Santa Fe Combo: Chillicothe Sub & Marceline Sub
SKU: DVD-PNX-SFMERGEOriginal price was: $29.95.$24.95Current price is: $24.95.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe was one of America’s great railroads. It survives today as part of the giant BNSF system. But not that long ago it was independent.
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| Producer | Pentrex |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 2 hours 49 minutes |
| Narration | Yes |
| Shrink Wrap | Yes, Brand New |
| Technical Details | No Region Code, NTSC |
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe was one of America’s great railroads. It survives today as part of the giant BNSF system. But not that long ago it was independent. Step back to September 21, 1995, Santa Fe’s last full day of independent operations before its merger with Burlington Northern. Days prior to that milestone, Pentrex set out on an odyssey across America’s heartland to document the final chapter of this historic railroad. Two videos resulted which have now been combined on one new DVD, bringing you the full story of this great adventure.
Across the Heartland – Santa Fe’s Chillicothe Subdivision
Stretching from the greater Chicago area to Fort Madison, Iowa lies the Chillicothe Sub, a double-tracked ribbon of rail that was home to Santa Fe’s hottest trains. We’ll take you back to the Chillicothe Sub as it was in 1995, just days before Santa Fe’s merger with the Burlington Northern. Flashy Warbonnets leading high-speed trains are seen at favorite spots such as McCook Junction, Streator, and Edelstein Hill – the line’s most famous location. There are great scenes at Galesburg and Cameron where Santa Fe and Burlington Northern tracks cross over one another and more drama at Fort Madison where trains are seen crossing the Mississippi River on the railroad’s impressive bridge there. From urban sprawl through lush, green croplands, this was Santa Fe action at its very best.
Countdown to Merger – Santa Fe’s Marceline Subdivision
Six days prior to the merger with Burlington Northern, Pentrex set off to record the last moments of Santa Fe’s independence by tracing the action on the Marceline Sub from Fort Madison, Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri. Facing sunshine and rain, trekking across isolated backwoods hills and through river valleys, we relentlessly sought out the best photo locations along the double-tracked line. Overhead bridges offered excellent views of Santa Fe’s hottest trains. Thirty miles of joint operations with Norfolk Southern provided plenty of excitement as trains from both roads raced over the line. On September 21, 1995, Santa Fe’s last full day, we view the single-tracked Missouri River Bridge and head into Kansas City to reach the end of the Marceline Sub – and the end of an era.
Arthur –
Great Santa Action from its final days as an Independent Railroad fast paced action
Curtis Watson –
A good film chronicling the last days of the ATSF. Good-looking trains in good-looking scenery. People who are big fans of the ATSF or pre-merger railroading in general will like this.
CR6377 –
Two very entertaining Santa Fe programs on one disc. Chicago to Kansas City. So much has changed on both rail lines. Not just railroad, both towns and way things are run. No DPU power back in the day. EMD Power and GE Power are well represented equally. Santa Fe signals, depots and maintenance buildings are seen in numbers. Witnessing the last days before Santa Fe merging with Burlington Northern is something else. Another program worth every penny spent.
Warbonnet Productions –
I love the Santa Fe and this is fantastic! Great scenery, colorful trains, 2 discs, and I like that they also catch some trains on Norfolk Southern and other railroads. A must have for any Santa Fe lover!
david holland –
i love this dvd and the santa fe railroad to death. this video is 100% wonderful of everything on the santa fe railroad on the chillicothe sub. before the merger comes with this as well and it is about getting excellent footage of the santa fe before it became bnsf. you will see tons of cool things as well including, amtrak, foreign power, specials, and so much more. 2 hrs and 49 mins is a great value for the money. glad i ordered this combo dvd.
Ben –
This program does a great job of depicting the Chillicothe & Marceline subdivisions of the Santa Fe transcontinental route in the week leading up to the merger with Burlington Northern on September 21, 1995.
transitionalman –
(SPOILER ALERT!!!) We all know that at the end of Romeo and Juliet they both die! Sadly this is also the case as we watch BOTH DVDs in this set. I owned both of these as separate VHS tapes so when they were released as this COMBO I HAD TO UPGRADE!!!
While other railfans love Cajon Pass and Tehachapi Pass this section of the ATSF (Chicago to Kansas City) is my favorite because of its accessibility to me at the time (in college). I love the sounds and visions of trains charging up Edelstein Hill! Listening to the background sounds of the surrounding atmosphere as the trains approach takes me back to the 1990s and my fond memories of this section of the Santa Fe. The motive power was so much more diverse and classical back then before everything was a pumpkin GEVO and nearly every train a double-stack. Pentrex gives a countdown throughout the program of the ominous merger looming over the Santa Fe….every day bringing us closer to the actual end of one of the greatest railroad institutions of our country. While the ending for me is a tragedy (love ATSF, like BN, but loathe BNSF) this video is a fitting capture of the final days.
rrvideoman, Delisle Saskatchewan –
This is a video that I classify as a “Point A to Point B” video on one main line railroad. Chicago to Fort Madison to Kansas City. These types of videos are always very interesting. The vast majority of the power belongs to one railroad, the Santa Fe in this case, with the addition of some Norfolk Southern near the end. We follow the route from the urban sprawl of Chicago through the rural country side, past farms and small towns and end in the urban sprawl of Kansas City. From Chicago to Carollton Missouri, I was very impressed with the making of the video. The region to Carollton is well covered. Noted was how the landscape changes a few times along the way. From wide, open flatlands, to the river valleys to hills and again to the open country side, back to river valleys. At this point, I felt that a rating of 9 out of 10 was well deserving. However, from Carollton Missouri on, I got the impression that the producers got into a hurry to finish up with the video. Only a couple of stops are made from here to Kansas City. There also seems to be less emphasis on Kansas City as compared to Chicago. I found the last 20 minutes or so of Part # 2 – Countdown to Merger to be disappointing. An extra 15 minutes of video, more time at the bridges, espescially the crossing of the Missouri River would have been beneficial and really added to a fine production up to Carollton. One other thing that I noted was that many times the Pentrex narrator used phrases like “we can only assume that…” or varations of it. It’s like the narrator is admitting a lack of knowledge without wanting to say just that, and wants to continue talking. This has been noticed in other Pentrex videos as well, but is very apparent in this video. The result is that I did lower my rating for the video, and felt that a 4 rating was generous. I’m not disappointed for making the purchase of this video. It’s just that it’s not in my top 25 favorates of my collection. I have no problems with recommending it to anyone. Enjoy.