200 miles from Las Vegas, 3 Disc Set plus Bonus

Volume 1: We see a whole host of General Motors/EMD and General Electric monster locomotives at work on freight trains in the scenic and fascinating desert scenery. SD70, DASH-9, SD40 and many others are seen and heard on long 100-plus wagon consists from double-stack container trains to autoracks, manifest and block freight workings. Our journey takes us from Caliente in Nevada, through the famous Kingman Canyon in Arizona where we follow the old Route 66 road on to the vast plains that skirt Winona and Winslow, before we head to the San Francisco Mountain range around Flagstaff and Williams. Our final feature then takes us next to the Colorado river on the border with California, where trains with up to 5 locomotives storm the grade out of the Mohave Valley. It is difficult not to be amazed at the sheer power and noise that emanate from these near mile-long freight trains!

Volume 2: Filmed in February 2007 we journey from the famous Mojave desert where we see mile-long container trains headed by up to five powerful locomotives, surrounded by rugged plains and distant mountains. We journey to Warren amidst the unusual Joshua trees as mixed freight workings appear with a line up of different locomotives classes sporting a myriad of colour schemes. The main feature of this program looks at the famous Cajon Pass which takes the BNSF and Union Pacific tracks out of the Los Angeles basin and up on to the Mojave plains. Faced with stiff gradients we can see and hear the locomotives struggling to keep their huge trains on the move. A whole host of General Motors-EMD and General Electric classes are seen including some dating from the early-1960s as well as brand-new locomotives which have not long entered service. This series provides an exciting look at modern-day U.S. railroading.

Volume 3: Filmed in February 2007 we journey from the Northern Mojave desert around Cima Hill (the UP line to Las Vegas), to the junction with the BNSF at Daggett, before moving on to the town of Mojave. We then travel to one of the most famous railroad features in the US; the Tehachapi loop. We begin the climb up to Tehachapi at the foothills around Caliente as long freight trains with four locos on the front and two on the rear blast their way up the gradients in spectacular style. Union Pacific and BNSF locos are seen, from the mighty Dash-9 to the equally powerful SD-70Ms, all in a variety of colour schemes and shades of road dust deposits. Our final section covers the impressive spiral at Tehachapi where trains pass over the top of themselves as the line loops towards the summit, these scenes have got to be seen to be believed! There is no doubt that the US railroads are particularly impressive both in terms of size and scale this series provides an exciting look at modern-day U.S. railroading.

Bonus Disc: “The Best of the West”, Looking at the Union Pacific in the 1960s/70s from the cameras of railroad builder/contractor Morrison-Knudsen.