“Norfolk Southern’s Fostoria District in 2012” shows over 24 hours of action on Norfolk Southern’s Fostoria District, west of Fostoria and east of New Haven, Indiana where the Fostoria District joins the former Wabash line from Detroit, in September of 2012. This part of the Fostoria District is nearly straight and very flat as it crosses what was once known as the Black Swamp of northwest Ohio. And it was the heart of the greatly admired Nickel Plate, arguably the financially strongest railroad in the East before its disappearance into the Norfolk and Western in 1964. Once the home of the famous 700 series Berkshires, today big GEs that have taken on the nickname catfish thunder across the northern Ohio countryside with long intermodal, auto, and manifest trains in tow. “Norfolk Southern’s Fostoria District in 2012” is 58 minutes in length and has the option of being watched with or without narration.

The Kansas City Southern main line through the western edge of the Ozark Mountains in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas south of Neosho, has three, one and a half percent grades against the normally heavier southbounds. Although these climbs are only about five miles in length, unit trains of coal and grain are down on their knees as they approach the summits as we will see on this program. This KCS line through the Ozarks is part of their Kansas City to Shreveport main stem. With most of the southbounds being heavy unit trains this is quite a show. And many of the KCS units are in the new heritage paint scheme that railfans refer to as the Southern Belle or retro-belle scheme. This underdog in the land of giants currently uses distributed power on most of their trains on this line and some have power at three points in the train. This program shows a day and a half of action on KCS’s Heavener Subdivision in the Ozark Mountains between Neosho, Missouri and Decatur, Arkansas in April of 2012. “Kansas City Southern in the Ozarks” is 62 minutes in length and sells for $30.95 and has the option to be watched with or without narration.

“Norfolk Southern’s ex-Wabash Detroit Line” shows over twenty-four hours of action in September of 2012 on Norfolk Southern’s Detroit and Huntington Districts between Britton, Michigan, forty-seven miles southwest of Detroit and Blakeslee, Ohio, fifty-seven miles further west and eight miles west of the one-time division point at Montpelier. This line was once part of the Wabash Railroad Detroit to Kansas City main line and today is a key part of Norfolk Southern’s automotive artery from Detroit to St. Louis and Kansas City. In addition, Canadian Pacific has overhead rights for its trains between Detroit and Chicago on this line. After dropping during the great recession, the train count on this line has recovered to near record levels as the Michigan auto industry has come back and CP has begun running ethanol and crude oil trains on this line enroute to destinations in the Northeast and in eastern Canada. On some days this line sees more CP trains than NS trains. “Norfolk Southern’s ex-Wabash Detroit Line” is 63 minutes in length and has the option to be watched with or without narration. 

“UP Between Pratt and Hutchinson, KS” shows thirty hours of action on UP’s Golden State route between the outskirts of Pratt and Hutchinson in south-central Kansas in April of 2012. The former Rock Island and Southern Pacific, now Union Pacific Golden State Route between Kansas City and El Paso has seen its share of ups and downs in the past 35 years. In the late 1970’s this line was given up for dead and nearly abandoned as the track structure deteriorated and traffic dwindled to only one train in each direction as the bankrupt Rock Island prepared to exit the railroad business. Revived and rebuilt by the Southern Pacific beginning in 1980, the physical condition of this line deteriorated again prior to the Union Pacific takeover of the SP in 1996. The Golden State Route, in conjunction with the BNSF Transcon east of Kansas City, is UP’s preferred route between Chicago and Southern California. The rebuilding of the Golden State Route is nearly finished and traffic has been recovering from losses suffered in the great recession. “UP Between Pratt and Hutchinson, KS” is 59 minutes in length and can be watched with or without narration.