Living in the UK we usually get programs like ‘Extreme Trains’ at least a hundred years later than the US, but I get the feeling that maybe this program is relatively new. We’ve only had 2 programs so far, the Horeshoe Curve edition and now Cajon Pass riding out of LA with a container train.
I have to ask, why is it necessary to fast forward the trains all the time? Pulling out of LA after waiting for the bridge to lift and the train zooms away as if it’s your ordinary family car pulling out of the drive. Then the train that’s doing 20mph tops suddenly speeds up even faster. Even the cars on the highways are doing at least 250 mph and pedestians are crossing roads like a Stan Stennet movie from the 20’s.
Then there’s that guy with the beard who shouts all the time. Why does he have to shout? Ok so he’s outdoors and he has 20mph trains thundering past. But not ALL the time.
Apologies, it’s good to see a railroad program, but why is it always such a let down because they never get anyone to narrate it properly.
If you do a search on this forum (and others) you will find several threads discussing the pros and cons of “Extreme Trains,” with many, many people commenting on the same issues you pointed out.
FWIW, the “speed effect” is simply that - a production effect. It may be annoying, but it’s pretty common on TV nowadays. The alternative is either cutting the scene short or showing the full 10 minutes of the train slowly crawling down the track in the distance.
As for the host, well, there’s also differing opinions about him as well. The school of thought I subscribe to is that he’s just doing his job the way the producers and directors told him to do it. After all, the show is geared towards the non-railfan general public, so it does have to be jazzed up to appeal to the masses. Also, his constant “shouting” may be attributed to the fact that trains are inherently noisy, and that he had to raise his voice to hear himself above all the noise. Post production editing is able to tone down most of the ambient noise so it doesn’t interfere with the narration as much.
What you have to realize is the show is produced for consumption of the general public who has no knowledge of trains whatsoever. The target audience is not the railfan or model railroader. Yes, the production has been jazzed up and the host may not do things the way you think they should be done, but if you’re able to look past those things, it’s actually a pretty decent show. I was actually able to learn quite a bit from the several episodes I watched.
Anyway, it seems the show has run its course and there’s no positive indication that History Channel intends to make any more episodes. At least they could rerun the original episodes for a while instead of abruptly yanking it altogether. Heaven forbid they’d have to carve out an hour and give up that umpteenth time slot of Monsterquest, The Universe, How the Earth Was Made, etc.
As far as the trains moving at “warp speed” I believe that’s what the producers want to make the show seem so intense or “extreme” as the title suggests.
And yeah…the host of the show really gets on my nerves. That “in your face” narraration really gets to me. He’s about as intense as the “shamwow guy” that sells those fancy rags for $19.95 on those TV commercials.
The show would be a lot better if the host would tone it down a bit. I love trains but don’t need them presented to me with all that up close and personal stuff. Maybe I can watch it someday with the volume turned way down so that it’s a more enjoyable train show. I can do without the “extreme” part of any train show…chuck
There’s a simpler way of saying all what stokesda said. This is America. Everything has to apeal to everyone or the big wigs in tv will think no body will watch. And if nobody’s watching then the tv station isn’t getting ratings, and that’s pretty much what tv is all about. I don’t have cable or satellite or anything, so I’ve never seen this episode. Heck if it’s the show I’m thinking of, Extreme Machines, then I can’t even admit to knowing it was still on the air. Now me personnaly, would have sat there on my butt staring at the tv like it’s the Daytona 500 for that 10 minutes of the train moving. And yes, the narrator is just doing what he was told. Now the iron/funny part. The narrator was probably in a sound booth somewheres in the middle of Nebraska in a building next to a corn field reading off a script and watching a video version only of the tape. He could have just been told "it is a train outside, they are loud, so talk loud. We want it to sound like you where there. If people think you where there they will like the show more then start to watch it more and incr
I missed the first few episodes, but my friend who was recording them says there were 8 shows. History Channel did repeat them once or twice, so I got to see all of them.
With all its faults, Extreme Trains is still better than 99% of the stuff on TV.
If it got too popular, then we’d have all sorts of copycat programming, like “Hollywood Trains,” “Haunted Trains” and “Train Idol” with Simon and Paula. Then you’ll wish they’d bring back the guy who just shouts all the time.
I think the narrator of the show is kind of a nube but I can live with him.
The sham wow guy you are referring to- his name is Vince. He’s also the slap-chop guy- I’ve looked it up and he also mentions it on the slap-chop commercial. I’ve always wondered if he works for McDonalds and forgot to take his headset off- is someone going to order a hot apple pie?
A} Here in the USA our cars really do go 250 MPH, and people really are in a hurry! You ever here of the famous “In a New York Minute”? [as fast as humanly possible, faster if at all possible].
B} He shouts all the time because he is so excited about what he is talking about!! { and to be heard}.
Actually, I’d like to see EXTREME TRAINS come back, but with Mike Rowe (“Dirty Jobs”) as the host. HIs ‘Dirty Jobs’ segment cleaning up locomotives was really entertaining, mainly because Mike himself is extremely entertaining. Just the right sense of humor. I think he could make EXTREME TRAINS a lot of fun to watch, if we could just get the ‘camera guy’ to stop zooming everything up to Warp Speed.
Heck, I’d even take Vince “Shamwow”. If you haven’t seen his latest ‘chopper’ commercial–it’s absolutely HILARIOUS! BTW, his name is Vince Offer, and you might want to ‘google’ him up–he’s quite the underground film-maker.
It’s interesting that the host is actually a railroader himself…but he comes off as a newb. Yes, hindsight is 20/20. I felt that on the episodes with the NS pushers, he could have better explained how a locomotive’s control stand and how the braking system actually worked since his target audience was persons that knew little about railroad equipment. Also, the conductor’s responsibilities could have been a nice highlight. His explanations were way too oversimplified and IMHO, the perception the show generally leaves one is that conductor and engineer’s are employees that sit comfortably in locomotive cabs and do very little work.
Anyway, the need to be an attention-getter to keep your audience is understandable, but going over the top rings out as corny.
In the UK, we only have to put up with the ‘shouting all the time obviously partly deaf and a actually a newby although he says he’s been into trains for ages’ narrator. Our version if beautifully overdubbed by a softly spoken and delightful British lady who has a lovely unexcited and not ‘in your face’ voice who tells us all about Cajon Pass etc… politely. (Which probably makes the shouting guy sound worse!) Yes, I turn on the mute when he comes on.
What most modelers and season railfans don’t understand you need to talk loud in a cab of a locomotive especially older locomotives.The noise in the cab is unbelievable to a non-railroader.
Living in the UK aught to be great! You guys might actually get a chance to run into the hosts of Top Gear!!! Now us Americans do have Motor Trend tv (we still do don’t we? or do I SEROUSLY need to reinvest into getting cable) but they don’t do fun stuff. Like make their own space rockets. Or make their own amphibious vehicles. Or get celebs to come on the show and talk and them strap them into a little Kia and race the clock around a course. Or make a road trip in another country where they litterally get chased out of town and almost get there heads blown off. Just a tip for them guys, if they do something like that again in the US, either don’t put gay slogans and what on the cars to try and get each other into trouble or just avoid the south. I would personally advize them to just avoid the south. Now there are parts that are as civilized as the rest of the world, but there’s more parts of the south that think men should only be with women and blacks should still be slaves. It’s sad, but true. Now ona better note, is it really that loud in a modern train? I took a train ride once in the cab of an old Green Bay & Western ALCo S6 and with both doors open it wasn’t that loud. I mean, I realize it was only on a small track at the National Rail Road Museum, www.nationalrrmuseum.org, so it wasn’t really a fast pace, but I’m glad. Then it would have been to short. It was fun though, they ran it back words, cab first [:)]. And the NRRM grounds also hosts an annual haunted house affair during October called “Terror On The Fox” so when we rode past the haunted house on the ride the conductor blew the horn. I thought it sounded louder outside the train than it did in the cab! But that will stick with me in memory forever. It also sort of created a love affair with ALCo S6’s, but hey it was the guys fault!!! It was already the coolest thing I’ve ever done (even compared to the flying a Cesna when I was about 6) and then he goes and
Matt is a short line conductor…Those other railroaders was riding in a wide cab which is quieter then the older locomotives that will be found on short lines.No need to shout in locomotives that have wide cabs,
Well, somebody’s off to an early start this weekend [:)]
While you do need to talk loudly in the cab of loco, you don’t need to be so damn hyper about it. The way the host acted, the trains really were going as fast as they are in the speeded-up footage.
Brakie,
From other reports, I’ve head the host of Exteme Trains works for Pan Am Railways (ex-Guilford, nee-Boston & Maine or Maine Central). While I make fun of PAR all the time in front of my B&M friends, even I have to admit that they aren’t a short line. They are, however, a regional railroad. Both B&M and MEC are former Class I’s…it’s not like they are some 2-mile industrial line.