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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.

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - NS

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

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - CSX 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. The term Trunk Lines essentially disappeared shortly after the passage of the Staggers Act in the fall of 1980 that legalized private contracts between railroads and shippers. The rate bureaus set up by the Interstate Commerce Commission including the Trunk Lines Tariff Bureau were no longer needed. Today there are only two Eastern Trunk Lines left – CSX and Norfolk Southern. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action in April of 2014 on one of these – the former Baltimore and Ohio, now CSX Chicago Line, mostly in northwest Ohio on their Garrett Subdivision, with a few trains filmed just across the border in Indiana. 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. CSX itself wasn’t doing much better with the Garrett Subdivision both sides of Garrett a parking lot for trains waiting to be re-crewed. CSX put fourteen empty coal hoppers on the ground at Saint Joe, Indiana four days before we began our videotaping and this didn’t help the congestion on the CSX Chicago Line either. With nearly every class I railroad having congestion issues and short on power, the head end of trains on the Garrett Sub during our visit was as colorful as it has ever been with begged and borrowed foreign power on many of the trains. This DVD is a two disk set and is 3 hours and 16 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - CSX 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. The term Trunk Lines essentially disappeared shortly after the passage of the Staggers Act in the fall of 1980 that legalized private contracts between railroads and shippers. The rate bureaus set up by the Interstate Commerce Commission including the Trunk Lines Tariff Bureau were no longer needed. Today there are only two Eastern Trunk Lines left – CSX and Norfolk Southern. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action in April of 2014 on one of these – the former Baltimore and Ohio, now CSX Chicago Line, mostly in northwest Ohio on their Garrett Subdivision, with a few trains filmed just across the border in Indiana. 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. CSX itself wasn’t doing much better with the Garrett Subdivision both sides of Garrett a parking lot for trains waiting to be re-crewed. CSX put fourteen empty coal hoppers on the ground at Saint Joe, Indiana four days before we began our videotaping and this didn’t help the congestion on the CSX Chicago Line either. With nearly every class I railroad having congestion issues and short on power, the head end of trains on the Garrett Sub during our visit was as colorful as it has ever been with begged and borrowed foreign power on many of the trains. This DVD is a two disk set and is 3 hours and 16 minutes in length. It has the option of being watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

Eastern Trunk Lines in Northwest Ohio - CSX

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. The term Trunk Lines essentially disappeared shortly after the passage of the Staggers Act in the fall of 1980 that legalized private contracts between railroads and shippers. The rate bureaus set up by the Interstate Commerce Commission including the Trunk Lines Tariff Bureau were no longer needed. Today there are only two Eastern Trunk Lines left – CSX and Norfolk Southern. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action in April of 2014 on one of these – the former Baltimore and Ohio, now CSX Chicago Line, mostly in northwest Ohio on their Garrett Subdivision, with a few trains filmed just across the border in Indiana. 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. CSX itself wasn’t doing much better with the Garrett Subdivision both sides of Garrett a parking lot for trains waiting to be re-crewed. CSX put fourteen empty coal hoppers on the ground at Saint Joe, Indiana four days before we began our videotaping and this didn’t help the congestion on the CSX Chicago Line either. With nearly every class I railroad having congestion issues and short on power, the head end of trains on the Garrett Sub during our visit was as colorful as it has ever been with begged and borrowed foreign power on many of the trains. This DVD is a two disk set and is 3 hours and 16 minutes in length. It can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $44.95

BNSF around Savanna, Illinois Blu-Ray

Savanna, Illinois, 138 miles west of Chicago on the Mississippi River, was once one of the busiest railroad towns west of Chicago. Savanna was the first crew change and division point west of Chicago for two class I railroads, the Milwaukee Road and the Burlington. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, more transcontinental streamliners hammered the diamond crossing of the two railroads in Savanna than in any other small town west of Chicago. It was all too good to last. The Milwaukee Road became Canadian Pacific, then I&M Rail Link, Iowa Chicago and Eastern, and finally DM&E, with the shops, yard, and most of the trains gone. Burlington successor Burlington Northern closed the yard and eliminated their crew change in Savanna. Then traffic began to rise on BNSF. With the explosion in crude oil from the Bakken shale oil field, Savanna again became a busy crew base and forty to fifty BNSF trains a day now run through Savanna. BNSF was averaging around seven crude oil trains a day and the corresponding empties through Savanna during our visit in the fall of 2013. Just south of Savanna the BNSF main divides with trains heading east to Chicago and south to Galesburg. This program shows over twenty-four hours of BNSF action in October of 2013 in and around this railfan hotspot, including trains along the Mississippi River and ones viewed from the Palisades that line the east bank of the river north of Savanna. And with BNSF being power short this fall, just about anything can be seen on the head end of their trains. “BNSF around Savanna, Illinois” is a two DVD set and is two hours and 51 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $42.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

BNSF around Savanna, Illinois DVD

Savanna, Illinois, 138 miles west of Chicago on the Mississippi River, was once one of the busiest railroad towns west of Chicago. Savanna was the first crew change and division point west of Chicago for two class I railroads, the Milwaukee Road and the Burlington. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, more transcontinental streamliners hammered the diamond crossing of the two railroads in Savanna than in any other small town west of Chicago. It was all too good to last. The Milwaukee Road became Canadian Pacific, then I&M Rail Link, Iowa Chicago and Eastern, and finally DM&E, with the shops, yard, and most of the trains gone. Burlington successor Burlington Northern closed the yard and eliminated their crew change in Savanna. Then traffic began to rise on BNSF. With the explosion in crude oil from the Bakken shale oil field, Savanna again became a busy crew base and forty to fifty BNSF trains a day now run through Savanna. BNSF was averaging around seven crude oil trains a day and the corresponding empties through Savanna during our visit in the fall of 2013. Just south of Savanna the BNSF main divides with trains heading east to Chicago and south to Galesburg. This program shows over twenty-four hours of BNSF action in October of 2013 in and around this railfan hotspot, including trains along the Mississippi River and ones viewed from the Palisades that line the east bank of the river north of Savanna. And with BNSF being power short this fall, just about anything can be seen on the head end of their trains. “BNSF around Savanna, Illinois” is a two DVD set and is two hours and 51 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $42.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

BNSF around Savanna, Illinois

Savanna, Illinois, 138 miles west of Chicago on the Mississippi River, was once one of the busiest railroad towns west of Chicago. Savanna was the first crew change and division point west of Chicago for two class I railroads, the Milwaukee Road and the Burlington. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, more transcontinental streamliners hammered the diamond crossing of the two railroads in Savanna than in any other small town west of Chicago. It was all too good to last. The Milwaukee Road became Canadian Pacific, then I&M Rail Link, Iowa Chicago and Eastern, and finally DM&E, with the shops, yard, and most of the trains gone. Burlington successor Burlington Northern closed the yard and eliminated their crew change in Savanna. Then traffic began to rise on BNSF. With the explosion in crude oil from the Bakken shale oil field, Savanna again became a busy crew base and forty to fifty BNSF trains a day now run through Savanna. BNSF was averaging around seven crude oil trains a day and the corresponding empties through Savanna during our visit in the fall of 2013. Just south of Savanna the BNSF main divides with trains heading east to Chicago and south to Galesburg. This program shows over twenty-four hours of BNSF action in October of 2013 in and around this railfan hotspot, including trains along the Mississippi River and ones viewed from the Palisades that line the east bank of the river north of Savanna. And with BNSF being power short this fall, just about anything can be seen on the head end of their trains. “BNSF around Savanna, Illinois” is a two DVD set and is two hours and 51 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $42.95

CSX in the Berkshires Revisited Blu-Ray

. CSX’s line over Washington Hill in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts was the first mountain railroad in the World. While the earlier Baltimore and Ohio used an inclined plane to surmount the one point two percent climb up Parrs Ridge, west of Baltimore in 1831, nine years later the Western Railroad of Massachusetts began laying track through the rugged Berkshires on grades up to one and half percent. At times this line has had its own unique motive power, while today CSX seems to like their ES44ACs with extra ballast referred to as “heavies” on this line. Long known as the Boston and Albany, this line became a full-fledged member of the New York Central system in 1960, and later part of Penn Central and Conrail. Today, CSX continues to put its own stamp on this busy railfan favorite. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action between Chester and the outskirts of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts on CSX’s line through the Berkshires in July of 2014, thirteen years since our last visit to this scenic and rugged line. “CSX in the Berkshires Revisited” is one hour and 15 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

CSX in the Berkshires Revisited DVD

. CSX’s line over Washington Hill in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts was the first mountain railroad in the World. While the earlier Baltimore and Ohio used an inclined plane to surmount the one point two percent climb up Parrs Ridge, west of Baltimore in 1831, nine years later the Western Railroad of Massachusetts began laying track through the rugged Berkshires on grades up to one and half percent. At times this line has had its own unique motive power, while today CSX seems to like their ES44ACs with extra ballast referred to as “heavies” on this line. Long known as the Boston and Albany, this line became a full-fledged member of the New York Central system in 1960, and later part of Penn Central and Conrail. Today, CSX continues to put its own stamp on this busy railfan favorite. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action between Chester and the outskirts of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts on CSX’s line through the Berkshires in July of 2014, thirteen years since our last visit to this scenic and rugged line. “CSX in the Berkshires Revisited” is one hour and 15 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

CSX in the Berkshires Revisited

. CSX’s line over Washington Hill in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts was the first mountain railroad in the World. While the earlier Baltimore and Ohio used an inclined plane to surmount the one point two percent climb up Parrs Ridge, west of Baltimore in 1831, nine years later the Western Railroad of Massachusetts began laying track through the rugged Berkshires on grades up to one and half percent. At times this line has had its own unique motive power, while today CSX seems to like their ES44ACs with extra ballast referred to as “heavies” on this line. Long known as the Boston and Albany, this line became a full-fledged member of the New York Central system in 1960, and later part of Penn Central and Conrail. Today, CSX continues to put its own stamp on this busy railfan favorite. This program shows over twenty-four hours of action between Chester and the outskirts of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts on CSX’s line through the Berkshires in July of 2014, thirteen years since our last visit to this scenic and rugged line. “CSX in the Berkshires Revisited” is one hour and 15 minutes in length. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

 

                                                       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