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I just saw the episode on Steam Locomotives which chronicled a special events train trip of the Union Pacific 844 steam locomotive. The 844 travelled from Cheyenne to Denver to pick up folks heading up to the 100th anniversry of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.
An interesting episode..exciting just to see the old locomotive roll out of the facility in Cheyenne and head south to Denver. In Denver, they also sidetracked over to the Georgetown loop to show the steep, 4% grade and talk about the early days of mining and the building of the loop.
The passenger cars for the 484 appeared to be mainly from the City of Portland stock, with some cars, I believe, from the Denver and Rio Grande..at least it said "Rio Grande" the side of the car. The coach cars were recently refurbised and looked in great shape. I would like to see the run between Denver and Cheyenne occur every year, for the rodeo.
I think if they gave Matt Bown, the host, around 15 mg of Valium before each episode it would calm him down.
They do repeat the Tues night episodes later in the week, but I'm not sure which day. Last week they repeated the Tues episode on a Thursday. Next week should be good...."Overnight Traveller". I believe it is about the old Great Northern, and possibly the current Amtrak Empire Builder, in the run from Chicago to Seattle.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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It would probably be simpler to tie Bown's hands behind his back. But then he couldn't use the grab irons to swing aboard . . .
I'm still watching the older shows on DVR. Just caught the one on the LA-to-Texas freight last night, and that was very interesting. The occasional digressions into the old days of railroading are lovely -- I particularly was taken with the visit to Steamtown and the greasing of a steam locomotive.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I intended to watch the airing last evening, but TCM offered the three hour WWII homefront "epic" " "Since You Went Away" - a flick I had not seen before.
That flick had railroad footage of sorts - well if one includes Lionel's masquerading as real trains.
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I think Matt Bown does a fine job for the "entertain me" audience. And those UP cars are in mighty fine shape! The locomotive is a beauty. Gilbert, I've watched that movie several times. I always enjoyed the station scenes. I noticed that the movie set for the station had trains posted. I think they all were from the New York Central Line. ...20th Century Ltd., Ohio State Ltd., and another one. I do know that the train which the boyfriend (Robert Walker?) boarded was called The Pathfinder which departed at 12:01am . I'm not sure if that was a N.Y.C. train. I bounced between Extreme Trains and the movie when commercials appeared.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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The Pathfinder is Hollywood fiction. Regarding the unnamed city in "Since...' I guess it was Buffalo, even though Chamberlain Field where the Military Ball was held, is KMSP or Wold-Chamberlain Field Minneapolis.
NYC #2 was The Pacemaker, which first was an all-Coach train running on an NY-Chi schedule similar to The Century. In later years #2 became the Central's "backup train" departing Chi 630P; if a Western connection, such as a Super or City, were late, the otherwise misconnects with The Century would be accommodated on The Pacemaker. Pullmans would be cut from The Century's consist as needed and added to The Pacemaker.
The Pennsy had a like train; #50 The Admiral.
But I will give Hollywood credit for accuracy on one point; that is the 1201AM departure. I guess the producers listened to a 'rail' who told them that there is no "Midnight" on the railroad. The "midnight train" is only in folk and Country & Western lore.
But all told, "Mrs. Miniver" is tops for WWII homefront drama; "The Best Years of Our Lives' , addressing the immediate "postwar" era, is the best of any war related flick I know. Actual war flick goes to "Paths of Glory".
As for our 'WOW...STEAM ROCKS!!!" Matt, I guess he will have to wait for a rerun.
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Personally, I thought Matt Brown had toned his gestures down a bit relative to the earlier episodes. The 844 was beautiful, but I certainly wouldn't want to have to clean and maintain it as a regular job. All together, I'd love to take that trip, as I enjoy rodeo too.
Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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Yeah, the host is a pretty "amped-up" guy; especially in that episode about the refrigerated train going cross country. I still can't figure out what his "real" job is on a railroad- he occasionally refers to something he does down in Florida, I think. But Extreme is a wonderful series, hopefully keeping railroading in the minds of the civilians. Maybe they'll think twice about "going around the gates" to "beat" the train...
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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There's a rerun of Steam trains scheduled for Today 4PM CT. 'Fraid i won't be around to see it.
For reasons I know not, the series has not been offered on Comcast On-Demand (a good guess the rightsholder and Comcast cannot agree on royalties).
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Railroad Bob: I think that I heard Matt Brown say in one of the first two episodes that he was employed as a "conductor" - but I got the impression that it was a private line, not Amtrak, and it's located up in Maine.
Posts: 20 | From: Zephyrhills, FL | Registered: May 2008
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Thanks for clearing that up, Floridian...maybe he works on a non-union short line, of which there are quite a few in our country. One runs by my house that uses the ROW of a light rail trolley, so their little boxcar train can only run during a 1 to 4 AM "window." In the old days, that line was the San Diego and Arizona Eastern, later owned by the SP before everything "went under."
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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I believe historychannel.com has a bio on the Mr. Bowen under their "Shows" link. I am interested in the Dec. 16 show since I will be taking the Empire Builder a few days after Christmas from Chicago to Portland. After recent reports from birdchops and other reports, I'm looking forward to the journey. I have traveled several other long distance routes and look forward to the Empire Builder trip.
Posts: 120 | From: Arizona | Registered: Mar 2007
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At this time Comcast On-Demand is now offering three episodes of Extreme Trains - the most recent of which is Acela.
So if you are a Comcast cable subseriber, it appears you will get a, albeit low-def, crack at any missed episodes at your convenience.
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Gil, thanks for your explanation on the Pathfinder, the Pacemaker,and the 12:01am departure. Sorry I'm a little late with the response. Yeah, the Pacemaker, the Knickerbocker, Commodore Vanderbilt are history. By the way as I recall wasn't there a beer named Knickerbocker. Maybe it was a local New York brand. Well I'm certainly looking forward to tonight's "performance" by Mr. Bown and the Empire Builder. Hope I can stay awake. It's been a very busy, but fortuitous day.
Posts: 498 | From: New Hope, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Absolutely Mr. 20th Century; Knickerbocker was a brand of the Jacob Rupert Brewery. Also, the actual name of the NBA team the Knicks, is the Knickerbockers.
Somehow, I'll try and stay up myself to watch Matt "perform"; as noted Hx shows on Comcast on-demand are low-def only (gotta mske that HDTV pay).
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Back in the day when there were only 16 major league baseball teams, and New York fielded three of them, Knickerbocker sponsored the New York Giants.
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