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No More Mindless Runbys
Below are the ten newest releases from Big "E" Productions in both DVD-R and VHS format.

The Cal-P, UP's Martinez Sub DVD

The Cal-P, short for California Pacific, the nickname for Southern Pacific’s main line from Sacramento to Oakland, was part of the historic Overland Route and once the busiest and most important section of track on the far-flung Southern Pacific system. This line has seen dramatic changes in the past three decades, the least of which was the UP takeover of the SP. Today this is UP’s Martinez Subdivision and their busiest main line into Oakland, but what is more amazing is that thirty-four Amtrak trains use the eastern part of this line where we videotaped and even more west of Martinez. With thirty state supported San Jose or Oakland to Sacramento Capitol Corridor trains during weekdays on this strategic section of track, the Cal-P is as busy today as any time since World War II when freight trains were much more numerous but much shorter and lighter than those of today. This program showcases this amazing passenger rail renaissance by showing over twenty-four hours of action on the flat and straight section of UP’s Martinez Subdivision west of Davis, California in October of 2014. It makes the point, that even in auto-centric California, if you provide frequent and convenient intercity rail passenger service, Americans will use it. "The Cal-P, UP's Martinez Sub" is 58 minutes in length. This DVD has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

The Cal-P, UP's Martinez Sub

The Cal-P, short for California Pacific, the nickname for Southern Pacific’s main line from Sacramento to Oakland, was part of the historic Overland Route and once the busiest and most important section of track on the far-flung Southern Pacific system. This line has seen dramatic changes in the past three decades, the least of which was the UP takeover of the SP. Today this is UP’s Martinez Subdivision and their busiest main line into Oakland, but what is more amazing is that thirty-four Amtrak trains use the eastern part of this line where we videotaped and even more west of Martinez. With thirty state supported San Jose or Oakland to Sacramento Capitol Corridor trains during weekdays on this strategic section of track, the Cal-P is as busy today as any time since World War II when freight trains were much more numerous but much shorter and lighter than those of today. This program showcases this amazing passenger rail renaissance by showing over twenty-four hours of action on the flat and straight section of UP’s Martinez Subdivision west of Davis, California in October of 2014. It makes the point, that even in auto-centric California, if you provide frequent and convenient intercity rail passenger service, Americans will use it. "The Cal-P, UP's Martinez Sub" is 58 minutes in length. This DVD has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

The Transcon in Eastern Arizona Blu-Ray

If you want to see the greatest show in freight railroading in this country, head to the former Santa Fe, now BNSF main line between Chicago and Los Angeles known as the Transcon. The western end of BNSF’s Gallup Subdivision between Gallup and Winslow contains what is arguably the fastest track on the Transcon, at least for freight trains. The hot “Z” and heavy stack trains thunder up and down the Rio Puerco and Little Colorado River valleys that BNSF’s Gallup sub follows between Gallup and Winslow. What was then the second district of the Santa Fe’s Albuquerque Division easily dominated the Trains Magazine’s survey of fastest freight trains in the 1960s and until the survey was discontinued in 1973. The train count has been recovering from the Great Recession and this program shows over twenty-four hours of awesome action during the height of the fall container rush on the western part of BNSF’s Gallup sub between Holbrook and Winslow in eastern Arizona, in October of 2014. This program is 3 hours and 19 minutes in length and is a two disk set. This DVD also has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

The Transcon in Eastern Arizona DVD

If you want to see the greatest show in freight railroading in this country, head to the former Santa Fe, now BNSF main line between Chicago and Los Angeles known as the Transcon. The western end of BNSF’s Gallup Subdivision between Gallup and Winslow contains what is arguably the fastest track on the Transcon, at least for freight trains. The hot “Z” and heavy stack trains thunder up and down the Rio Puerco and Little Colorado River valleys that BNSF’s Gallup sub follows between Gallup and Winslow. What was then the second district of the Santa Fe’s Albuquerque Division easily dominated the Trains Magazine’s survey of fastest freight trains in the 1960s and until the survey was discontinued in 1973. The train count has been recovering from the Great Recession and this program shows over twenty-four hours of awesome action during the height of the fall container rush on the western part of BNSF’s Gallup sub between Holbrook and Winslow in eastern Arizona, in October of 2014. This program is 3 hours and 19 minutes in length and is a two disk set. This DVD also has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

The Transcon in Eastern Arizona

If you want to see the greatest show in freight railroading in this country, head to the former Santa Fe, now BNSF main line between Chicago and Los Angeles known as the Transcon. The western end of BNSF’s Gallup Subdivision between Gallup and Winslow contains what is arguably the fastest track on the Transcon, at least for freight trains. The hot “Z” and heavy stack trains thunder up and down the Rio Puerco and Little Colorado River valleys that BNSF’s Gallup sub follows between Gallup and Winslow. What was then the second district of the Santa Fe’s Albuquerque Division easily dominated the Trains Magazine’s survey of fastest freight trains in the 1960s and until the survey was discontinued in 1973. The train count has been recovering from the Great Recession and this program shows over twenty-four hours of awesome action during the height of the fall container rush on the western part of BNSF’s Gallup sub between Holbrook and Winslow in eastern Arizona, in October of 2014. This program is 3 hours and 19 minutes in length and is a two disk set. This DVD has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

UP Sunset Route in the Sonoran Desert Blu-Ray

One of the hottest places on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route, both in the pace of the operations and the ambient temperature, is on their Yuma subdivision between Indio and Niland in the Sonoran desert in Southern California. This high speed line traverses the northern end of the verdant Imperial Valley and the southern end of the Coachella Valley with much of it alongside the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. All of the Yuma sub where we videotaped is below sea level and most of it is table flat. This area is also known as the Salton Sink. Traffic from the Midwest and Texas to southern California has been growing and the Sunset Route has fully recovered from the Great Recession. This line is now the third busiest transcontinental in the country and much of it has been double tracked since UP took over operations from the Southern Pacific eighteen years ago. This program shows over 24 hours of fast paced action on UP’s Yuma Subdivision between Indio and Niland in October of 2014. This DVD is 1 hour and 28 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $34.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

UP Sunset Route in the Sonoran Desert DVD

One of the hottest places on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route, both in the pace of the operations and the ambient temperature, is on their Yuma subdivision between Indio and Niland in the Sonoran desert in Southern California. This high speed line traverses the northern end of the verdant Imperial Valley and the southern end of the Coachella Valley with much of it alongside the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. All of the Yuma sub where we videotaped is below sea level and most of it is table flat. This area is also known as the Salton Sink. Traffic from the Midwest and Texas to southern California has been growing and the Sunset Route has fully recovered from the Great Recession. This line is now the third busiest transcontinental in the country and much of it has been double tracked since UP took over operations from the Southern Pacific eighteen years ago. This program shows over 24 hours of fast paced action on UP’s Yuma Subdivision between Indio and Niland in October of 2014. This DVD is 1 hour and 28 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $34.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

UP Sunset Route in the Sonoran Desert

One of the hottest places on Union Pacific’s Sunset Route, both in the pace of the operations and the ambient temperature, is on their Yuma subdivision between Indio and Niland in the Sonoran desert in Southern California. This high speed line traverses the northern end of the verdant Imperial Valley and the southern end of the Coachella Valley with much of it alongside the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. All of the Yuma sub where we videotaped is below sea level and most of it is table flat. This area is also known as the Salton Sink. Traffic from the Midwest and Texas to southern California has been growing and the Sunset Route has fully recovered from the Great Recession. This line is now the third busiest transcontinental in the country and much of it has been double tracked since UP took over operations from the Southern Pacific eighteen years ago. This program shows over 24 hours of fast paced action on UP’s Yuma Subdivision between Indio and Niland in October of 2014. This DVD is 1 hour and 28 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $34.95

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - NS Blu-Ray

For over one hundred years four separate railroads competed for passenger and freight traffic between the New York City metropolitan area and Chicago – the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Erie, and Baltimore and Ohio. Collectively these lines were known as the Eastern Trunk Lines or just Trunk Lines for short. Today there are only two Eastern Trunk Lines left – Norfolk Southern and CSX. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action in April of 2014 on one of these – the former New York Central and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, now part of NS’s Chicago Line, in northwest Ohio between the outskirts of Toledo and Oak Harbor, twenty-three miles east of Toledo. At Oak Harbor NS’s Bellevue to Toledo line passes overhead with some trains getting onto or off of the Chicago Line there through a new connection opened right after the Conrail split. This is at a time when trains were having a difficult time getting through Chicago in part because BNSF was in a major meltdown and wasn’t always accepting trains. NS had some congestion around their system at this time, especially further west when trains got close to Chicago. This DVD is a two disk set and is two hours and 33 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $40.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - NS DVD

For over one hundred years four separate railroads competed for passenger and freight traffic between the New York City metropolitan area and Chicago – the New York Central, Pennsylvania, Erie, and Baltimore and Ohio. Collectively these lines were known as the Eastern Trunk Lines or just Trunk Lines for short. Today there are only two Eastern Trunk Lines left – Norfolk Southern and CSX. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action in April of 2014 on one of these – the former New York Central and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, now part of NS’s Chicago Line, in northwest Ohio between the outskirts of Toledo and Oak Harbor, twenty-three miles east of Toledo. At Oak Harbor NS’s Bellevue to Toledo line passes overhead with some trains getting onto or off of the Chicago Line there through a new connection opened right after the Conrail split. This is at a time when trains were having a difficult time getting through Chicago in part because BNSF was in a major meltdown and wasn’t always accepting trains. NS had some congestion around their system at this time, especially further west when trains got close to Chicago. This DVD is a two disk set and is two hours and 33 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $40.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

 

                                                       Big “E” Productions

P.O. BOX 75

GREENLAND, NH 03840

Our DVDs show the whole train!

Our web page is at www.trainvideos.com, email us at bigeee@trainvideos.com.

 800-832-1228 or 603-430-3055   Visa, MasterCard, AMEX or Discover Card Orders Accepted.

Last updated 12/14/2023

 

Frequency – twice a year

 

 Issue #179                            December, 2023

May all of you have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Remember, our DVDs make great Christmas gifts for the railfan in your family.  This Newsletter begins our 32th year of selling train videos.  As long as both my wife and I are in good health we intend to continue selling old videos and I still have some hope to do a few new programs. We will not be attending the Big Train Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts anymore.

 

Again no new programs.  I was recently diagnosed with AFib (atrial fibrillation – fast, erratic heartbeat).  Medication seems to help but it will be some time before I know how much.  Also both knees need to be replaced but it will also be some time before that can happen.  My wife is still recovering from having both knees replaced.  She is using a wheelchair and walker to get around.  I would still like to do more videotaping but this is looking less and less likely.  We hope that all of you are safe and sound.  Our next newsletter will be around June of 2024.  Railfan Depot in Indianapolis is now carrying some of our videos.

 

We have four grandkids playing sports right now – two here in New Hampshire and two in Illinois.  I hope to be able to see their games in person as much as I can.  And then we have 12 other grandkids and one great grandson to keep track of.  I am looking forward to attending the girls state basketball tournament in Illinois beginning in 2025 and the class IV boys baseball tournament here in New Hampshire next spring.

 

No other train video producer shows and explains railroading like we do and our catalogue includes programs on fallen flags ATSF, SP, BN, CNW,  IC, Wisconsin Central, and Conrail.  We almost always show the whole train and most of our videos show all of the action – day and night.  Our newest program is “PSR on CSX’s Chicago Line in Northern Indiana”, part of our look at PSR on eastern railroads.  This is our 49th program to be released in both Blu-ray and in regular DVD.  You need to specify what type of DVD you are ordering with programs available in both DVD and Blu-ray.  All of our DVD’s have chapters and menus and around half – everything videotaped from 2004 on plus a few programs from 2003 - have a choice of being watched with narration and without narration by using the menu or audio and language buttons on your DVD player controller.  321 programs are available in DVD (49 in Blu-ray) and all are listed in the flyers.  No other train video producer shows and explains railroading like we do and our catalogue includes programs on fallen flags ATSF, BN, SP, CNW. IC, Wisconsin Central, and Conrail.  Our shipping and handling charge on orders remains $5.00 with no charge on orders over $100.  We offer year-round discounts on large orders.  See flyers for details.  These discounts are available only by mail and phone.  If you have questions and get our answering machine, please leave your name and number and we will call you back as soon as possible.  You can reach us by email at bigeee@trainvideos.com or on our webpage at www.trainvideos.com.

 

If we are able to videotape again, the focus will be on changes on the western railroads due to PSR.

 

                                              Dick and Barb Eisfeller