The former Milwaukee Road, now Canadian Pacific, line between Chicago and Milwaukee, now called the C&M Subdivision, was the fastest track on the Milwaukee Road, and arguably, the fastest track between urban centers in this country until the advent of the Metroliners in the Northeast. C&M, of course, stands for Chicago and Milwaukee. In the late 1930s and 1940s, the Milwaukee’s Hiawathas used to regularly exceed the one hundred mile an hour limit that extended right into the city limits of Chicago and Milwaukee. Today the top speed is seventy nine, and Amtrak runs eight trains each way between Chicago and Milwaukee on weekdays, including the famed Empire Builder. Until the recent cutbacks in train frequency by CP’s new president, Hunter Harrison, the freight train count between these two great cities was as high as it had been since World War II, and with all the unit trains run today, the tonnage is still at or near a record level. Canadian Pacific’s profit is also at a record level since the changes instituted by Harrison. Although no trains exceeded 10,000 feet in length during our visit, a couple came close and there were many long and very heavy trains during our time along the C&M. This program shows all the trains for over twenty-four hours on CP’s C&M Subdivision just north of the Wisconsin border between Somers and Oakwood in October of 2013. “Canadian Pacific’s C&M Subdivision” is 65 minutes in length and can be watched with or without narration..

The former Milwaukee Road, now Canadian Pacific, line between Chicago and Milwaukee, now called the C&M Subdivision, was the fastest track on the Milwaukee Road, and arguably, the fastest track between urban centers in this country until the advent of the Metroliners in the Northeast. C&M, of course, stands for Chicago and Milwaukee. In the late 1930s and 1940s, the Milwaukee’s Hiawathas used to regularly exceed the one hundred mile an hour limit that extended right into the city limits of Chicago and Milwaukee. Today the top speed is seventy nine, and Amtrak runs eight trains each way between Chicago and Milwaukee on weekdays, including the famed Empire Builder. Until the recent cutbacks in train frequency by CP’s new president, Hunter Harrison, the freight train count between these two great cities was as high as it had been since World War II, and with all the unit trains run today, the tonnage is still at or near a record level. Canadian Pacific’s profit is also at a record level since the changes instituted by Harrison. Although no trains exceeded 10,000 feet in length during our visit, a couple came close and there were many long and very heavy trains during our time along the C&M. This program shows all the trains for over twenty-four hours on CP’s C&M Subdivision just north of the Wisconsin border between Somers and Oakwood in October of 2013. “Canadian Pacific’s C&M Subdivision” is 65 minutes in length and can be watched with or without narration..

Small town railroad crossings that haven’t lost their trains or tracks to the mega-merger movement often have a unique and enduring character. Centralia in south central Illinois, fifty-five miles east of St. Louis, is one of those places and has long been a favorite place to watch trains by nearby fans. The names of the railroads may have changed but the trains of four railroads including Amtrak run side by side through the center of town just as they have for decades. The former Illinois Central, Chicago to New Orleans main line, now operated by Canadian National, the former Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy or Burlington, now BNSF route to the coal fields of southern Illinois and Paducah, Kentucky, and the former Southern Railway line to St. Louis, now Norfolk Southern, parallel each other through the center of this town of 13,000. And the trains of Amtrak’s Chicago to Carbondale mini-corridor stop here also. “CN, NS, BNSF, and Amtrak at Centralia, IL” shows all the trains for twenty-four hours through Centralia, Illinois in May of 2013. This program is one hour and fifty-seven minutes in length and is a two disk set. It can be watched with or without narration. Both the Blu-ray and DVD versions sell for $34.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling.

CSX’s LCL Subdivision between Cincinnati and Louisville, better known as the Short Line, is a busy mountain railroad smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. This spectacular, former Louisville and Nashville line parallels but does not follow the meandering south bank of the Ohio River in northern Kentucky accounting for the many hills or hogbacks that trains must traverse as they cross streams that flow northward into the Ohio River. Southbounds and northbounds each face a half a dozen climbs over one percent. When constructed in the late 1860s this was considered to be a superbly engineered line that included six tunnels and two high trestles although little straight track. Today the Short Line is a key link between North and South for CSX with upwards of twenty trains a day using this congested, single track, CTC equipped line. This program shows thirty hours of action on the railfan friendly Short Line, CSX’s LCL Subdivision between Cincinnati and Louisville, in May of 2013, including a train traversing the street running in La Grange. “The Short Line – CSX’s LCL Subdivision” is 67 minutes in length. Both the Blu-ray and DVD versions sell for $30.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. This DVD can be watched with or without narration.