INFLATION BUSTING PENTREX SALE

Doublestacks Over Donner

SKU: DVD-PNX-DSDONR
(7 customer reviews)

$9.95

Pentrex traveled to Donner Pass in the winter of 2009-2010, spending several weeks to capture the revitalized action that can now be found on the Roseville Subdivision.

In stock

Purchase this product now and earn 40 Points!
  • Check Mark Free Post Office shipping over $25!
  • Check Mark Free UPS shipping over $75!
Producer

Pentrex

Run Time

2 hours

Narration

Yes

Shrink Wrap

Yes, Brand New

Technical Details

No Region Code, NTSC

Pentrex traveled to Donner Pass in the winter of 2009-2010, spending several weeks to capture the revitalized action that can now be found on the Roseville Subdivision. The Union Pacific had just finished a 12-month project to increase the clearances in 15 tunnels and snow sheds on Donner Pass so that doublestack trains could again be routed over this crossing of the Sierra Nevada range. Southern Pacific once ran doublestacks over Donner but as larger containers with extra height evolved, the double stacks just wouldn’t make it.

SP successor, Union Pacific, had been compelled to route its container trains over the Feather River Canyon instead, and traffic on Donner declined to a trickle of its former intensity. However, in 2008 UP decided it would be worth the cost to “raise the roof” on the shorter, faster line to expedite delivery of intermodal freight by several hours when compared to the more lengthy transit of the former Western Pacific line. As a result, traffic is now flowing over Donner in abundance!

You’ll see types of trains showcased here: grain trains, fruit trains, auto trains, general freight, and Amtrak’s California Zephyr. We’ll show them battling the stiff grades and serpentine curves that railroaders face on Donner. The spotlight, however, is on the enormous doublestack trains, some of them up to 9,000-feet long! Once again, the sounds of laboring diesels hauling containers by the hundreds echo off the granite walls of this historic pass. At last you can see those massive doublestacks slugging their way over the crest of the jaw-dropping 7,000-foot summit. There is nothing quite like Doublestacks Over Donner!

7 reviews for Doublestacks Over Donner

  1. rickyfreni

    In the opening scenes, there are stock footages from 2 Video Rails titles: Donner Pass from 1988, & the Best of 1993 from 1994 as the original track 1 was being removed for good during December of ’93.

    There are a bunch of locations on this magnificent Northern California Line at places like Roseville, Rocklin, New Castle with an SP wide cab unit pushing on the rear on one scene, Tunnel 27 at Applegate, Wemar Flat near Milepost 138, Colfax with UP 4960 (referenced to a CB&Q Mikado on the Grand Canyon Railway) on one scene, Long Ravine with the LORAM rail grinder following behind the fruit train at a Horseshoe Curve, Tunnel 33 at MP 145 with SP 8224 on one scene, Gold Run with SP 6191 on one scene, followed by Canadian Pacific 8708, & 5668 in the next scene, Alta With SP 6186 & 6310, Blue Canyon with SP 6222 working in the snow, number 9 switch at a tunnel with a UP evaluation car on one scene, Yuba Flat with SP 6219 in the snow, Soda Springs, Donner Lake, Truckee with UP 576 (referenced to a Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis 4-8-4 under restoration) Boca along the Truckee River, Floriston with Olympic unit 2001 on one scene, Verdi, Mogul, & ends at Sparks yard with SP 199, SP Narrow Gauge number 8 on display, & D&RGW 1370 on a local (note the Toys R Us logo on the Golden West Service Boxcar).

    Aside from the mainline operations, there are yard scenes at Roseville, especially SP 4-6-0 number 2252 on display, & 4 rotary snowplows waiting for the next battle through the snow plus an appearance by Rio Grande 1901 with UP 2052 on a local in Roseville as well as SP 1489 in Rocklin, not to mention Amtrak’s California Zephyr & the Capitol Corridor. At Tunnel 18, there is some BNSF action included as well as a couple more pumpkins at Boca.

  2. Curtis Watson

    The scenery alone makes this a fantastic addition to anyone’s collection. I’m never not impressed by this historic stretch of railroad.

  3. Brian La Rosa

    Doublestacks Over Donner is a wonderful program focusing on Union Pacific’s intermodal trains running through the steeper but shorter Donner Pass route in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was an absolutely great idea for Pentrex to shoot footage on those trains that would otherwise have to go through the less efficient Feather River Canyon route without UP’s initiative to adjust the tunnel clearances on Donner. It was a good thing the railroad did this important project more than a decade before the recent supply chain crisis in America.

    As far as motive power goes, most of the Union Pacific diesel locomotives featured in this program are the Electro-Motive SD70M and SD70ACe as well as the General Electric AC4400CW and ES44AC models. The “convertible” units such as the EMD SD90/43MAC and the GE AC44/60CW are also included. The Amtrak California Zephyr passenger train is almost always led by the GE P42DC locomotives. While there may not be a large variety of locomotive types in this video, you can see a few local freight trains involving some old EMD standard-cab diesels and even an Amtrak California corridor train powered by one of the F59PHI units.

    Since Railfan Depot chose to offer Doublestacks Over Donner as part of a spring cleaning sale, I am sorry if this program is no longer a good seller. But nevertheless, I hope trainspotters will appreciate the sights of intermodal trains returning to Donner Pass to capitalize on this industry while maintaining the efficiency of these modern locomotives of the Union Pacific Railroad.

  4. Lloyd

    More than double stacks enroute east & west. This video has a nice variety of trains…. auto, manifest, Amtrak passenger, grain… etc. But the show does belong to the intermodal double stacks as they finally are able to run over Donner Pass following a huge upgrade of the line. Very interesting to watch the giants climbing 2%+ grades and battling the Pass.

  5. cnrq7c97

    wonderful pentrex dvd. see for yourself. I love it.

  6. Arthur Patzwald

    great show in nice snow back ground

  7. Kevin Willie

    Pentrex Nails another great Production See the First Double Stacks train over Donner

Add a review

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *