Newest Features DVD & Video Catalog Latest Newsletter Trip Notes Contact Us Home

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

CSX Indianapolis Line Subdivision, a.k.a. The Bee Line DVD

This program shows over 24 hours of action on CSX’s former Conrail and New York Central line between Cleveland and Indianapolis around Union City on the Ohio – Indiana border in October of 2019.  This line carries all of CSX’s traffic from the East Coast and upper Midwest to Indianapolis and East St. Louis.  Recently, some automotive traffic from the East for Louisville was re-routed via Indianapolis and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad to Louisville, instead of taking the congested “Short Line” from Cincinnati to Louisville.  Most of this is loaded and empty auto racks which are classified at Louisville.  Beginning in early 2017 when Hunter Harrison arrived at CSX, there have been dramatic changes in operations as many hump classification yards were closed and trains combined or discontinued.  The result has been fewer but longer trains that will be on display in this video.  This line is known today as the Bee Line, as in honeybee, ostensibly because it runs in a relatively straight line between Cleveland and Indianapolis.  But the original nickname was only the letter B, referring to the Indianapolis and Bellefontaine and Bellefontaine and Indiana railroads who met at what would become Union City in 1853.  The Pennsylvania Railroad’s Panhandle Line used to cross the Bee Line in Union City, Indiana at grade.  The long closed tower is still standing and the Preservation Society of Union City is trying to raise money to move and restore the tower.  This DVD is one hour and 21 minutes in length.  It can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $32.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

Norfolk Southern at Bellevue, Ohio Blu-Ray

Railroad Town U. S. A.

Price: $50.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

Norfolk Southern at Bellevue, Ohio DVD

Railroad Town U. S. A.

Price: $50.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

CSX Nashville to Louisville and Evansville Mains Blu-Ray

This program shows 24 hours of action on CSX’s Nashville to Louisville and then twenty-four hours on their Nashville to Evansville main lines.  The historic Louisville to Nashville line, now referred to as CSX’s Mainline Subdivision, was the original main line of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  The busier Evansville to Nashville line is today called the Henderson Subdivision and is part of CSX’s Southeast Corridor from Chicago to Florida – CSX’s busiest route from the upper Midwest to Florida via Evansville, Nashville, and Birmingham.  Th

Price: $38.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

CSX Nashville to Louisville and Evansville Mains DVD

This program shows 24 hours of action on CSX’s Nashville to Louisville and then twenty-four hours on their Nashville to Evansville main lines.  The historic Louisville to Nashville line, now referred to as CSX’s Mainline Subdivision, was the original main line of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  The busier Evansville to Nashville line is today called the Henderson Subdivision and is part of CSX’s Southeast Corridor from Chicago to Florida – CSX’s busiest route from the upper Midwest to Florida via Evansville, Nashville, and Birmingham.  Th

Price: $38.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

CN's former Illinois Central Chicago Subdivision Blu-Ray

This video shows over twenty-four hours of action in October of 2018 on the Canadian National’s historic, former Illinois Central main line south of Chicago – the first railroad to utilize land grants as a means of enabling construction and, for a brief time, the longest railroad in the world at the time of its completion in 1856.  CN’s Chicago subdivision, which stretches from the junction with their line to Iowa at Sixteenth Street in Chicago to Leverette Junction, just north of Champaign, was Hunter Harrison’s proving ground for his precision scheduled railroading practices in the early 1990s and today hosts many long CN freights, Amtrak’s mini-corridor to Carbondale and the City of New Orleans.  65 minutes.  This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

CN's former Illinois Central Chicago Subdivision DVD

This video shows over twenty-four hours of action in October of 2018 on the Canadian National’s historic, former Illinois Central main line south of Chicago – the first railroad to utilize land grants as a means of enabling construction and, for a brief time, the longest railroad in the world at the time of its completion in 1856.  CN’s Chicago subdivision, which stretches from the junction with their line to Iowa at Sixteenth Street in Chicago to Leverette Junction, just north of Champaign, was Hunter Harrison’s proving ground for his precision scheduled railroading practices in the early 1990s and today hosts many long CN freights, Amtrak’s mini-corridor to Carbondale and the City of New Orleans.  65 minutes.  This DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $30.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

Canadian Pacific's Shuswap Subdivision Blu-Ray

Canadian Pacific’s Shuswap Subdivision stretches from the picturesque town of Revelstoke, British Columbia, nestled between the Rocky and Monashee mountain ranges on the mighty Columbia River, to Kamloops on the South Thompson River, a distance of 129 miles. This video shows over twenty-four hours of action between Revelstoke and Notch Hill – a distance of seventy-nine miles in May of 2018. This includes the spectacular passage through Eagle Pass just west of Revelstoke and the lakeside running beyond the summit, and the long climb for heavy westbound unit trains up Notch Hill on the new, low grade line which includes a spectacular horseshoe curve. CP’s Shuswap sub is part of CP’s transcontinental main line to Vancouver, B.C. and sees many stack, manifest, sulfur, potash and grain trains, along with 21,000 ton coal trains from southern British Columbia that join the main at Golden on the Columbia River, ninety-five miles east of Revelstoke. Most of these trains utilize distributed power with locomotives spread out at up to three points in the train. Two disk set. Length = 2 hours, 41 minutes. DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $40.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

Canadian Pacific's Shuswap Subdivision DVD

Canadian Pacific’s Shuswap Subdivision stretches from the picturesque town of Revelstoke, British Columbia, nestled between the Rocky and Monashee mountain ranges on the mighty Columbia River, to Kamloops on the South Thompson River, a distance of 129 miles. This video shows over twenty-four hours of action between Revelstoke and Notch Hill – a distance of seventy-nine miles in May of 2018. This includes the spectacular passage through Eagle Pass just west of Revelstoke and the lakeside running beyond the summit, and the long climb for heavy westbound unit trains up Notch Hill on the new, low grade line which includes a spectacular horseshoe curve. CP’s Shuswap sub is part of CP’s transcontinental main line to Vancouver, B.C. and sees many stack, manifest, sulfur, potash and grain trains, along with 21,000 ton coal trains from southern British Columbia that join the main at Golden on the Columbia River, ninety-five miles east of Revelstoke. Most of these trains utilize distributed power with locomotives spread out at up to three points in the train. Two disk set. Length = 2 hours, 41 minutes. DVD can be watched with or without narration.

Price: $40.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: DVD

CN's Edmonton to Jasper Main west of Edson, AB Blu-Ray

This program shows the trains and operations on Canadian National’s transcontinental main line west of Edmonton, Alberta on their Edson Subdivision between Edson and Hinton. CN is arguably the western hemisphere’s leading railroad and usually has the lowest operating ratio of any class I railroad in the U. S. or Canada. The tonnage on this line and on the CN system has grown more than fifty percent in the last decade, by far the greatest increase of any class one railroad in North America, and CN runs some of the longest and heaviest freight trains in North America west of Edmonton. This program shows twenty-four hours of action on CN’s Edson Subdivision between a point just west of Edson and Obed, near the summit of the climb out of the McLeod River Valley at Edson. Obed Summit on the ridge between the McLeod River at Edson and the Athabasca River at Hinton is nearly as high as the summit of Yellowhead Pass through the Rockies west of Jasper and the ruling grade for the usually heavier westbounds is the same – four tenths of a percent. The sound of a thirty thousand ton train grinding its way to the top of Obed Hill is awesome. This well-engineered track is traversed by a continuously expanding number of containers out of the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, and the train count continues to grow on this busy and at times congested line. At the time of our visit CN was short of power and leasing everything they could get their hands on. So come along with us as some of the longest and heaviest trains on this continent growl up the grade out of the McLeod River Valley in May of 2018 on CN’s Edmonton to Jasper Main. Two disk set. Length = 3 hours, 7 minutes. This DVD can be watched with and without narration.

Price: $42.95

Attributes

  • Video Format: Blu-Ray

 

                                                       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