Tag: Canadian National

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ATVR Reviews Pentrex

The Best of Midwest Volume 3

Producer: Pentrex

Locations: KS, MO, IA, WI, MS.

Timeframe: circa 1999

Length: 1 hour 21 minutes

The third installment of this Pentrex series. Midwestern area. Class Ones and smaller railroads are the subject material. Coverage is across 5 States.

Union Pacific is the big boy of this show on the Coffeyville sub. Also the Spine Line on the Albert Lea subdivision. Illinois Central is on the mainline in Iowa. BNSF’s St. Croix sub in Prescott, Wisconsin. Canadian Pacific’s River sub at Hastings, Minnesota. Regionals include; I&M Rail Link in Iowa plus Wisconsin Central’s Superior sub. There is enough Southern Pacific paint within for a guest star role.

A single DVD-R. Live environmental audio. Choice of On/ Off narration. On-screen graphics with symbols and further train info. Plenty of MAPS! Previews.

Dependable Pentrex quality. David Drui with a sharp narrative. Excellent Videography. Professional in every aspect.

To the Trains…

North Antelope Mine  to Newark, AK

Show leads off with Union Pacific on the Coffeyville sub. Eastern Kansas to KC. At Bucyrus, train C-NANW travels to Newark, Arkansas, with a coal move. Led by SD9043MAC 8032. Early version SD90MAC with 4300hp.

Illinois Central 8732

Illinois Central has a nice extended chapter. Having left Webster City,  ICRR GP11 8732 with a local freight. Travels yonder to Fort Dodge Yard.

IMRL Train 377

I&M Rail Link. Marquette to Mason City, Iowa line. Train 377 is followed to Mason City. Number 384, ex: BCOL SD-38 is the lead unit. Trailing is a former Southern in Susquehanna livery. Manifest, Marquette to Mason City.

CNW 8613 with O-MIGV

Leaving Mason City. Action directs Northbound via Union Pacific. The Spine Line is ex: Rock Island to St. Paul. CNW leased the line after Rock Island closed. A CNW C44-9W 8613 is in charge at Manly, Iowa. Minneapolis to Geneva, Utah. O-MIGV is the symbol for this Taconite move. It’s a long chapter.

Albert Lea Tower

Albert Lea Tower is a rare survivor.  Another Taconite move with Southern Pacific units leading.

C-NAPU

UP EMDs on a Coal Train to Green Bay. Albert Lea Yard. Gets transferred to WC for final delivery.

Hastings Patrol

Twin Cities leads to Hasings, MN. Canadian Pacific 4599 is resplendent in a fresh Golden Beaver scheme. The ex: Soo Line GP38 is operating in Hastings at the old Milwaukee depot.

Burns on BNSF

4384 in BNSF Heritage premium paint. This Manifest symbol is M- NSINTW1-01. This is Burns on the BNSF trackage. Chicago to Northtown Yard. Norfolk Southern origin. The lift bridge spans the St. Croix River.

Junction City

WC is the final chapter. Junction City, Wisconsin is a hotspot. This Canadian National freight with 5690 leads number 177. The 6 unit lash-up rolls past the camera. Intermodal to Winnipeg.

Wisconsin Central F45 6655 and SD45 6598 on WC Train 18. Wausau to Stevens Point. Led by an Electromotive cowl diesel, these are highlight lineups for Railfans.

The Best of the Midwest Volume 3

An interesting assortment of railroads and locomotives. The high level of detailed information is great! In fact, the subtitles are fascinating. One wonders when trackside. What is the origin and destination of many trains? The foreign power too. Trackage rights, or leased motors?

The combined: narrative, train info, and maps are more intriguing than the ugly graffiti disfigurements on the freight cars.

Notice the contemporary era is best when featuring scenery or a ton of good information.

One would think that map references would be a standard on the majority of shows in the marketplace. They add a sense of geographical awareness and scale to a show. Sadly, this important facet is often neglected so often. Fine work here.

This is a fast paced show. The variety and detail create an enjoyable presentation. Well done Pentrex!

Rating: 5 Stars

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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

Categories
ATVR Reviews Broken Knuckle

Autumn on D&H

Producer: Broken Knuckle

Locations: Delanson, Oneonta, East Worcester

Timeframe: 2005, 2007

Length: 76 minutes

Upstate New York is beautiful in the Fall. Canadian Pacific on former Delaware and Hudson. Broken Knuckle has this treat for Railfans and Model Railroaders here.

A single DVD-R. Chapter Menu (pictured) by dates. Onscreen graphics. No maps and this show needs them. Narrated.

Videography is excellent. Live audio is fine overall. There were a few loud crossing bells, but not enough to annoy.

The D&H has a rich history. We shall view the segment from Delanson to Oneonta,  New York. Worcester area as well.

A variety of locomotives along with leased and run-through units. Assorted railroads and paint schemes across the board.

To the trains…

CP train 164

CP Rail with #164 a  mixed freight train leads off. This has 54 loads and 12 empties. Tonnage at 7046. Train length is 6134 feet. An example of the high level of consist detail. Although, the locomotive lash-ups are usually neglected.

Norfolk Southern #168

Norfolk Southern with Intermodal 168 pulls 40 loads across the bridge with 2 locomotives. This is a scheduled Chicago- Albany Intermodal service. Notice the train details on the graphic!

Upgrade at Howes Cave

NS 9746 is upgrade with 168. Howes Cave Hill.

St. Lawrence & Hudson leads 413

CP train 413 with a St.L&H leading. Dispatched from Enola Yard. Hauling 44 loads and 44 empties at 7555 tons. Delivery to Guilford at Mohawk Yard, and Saratoga Springs.

Train 165

CP 9009 SDF ‘red barn’ out front. Note the remaining UP paint on a CEFX leased engine 2804 in the lash-up. Train 165. Freight of all kinds. Delanson.

Schenevus… Yes, Schenevus. Never heard of it…

At Schenevus, NS #931 in morning light. 8854 leads the three units. Hauls CN traffic. Here are 4 loads and 52 empties.

Soo Line heads this #252

SOO 6018 on 252. Montreal to Binghamton.  Mixed bag of power.

Train 413

Cp 5640 with Soo Line and a Guilford unit, rounds the curve at Schoharie Jct. This 413 has 57 cars total.

East Worcester and fall colors in the background.  SD40-2 6031 w/ GP9u 1652 and 2 CEFX rebuilds plus another CP engine.

Canadian National 930

Train #930 with Canadian National 5643 power in front. East Worcester.

2007

Train 930 at Richmondville Summit

In 2007, at Richmondville Summit. Locomotive 8568 in charge of 930. Action continues to East Worcester and Oneonta.

Autumn on the D&H

A plethora of highly detailed runbys. Enough operational and consist information for anybody. Lengthy views of most all of the freight cars, as they roll past. Foamers choice!

Trackside and well filmed. Model Railroaders should enjoy the train consists being included. After the lash-up passes. Plus, the equipment is not too badly degraded by early graffiti.

Speaking of train consists. Notice the original Railroad paint on most boxcars.

The fall colors are a slight letdown versus expectations. Not much of prime fall colors.

This show seriously needs some map references. Where are these places? Better attention to locomotive types would be helpful.

Overall, it is a fine show of a Route that is uncommon in the marketplace.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars