Category: Video Rails

Mullan Pass

Producer: Pentrex

Timeframe: 1990

Locations: Helena, Greenhorn Trestle, Blossberg Tunnel

Length: One hour

Source: Video Rails

The Continental Divide in Montana. Burlington Northern and Montana Rail Link trains, need helpers to conquer the tough mountain grades. Horseshoe curves, long trestles and Mullan Tunnel. These 29 miles are Mullan Pass.

Complete coverage of the area. Cab ride across the line. BN local freight travels the area.

Video Rails was known for fine shows. Pentrex has done the conversion to DVD. There is a detailed Chapter Menu. A bonus preview section.

Jim Knight is the narrator for Video Rails. He does a fine performance. Intelligent script, that is informative, if a bit dramatic

Videography is professional. Audio is professional, as well. This is very close to watching a Pentrex original program.

Montana Rail Link crews drive all trains, under Burlington Northern operating authority.

Helena yard is the start of this territory. This is old Northern Pacific trackage. As the station is, that looks well preserved. The steep grade upward ensues.

A BN coal train . Mid train helpers cut in. Rear helpers. This MRL #212, is the SD40, that will be the Cab Ride engine.

The open country allows for panoramic views. Coal trains can use 45,000 horsepower!

A variety of terrain. Cameras seem to get most of the mileage that constitutes Mullan Pass.

One trestle has a good view for photography.

At Blossberg Tunnel. Air respirators need to be used. Worse for helpers.

The final Chapter is the cab ride on MRL 212. It is on the lead, as a helper on a BN freight. The camera pans around, to provide good viewing. That is mucho horsepower on the head end!

The tunnel entrance appearance from the cab.

Mullan Pass

A compact program. Delivers on the advertised. See BN and MRL powered trains, struggle to haul freight over, the tough Mullan Pass. Ride aboard the lead helper, on an MRL SD40, as it assists a BN local over the line.

Filmed and recorded in a professional manner. A fine narrative. What’s not to like? An enjoyable show for everyone!

Rating: 5 Stars

Tags American Train Video Reviews, Burlington Northern, Coal, Train DVD, transportation

ATVR Reviews Pentrex Video Rails

The Blue Mountains combo Volumes 1-3

Post author By William J. Hudson
Post date March 24, 2019
No Comments on The Blue Mountains combo Volumes 1-3

Producer: Pentrex

Timeframe: 1991

Locations:Blue Mountains

Length: 3 hours

Source: Video Rails

Union Pacific Railroad. The Blue Mountains in Oregon. Tracks ranging 200 miles. A triple Volume set on a single DVD. Originally, a Video Rails release. Each program is one hour long. I figure that Pentrex combined when remastered.

Expert videography, captures the Union Pacific, in a challenging Mountainous region. Heavy trains requiring long lash-up of twelve axle diesels.

The first pair, of shows are lightly narrated. While, this style offers more train sounds. It leaves much unanswered, about the area seen. Audio itself is of high quality. Along with the rest of this package.

The maps are rudimentary in appearance. Although, they do suffice in the short term. Coming up as a should have, an overview map. To gain perspective of the region.

These badges are smartly done! Providing operational oriented info: that will be appealing to hardcore, and enlighten the casual viewers.

Let’s check this out. One Volume at a time.

Volume One

La Grande to Huntington, Oregon. Begins at the station in La Grande. Serves Amtrak.

A handsome old building. One of the last remaining along this line.

The script is the weak point. Mainly basic locations. Grades, helpers and the like.

Video Rails does get all the visual angles.

These moves need maximum horsepower.

Horseshoe Curve, Oregon style. Oxman Curve.

An old plant that appears abandoned.

End up along the Snake River. Heard of it.

Summarily, this Volume One is beautifully shot. Narrative is lacking details. It rings hollow.

Volume Two

La Grande to Hinkle on the West end. Grade school level narrative continues. The train, the train…

Westbound leaves La Grande.

Amtrak Pioneer Zephyr passes through.

Those Railfans who are known as UP Nuts. They will be in UP heaven. There is very little else in the power sets. An odd CNW unit now and then. A little bit more.

Majority of Volume 2 is very similar to it’s predecessor. Greener looking terrain. Twenty thousand horsepower up front!

Meet at the summit. GE led train has massive horsepower.

Snow appears towards the end. Blessed relief, as some variety was needed.

This shot puts some scale into the scenery.

A Cab Ride is interesting as it winds into the mountains. Wide Cab does have greater visibility. A safety feature in design.

Helper usage is obvious. Why a caboose on an occasional freight? Probably, a local.

Volume Two utilizes the same approach. Looks awesome. Talk is not so great. Onward…

Volume Three

Snow is the focus. A separate production. Fully narrated like a regular old Video Rails. An over dramatic, at times but at least we stay awake narrative. Their usual voice over man, as well.

This trio is always centered at La Grande. I keep wanting to call it LaGrange! So much for Oregon. Middle of nowhere to me.

It takes until this third Volume, to learn that La Grande is an important location. Excellent on the specifics here.

Yes, that is the grade.

What those double stacks look like in context. UP has a large amount of this traffic through these Mountains.

Another passing move. Busy corridor!

Additional snow action.

Narrator gets overly excited about the deteriorating weather. Nothing to it. Really? Go try Chicago, buddy!

FYI. They act like this is Snow Service. Look up some, BA Productions for real Snow Service! The real deal. No comparison.

The Blue Mountains combo Volumes 1-3.

The first two shows. Play like a pair of fantastic looking blondes. Have the visuals and not much upstairs.

The third show. Cut from a different cloth. Still has a fine appearance. Although, perhaps shot previous to the others? Narration is a big improvement. Although, it is dated in presentation. A general narrative, not getting very specific overall.

Three excellent appearing shows. High quality live audio. Scripts and research are lagging behind.

The experience of three hours, in the Blue Mountains on Union Pacific. I saw the trains, rode a few and had some fun. However, I didn’t learn much there.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

Tags American Train Video Reviews, Amtrak, Union Pacific

Pentrex Video Rails

Union Pacific Turbines of the Wasatch

Post author By William J. Hudson
Post date April 8, 2013
No Comments on Union Pacific Turbines of the Wasatch

Union Pacific 8500 Turbines of the Wasatch

Pentrex / Video Rails

Length: 57 minutes

Time Period: 1960’s

Locations: Ogden, Weaver Canyon, Echo, Wasatch UT, Evanston, Green River WY

Sources: Ralph Gochnour, Ed Stimpson

MSRP: 29.95

Union Pacific Turbine locomotives were a unique fleet that were only operated by that railroad. Pentrex has the former Video Rails release in their product line. The show is tightly focused on 8500hp Super Turbines. Ogden- Green River subdivision is where these engines are seen. Fast paced narration and vintage film result in an informative program.

Jim Knight has a clear and energetic narrative. Script is good, with much information on these locos. Audio does contain turbine sounds, although some non- narrated portions could have been included, to hear the train sounds exclusively. A couple of crude maps and chapter menu are within.

Nicked named as Super Fleet by Union Pacific, the more common name is Big Blows.

Picture quality is good overall, though it can dip to fair at times. This collection appears to be 8mm- Super 8. Unrestored, with some minor color balance issues. Camerawork is mostly good, at times there are shaky scenes. There are too many times with the train backlit. Fortunately, most of the footage is decent. The bulk of film ends up chasing a handful of turbine powered freights. The general basis is crossing the sub from Ogden, Utah to Green River, Wyoming. This follows the normal territory served by the turbines.

UP Turbine 59 is an earlier production model. These General Electric built Gas Turbine Electrics were rated at 4800 horsepower for the First Generation.

Union Pacific 13 is rated as an 8500hp unit. Leading 3 Southern Pacific SD45 engines, this train is chased and paced. Model railroaders would have a field day with the undulating trackside street and other elements visible on this sequence.

Trailing Southern Pacific EMD units are visible on one of many curves through the valley.

Super Turbine number 8 is heading to Green River. This 2nd generation version had the 8500 horsepower rating.

Union Pacific 25506 is an early , Safety Slogan caboose. Safety Is Everybody’s Business.

There are cleaner films containing UP Turbines in the marketplace. Expected to hear more actual train sound. Another limitation is the extended time on the chases. Little in the way of freight cars or cabooses. It is nearly all locomotive footage. Views do vary, but as the show progresses it becomes repetitive. Still, for those who seek an hour of Super Turbines, here it is.

Railfans and model railroaders should find this a good program to watch the 8500 hp locos at work. The presentation is good, consider the picture is older material which has not been updated to modern expectations.

Rating: 3 Stars

Tags American Train Video Reviews, Union Pacific

ATVR Reviews Pentrex Video Rails

Southern Pacific Classic Collectors’ Series

Post author By William J. Hudson
Post date October 14, 2011
No Comments on Southern Pacific Classic Collectors’ Series

Southern Pacific Classic Collectors’ Series

Pentrex- Video Rails

Format: DVD

Length: 90 minutes

Time Period:1930’s – 1950’s.

Locations: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Roseville Truckee, Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, the Coast Line, Simi Valley, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, and more California..

Pentrex has re-released three former Video Rails Productions, on a single DVD.

They cover Southern Pacific steam from the 1930’s to the 1950’s.

A main chapter menu along, with sub-menus in each individual program. Plenty of narration will guide the viewer through the multitude of: locomotives, locations and operation.

All color film with clear images. Most of the films appear to be 16mm. Soundtrack has natural sounds and in stereo.The dubbed audio does show it’s age, Not as crisp as newer productions. No maps, as most older shows.

It is nice to have the ‘Play All’ option. Real railfans can start with, play all.

Talk about a load of Southern Pacific steam! Each show has it’s own focus. The collection is handy to have on a single disc. here is a breakdown of the three shows.

Southern Pacific 1941.

Length: 30 minutes

This was filmed between 1936- 1941. Color film that looks like 16mm. San Francisco is the city. SP daylight steam has a bunch of nice shots.GS-3 was the newest class. Fast paced parade of runbys get things rolling.There are many different steamers in this show. A segment of SF Bay’s ferry boats. Oakland is next. An E2 powered: City of San Francisco, with brief views from riding on this train.Roseville is the center for seeing, the cab forwards. Truckee has plenty of big steam. This is the jumping off point for Donner Pass.

This show is a treat. The assortment of locomotives is exquisite.

Southern Pacific Steam

Length: 30 minutes

This one was filmed in the 1950’s. The San Francisco Peninsula has commuter trains, with GS-4 power.Many views of the GS led locals to see. San Joaquin Valley has freight, passenger trains. There are mail trains too. Action on the Coast Line. Some great pacing sequence of a black GS-4 is a highlight. Yard shots reveal a host of black widow diesels. Various freight and passenger trains are filmed nicely.

Fine show with excellent overall picture quality. Good narrative, and. natural sound.

Southern Pacific: The Coast Line

Length: 30 minutes

This show is set in the 1950’s. Both steam and diesels are present. Famous, Coast Daylight trains operate on busy trackage. Serving Los Angeles to San Francisco, the Daylights are great. Big, cab forwards are shown, pulling hard on the freight trains. Black widow F7’s are steam engine replacements. This is a high action program. Many runbys and the wide variety of trains, do make for memorable scenes..

The amount of mail and freight traffic on the Coast line is surprising. GS-1 class steamers regularly haul the many mail trains.

This is a scenic line. Simi Valley was rural, and the curving right of way is a dramatic setting. The short segment at Moorpark has train orders being picked up by many locomotive types. Much more action in this show.

These three Southern Pacific shows are all excellent. All of the programs are fun to watch.

Rating: 4 Stars

Tags American Train Video Reviews, California, Southern Pacific

ATVR Reviews Video Rails

Great Northern Volume 2- Diesels

Post author By William J. Hudson
Post date January 30, 2011
No Comments on Great Northern Volume 2- Diesels

Great Northern Volume 2

Video Rails

Format: VHS Length: 45 minutes

Time Period: 40 years

Locations: Seattle to Lake Superior

Source: Anthony DeRosa 8mm film. A GN employee

First and Second generation locomotives. Nice shots of freight trains, showing the boxcars.Harry Truman Presidential train. He shakes hands with the crowd! Orange and Green schemes and new Big Sky Blue locos are present. Even some overhead electric. It’s a little short on time, but a worthwhile film to own. Film quality is good to very good. There are some film flaws, but this isn’t a digitally remastered production. Some of it has a handheld, documentary feel. It is private footage made available to the public.

Quick, and to the point narration.

Some rare shots and this is a road not covered by the major photographers of the time. Other roads: Northern Pacific, Spokane, Portland & Seattle, Burlington Route and Spokane International. Some Burlington Northern equipment is here.

The rare content does count. I like the shots, showing yards, and engine facilities. Early piggyback loading, company cars, trucks, etc.. are included.

Rating: 3 stars