America's Amazing Train Rides 2 pk.

This publication is an excellent introduction to railroads and museums available to tourists. It consists of films dealing with 35 railroads, museums and historic sites. These are arranged into four “volumes,” volumes 1 and 2 (on disc 1) deal with western sites, volumes 3 and 4 (on disc 2) deal with eastern sites. These filmed segments run for roughly 4 hours, which allows approximately 7 minutes for each railroad. Some of the museum sites also offer train rides. This publication covers the Golden Spike National Historic Site, as well as two other historic sites. The accompanying narrative is informative without being overdone.The pictured trains roll through forests and canyons, over plains, up mountains, and along rivers, across bridges and through tunnels. For some trains, the routes are very short, for some, the routes are over 40 miles. The narratives sometimes describe the history of a route, on a few of which tracks had to be reconditioned and bridges reconstructed. Some of these railroads have taken over the stations and maintenance facilities of the original railroads. The films show what passengers can expect at train stops in the way of restaurants, picnic areas, and gift shops.The featured sites have many types of equipment. There are old narrow gauge lines, abandoned regular lines, tracks that once carried ore or lumber, and former interurban lines. The motive power is provided by steam engines (including gear-driven shay engines and Heisler locomotives), diesels, and electric trolleys. The trains include a wide variety of cars, from old passenger coaches inherited from the earlier railroads, and open air cars designed for tourists, to a train composed entirely of cabooses. The Napa Valley Wine Train takes riders back to the 1950s—in well maintained dining cars, with elaborate place settings, and large staffs which serve elegant meals—brunch, lunch, and dinner.There are four special features. On Disc 1: (1) Cameras follow Southern Pacific engine Number 4449 as it rolls from Portland to Los Angeles for its role in the 1986 film, “Tough Guys,” and later on its trip to Sacramento for Railfair 91 (12 minutes). (2) We follow Nickel Plate engine 765 on trips to Columbus OH, and Huntington, WV (13 minutes). On Disc 2: (3) This special provides footage of Norfolk and Western’s 2-6-6-4 engine 1218 on its trip to St. Louis (8 minutes). (4) This film records Atlanta and West Point Railroad engine 290’s excursion to Atlanta (4 minutes). Filming for these special features consists primarily of panoramic shots, sometimes from great distances. The associated commentary provides information about the engines and the routes followed.All the segments in this publication are very well filmed, with shots of engines, cars, and engine crews from various perspectives. The photographers also filmed the scenes through which trains traveled. The well edited shots range from close ups of valve gear to panoramic views of the surrounding country. Some footage illustrates how locomotives and cars are reconditioned and repaired. It is not clear how museums were selected for these DVDs. Among those not included are the National Railroad Museum (Green Bay), the California State Railroad Museum (Sacramento), and the Steamtown National Historic Site (Scranton).This publication gives a good idea of what tourists can expect when visiting any of these sites. Of course, before planning a visit to any of these railroads, check its current situation, some may no longer be operating, or hours and equipment may not be what is pictured on these DVDs. And some are changing their policies during the COVID pandemic.This publication was produced by Pentrex, which has produced an extensive catalog of railroad related DVDs which may be of interest to railfans.

I wish that there were more train trips on this video. I was looking for the train trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This video only does a few regions of the United States unfortunately.

Never been on a train ourselves, but we sure love watching these train dvd's as they tour the country.

Ordered for my dad for Christmas. He really enjoyed them. Good quality, super fast shipping!

Great

Excellent DVD

Very good photography. Would order again.

Purchased for a grandson.