HEADS UP !
While watching the History ch today they ran this ad,showed some eastern rwys smashing cars and stuff…Extreme Train, Tues.11-11-08 10/9 central…
I saw an ad for the show also, but it had more of a ‘western’ theme (UP, BNSF, etc).
It sure looks like a interesting program.
There is an episode that was filmed west of Boone iowa about the new high bridge just west of town they were here in late September to film the crews placing the new bridge sections in place Larry
Well, I know Im looking forward to watching,maybe it will be more than 1 episode…
Believe it’s supposed to be a “Mini-Series”.
FWIW, on 11/7 History Channel’s Modern Marvels is about “Worlds Biggest Machines”, and there is a segment about steam locomotives.
I’ve heard it’s 8 episodes, which would take it all the way to the end of December.
Per my Cable Guide:
History Channel and History HD Tuesday Nov.11th at 10 PM Eastern Standard Time
"Series Premiere: "
“Episode: “Coal Train” Host Matt Bown, a rea-life Conductor, joins a coal train hauling its cargo from the mine to a power plant in Pennsylvania; ----also — How Nazis tried to blow up U.S. train tracks during World War II”
Cool, I’ll try to catch it !
08:00 PM EST tonight - Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, titled “Modern Marvels: More of the World’s Biggest Machines.”
The descriptive caption is: “On land, in the air, or on the sea–we examine some of the biggest machines ever built, including: . . . the Union Pacific’s biggest steam locomotive, the “Big Boy” 4000 and GE’s AC 6000;” - which is about in the middle of the paragraph, so your guess is as good as mine as to exactly when those segments will be on.
- Paul North.
Reminder - following is from the History Channel’s program website for “Extreme Trains - Episode: Coal Train” at:
http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=381084
“Join train conductor and host Matt Bown as he joins the coal train hauling of a priceless cargo of coal through Pennsylvania from mine to power plant. Matt pitches in with the crew as they load up the train and also learns how the Nazis tried to blow the tracks during World War II. Discover the huge part that trains have played in shaping American history and how trains are vital to American life today.” TVPG, 60 mins.
SCHEDULE: [Note: All of these times are Eastern Standard Time - PDN.]
Tuesday, November 11 - 10:00 PM
Wednesday, November 12 - 02:00 AM
Sunday, November 16 - 11:00 PM
Monday, November 17 - 03:00 AM
Saturday, November 29 - 02:00 PM
Then tonight (only), it is followed by:
“Modern Marvels - Episode: Bullet Trains” -
"Traveling between 135 and 190 miles per hour with an astonishin
Here is the rundown we originally got at the network…
EXTREME TRAINS
- Union Pacific 11/11/2008
- Ringling Brothers Circus Train 11/18/2008
- Norfolk / Southern 11/25/2008
- Amtrak’s Empire Builder 12/2/2008
- BNSF Freight Train 12/9/2008
- Union Pacific Refrigeration Train 12/16/2008
- Amtrak Acela Train 12/23/2008
- Union Pacific Steam Train 12/30/2008
Seems they may have switched things up a bit, and I beleive Episode 3 NS Coal Train is airing tonight.
The coal train segment was neat in a lot of aspects. I thought the perspective of the train crew was certainly interesting to see. About the only thing that ‘struck’ me was how excited the conductor/host guy seemed during many segments, particularily when he was on the helper units. Seemed a bit overdone but still neat to watch. The segment at Juniata was impressive to watch, in particular when they hoisted an entire engine up and moved it. I’d rate this episode as a B.
I’d give it fairly high marks, too. I didn’t see any major gaffs and the technical detail seemed to be apropriate for general public consumption. The host was a little over the top, but then we railfans would be so laid back and cool if we got to ride the train. Riiight!!
“Over the top”. Thanks, Jay–I was looking for the right way of describing him.
I only watched the first few minutes of it, but we’ve recorded it–and both of us wast to see the rest. With the railroader as a host, I would expect it to be free of misinformation–and I know a few conductors who wouldn’t be able to pull that off.
OK, I’ll go with “Over the top” as well. A very polite way of saying almost anoying. I hope the rest of the episodes don’t try to ham it up so much, but then this is American TV. Make something dangerous even if its just boring. They could have explained the dynamics of pusher operations better. Overall I thought the segment was good, Only a couple of times did they show another train rather than the one he was riding.
Over the top is really true. I could only watch about the first 10-15 minutes of the show before I couldn’t take any more.
Perhaps if they had winged the guy with a tranquilizer dart before rolling tape, it would have helped.
Pretty disappointing.
I’d give it only a C- - here’s why:
Main reason: Absolutely no sense of the sound, power, and motion of a train or locomotive getting underway, or braking - either dynamic or air. This cab ride was kind of like being in an elevator that moves only sideways. They had lots of money for helicopter videos, but couldn’t stand trackside, or put a microphone out on the walkways, to record the sound of the Dash-9 (I think) lead units chugging along, or the SD40-2 helper turbochargers winding up, or the dynamic brake whine, or the set and release of the air brakes ? What else is more typical of the run over Gallitzin summit ? No sense of the side-to-side rocking motion of the units (even on NS’ excellent track), or the buff and pull of the train. The “seat” (of the pants) principle of train handling was mentioned, along with experience, but not really illustrated or brought to life. The word “slack” wasn’t even mentioned, I believe - but what else is more critical to train handling and control ?
How many times did he use the word “danger” in connection with up the grade and down ? Sure, it can be risky, but let’s not overstate it. And the steep “Slide” at the top of the eastbound descent towards Horse Shoe Curve - and its special speed restriction (are the klaxon horns still used there in the event of overspeed ?) wasn’t even mentioned, although that would have been justified in that context.
Plus, a FRED was clearly visible when the helpers coupled on - but not even mentioned. Both types of control stands were seen, between the road power and the helpers, but not even explained.
I could go on, but will leave it to others. Nothing wrong - and a lot of other interesting stuff was shown - but even accepting that the TV people might want to hype this a bit to make it something other than a dry and boring documentary, they - and the
HAHA sometimes I get a big kick out of this forum. Tough crowd. I actually enjoyed the episode last night–guess I was one of the few. Jamie
I watched it all and was disappointed there were so many aerial shots and the speeded up segments showing the train whipping around the curves reminded me of a model railroad layout with trains running far faster than scale speeds. I’d like to have seen some footage shot through the cab windows showing the trackage, signal aspects, crossovers, etc. Some may take offense at this but the host acted like a foamer rather than a real conductor. Hope the other segments in this series are better than this one.
Mark