Thunder Under Heaven, Volume 1, Grand Canyon Railway Story, Thunder From the Wild West
SKU: DVD-GRV-T1Original price was: $29.95.$24.95Current price is: $24.95.
Imagine in one short year how a lonely cattle ranch in the high desert explodes into an old west-style Las Vegas? Saloons, …gambling, …supplies for the trail, …and fortunes won and lost on a draw of a card. That’s what happened to Williams, Arizona in 1881-’82. Cowboys, prospectors, loggers, ranchers, workers, and fortune-seekers suddenly ride in from all over the high desert and beyond to forge a town where the rules are being made up as they go along. That’s just the beginning of the Santa Fe Branch that became the Grand Canyon Railway,
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| Producer | Golden Rail Video |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 1 hour 18 minutes |
| Narration | Yes |
| Shrink Wrap | Yes, Brand New |
| Technical Details | NTSC, Region Free, View Worldwide on Computer |
Thunder from the Wild West. Like the wild wild west of the 1880’s, the human story unfolds with the beautiful Arizona scenery setting the stage. Here is just a taste of what you’ll get to see. Imagine in one short year how a lonely cattle ranch in the high desert explodes into an old west-style Las Vegas? Saloons, …gambling, …supplies for the trail, …and fortunes won and lost on a draw of a card. That’s what happened to Williams, Arizona in 1881-’82. Cowboys, prospectors, loggers, ranchers, workers, and fortune-seekers suddenly ride in from all over the high desert and beyond to forge a town where the rules are being made up as they go along. What was the thunder-clap that sparked this “stampede”?
It was the Santa Fe Pacific Railway. In 1881, the Santa Fe carved the first mainline across the state of Arizona…and nothing would ever be the same. Can you believe it? Back then, the Grand Canyon was considered nothing more than a “big hole” inside a forest preserve. Good for mining…and maybe “spitting’ into”. Prospectors were about the only ones really interested in it. Yet the Santa Fe Railway just a few years later jubilantly proclaim itself to be “The Grand Canyon Line”? Well, that’s just part of the little-known history of the world’s most famous National Park. …the history that comes alive for you in Thunder From the Wild West.
Thunder From the Wild West brings to life the often-ignored railroad history of the world’s most famous National Park …and the historic spur track heading north off the Santa Fe main known as The Grand Canyon Railway. …how it got started…how it grew…and how it changed the lives of the people of the high desert Canyonlands. Visiting the site of historic cattle ranches along the line gives you a glimpse of life in the high desert before and after the arrival of the Santa Fe Railway.
And then later, you’ll hear the story why the Grand Canyon Railroad operation withered and was abandoned by the Santa Fe …how it was nearly torn up …and how it miraculously came back to life. Discover the new Grand Canyon Railway’s race against time to bring the first steamer (#18) back to life from a 35-year slumber…while the whole world watched! Tour the locomotive shop where legendary steam locomotive #4960 was carefully restored…costing over one and a half million dollars! First generation diesels are now almost as rare as steam locomotives. The new Grand Canyon Railway has those, too…an elegant fleet of ALCO passenger diesels. (Have you ever seen the engine-room of these old beasts? In Thunder from the Wild West you will.) See moments frozen in time… snowy winter railroading with steam and first generation diesel equipment. Exclusive, historic footage that enriches Thunder From the Wild West into a film of mythic proportions.
2 reviews for Thunder Under Heaven, Volume 1, Grand Canyon Railway Story, Thunder From the Wild West
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Last Run of a Cab Forward over Donner Pass
Original price was: $29.95.$24.95Current price is: $24.95. -
rickyfreni –
In part 1 of the Golden Rail Video’s Grand Canyon Railway series, there is a good variety of action in the American Southwest on the former Santa Fe Branch from Williams to the south rim of one of Mother Nature’s most beloved Landmarks, with not only former Burlington route 2-8-2 number 4960 built by Baldwin in 1923, but also former Canadian National Alco FPA-4s (6773 since sold to Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley Line, 6776, & 6793 after operating for a short while on West Virginia’s Potomac Eagle in the ’90s) built in 1959, a visit from Santa Fe 4-8-4 Northern number 3751 built by Baldwin in 1927 during an August 2002 visit to the canyon, former Amtrak F40s, & a pair of Lake Superior & Ishpeming 2-8-0 Consolidations (18 built in 1910 by ALCO that was since sold to the Mt. Hood in Oregon, then at the Since been closed Rio Grande Scenic in Colorado, & now after over 30 years of operating in the west, it has returned east, but it’s at the Colebrookdale Railroad in Pennsylvania, & number 29 built by ALCO in 1906).
Aside from the locomotives with other road names on modern 24-hour freight lines like the AT&SF, Conrail, & Amtrak, there are also interviews with Alan Richmond, Bob Franzen, Max Biegert, Sam Lanter, Julie Andrick, Karl Zicopolius, Patton Schwartzfagger, & others, which includes historic still images of the Grand Canyon Branch from the AT&SF Years, as well as a visit to the Williams workshop, with winter scenes in the snow, not to mention some steam from Asia.
collinvarney24 –
An exciting adventure of the wild west in Northern Arizona with the story of the Santa Fe building a route towards the South rim of the Grand Canyon before it left town. Then the Grand Canyon railway was formed as a tourist attraction with its own steam locomotives such as LS&I 18 & 29 and CB&Q 4960 in active service after being rebuilt the diesels also put a great show. I like the winter scenes of Grand Canyon railway 29 in the snow as it heads to the south rim of the canyon as well as the cab ride of an ex-Canadian National Railway alco diesel locomotive too. I got this as a Christmas present last year and I really enjoyed it.