Ok, we are in need of a thread to post our sightings of trains we see while watching TV…I mean, isn’t that a type of railfanning as well?
I will kick this thread off with a one of the best sightings I have ever seen…And this is one sighting that struck me close to my heart.
Before I moved to Florissant, Missouri, I lived in the small New Mexico Town of Clovis, New Mexico. Recently, The TV show “Three Wishes” visited my old Hometown.
The opening sequence was chasing a BNSF Manifest with a killer lashup…BNSF 4356, EMDX 9045, BNSF 4876, CN 2545. I couldn’t tell what kind of train, presumably intermodal, as the CN units rear end was cutoff.
The best part is when one of the hosts got up into the cab of BNSF #7753, a ES44AC with the new logo.
I may sound like a broken record, but this sighting brought a tear to my eye, not only did they show my favorite railroad, but they showed it in my old hometown.
Keep on the lookout for the Modern Marvels show on Dynamite (its either History or Discovery channel - I can’t remember which). It has a real good section on RR and subwway construction.
Modern Marvels is a History channel program, if you go to their web site: history.com, you can see what’s coming up and when. They had a feature on the AC6000 which was made with assistance from GE, so I was not surprised to see no less than four GE ads during the overall program! They also have featured remote control railroading, albeit in an industrial setting.
For me a total turnoff as it seems to put engineers in a “goofy” light. Maybe I’m just overreacting but the “stereotype” railroaders put on some past tv commercials seems to paint them as burly or jolly, not very bright, and unattentive when in fact the railroaders that I’ve met over the years were sharp, very intelligent, and safety concious.
For a well educated group, IMHO, many advertising executives seem to be quite ignorant.
Silver Streak would have to be the most realistic of all, I mean they had the dead-mans pedal and all, the cars stopped when they were disconnected, almost everything was real [:D]
In the most recent TRAINS issue, there was a article on the Palamento Brick Company in South Carolina. There was a series of shows on Discovery Channel calles Made in America. They showed how the railroad was run, and the host of the show got to drive the engine.
His name is John Brunell (sp) and this show makes me sick with it’s serious errors[:(!]. I guess it’s alright if you turn the sound off. But listening to the narration makes me sick. He repeatedly calls Cajon Pass “El Cajon Pass”, Hello, there is no El Cajon Pass. There is a Cajon Pass and a town called El Cajon, many miles distant. And several times he states that the railroads have added emergency brake systems, WTF- This is so off the mark I don’t know where to begin. The whole show is so loaded with BS.[:(!]
Basicly it’s like the Wildest police videos but the subject is train wrecks. Like I said above the whole thing is riddled with incorect information. Your best bet is to just turn the volume off and watch the train wreck (/ wreck simulations). They cover the explosions in Wisconsin (?wyaweega?) and Mexico, the SP trona wreck at the bottom of Cajon, The Byou canot(SP) Amtrak wreck, Chase Maryland and a couple forign wrecks one of them was the German ICE pileup. They also show a lot of grade crossing accidents, staged and otherwise. Interesting footage but for any real info you’re better off watching a thomas the tank cartoon.
Speaking of trains and tv…Has anyone ever seen a movie or show where the train actually stops after a grade xing collision? They seem to always just keep on going as if nothing happened.