emery Gulash. All color. Emery and Jerry Carson with 16mm films. Some John Koch film, as well. Narrated by Bob Carrera.

Soundtrack are dubbed train sounds and background music.

Alco FA leads

The show begins in rural areas. Alco FA off US Highway 59.

The Imperial

Greensburg, Kansas with The Imperial. Chicago to Los Angeles! Long distance is also seen at Denver.

At Davenport, Iowa. A GP40 376 is crossing the bridge.

GP7 units in 1969

The Harrihan Bridge over the Mississippi River.  GP7 units with 1219 in 1969. Jerry Carson film.

Southern 4501 meets a Rock Island Piggyback

At Bureau Jct. The Southern 4501 Excursion turnaround point. A Rock Island freight, behind two geeps, meets the steam train. This Chicago origin steam powered special was chased in 1973.

Push-pull Commuter Service

Joliet in 1977. A red E unit shoves on a Chicago commuter train.

New ROCK paint scheme

ROCK blue 4509, 4502 are newly rebuilt GP7 locomotives.

Rock Island caboose

This caboose was a steam era one. Check that 40 foot Pacific Fruit Express reefer.

All Aboard: Rock Island Line

A fast paced and tightly edited half hour made for TV show. Looks good and fine narrative.

As with the full-length version. There is too much time spent on the Southern powered excursion. The Rock Island needs greater screen time. However, it is not as much compared to the one hour version.

Nevertheless, it is an excellent production.

Vintage Rock Island is on the uncommon side of train videos. So, a bump up for scarcity.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

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ATVR Reviews Green Frog Prod.

CN North America Volume 1

Producer: Green Frog

Locations: Niagara Falls, London, Mt. Clemens sub, Detroit

Timeframe: 2001

Length: 70 minutes

Source: Rich Schied

Canadian National series of four volumes by Green Frog. This being Volume 1. *Offer of a complete set is this source.

DVD-R. No Chapter menu. Chapter Advance. No graphics or maps. On / Off narration by Peter Youngblood.

Bonus footage of St. Clair Tunnel. Ten minutes of film with interviews.

Image is excellent for the time. Digitally processed for best quality. Videography is excellent.

Niagara Falls

We begin at scenic Niagara Falls. Two bridge spans here. A CP Rail train with Soo Line locomotives on the 2nd bridge.

Niagara Falls, Ontario

VIA at Niagara Falls, Ontario Station.

Thames River at London, Ontario

CN westbound to Port Huron crosses Thames Rive. London, Ontario. Electromotive of Canada, is located in this city.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park with an SD40 out front.

CP Rail

CP Rail is Westbound. Train on its own track and parallel to the CN rails.

CN exits the new bore.

Exiting the new tunnel under the river. Eventually, the show moves to the American side of St. Clair River.

Richmond, Michigan

Richmond, Michigan. It’s a good Railfan spot with several freights seen here.

Mount Clemens. Michigan

Mt. Clemens Depot sees a Northbound. Note the SD40 pair with a Grand Trunk painted engine.

Tower at Milwaukee Jct. in Detroit

Milwaukee Jct. in Detroit area. Mt.Clemens sub and Holly subdivision converge here.

Detroit

Canadian National, Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific, Grand Trunk lash-up next to General Motors headquarters.

Local freight

A caboose is still used on a local move in Michigan.

CN North America Volume 1

A well filmed tour of some Southern Ontario and plenty of Michigan. High standard of Green Frog throughout.

At the time of filming, a good amount of Grand Trunk painted power is still in service.

A satisfying release of Canadian National. The variety includes: Grand Trunk, CP Rail, DW&P. Amtrak, with even more. Additional CN North America volumes to be reviewed.

Another winner from Green Frog!

Rating: 5 Stars