Forget the Terminator. Forget Robocop. To many, a real mechanical screen hero is the Union Pacific Challenger 3985, the Denver Zephyr, the Warbonnet or the Super Chief.
For the last several years, videos about trains have become all the rage with many video buffs. So hundreds of tapes-produced by professionals and by amateurs-have become available on video.
In fact, it’s one of the most popular special interest video categories, “right up there behind exercise videos,” boasts Michael Clayton, president of the Pasadena-based Prentrex Video Catalog, which specializes in railroad videos.
“We can’t produce product fast enough for this marketplace,” says Clayton.
Train fandom is growing and train videos are increasingly popular for a couple of reasons, say those in the industry.
“A lot of it has to do with history,” says Dave Swanson, a Villa Park train buff. Eleven times a year, Swanson runs a train show at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton.
“Railroads are what tied this country together, and trains were the primary method of transportation through the 1920s and 1930s,” he says. “There’s something romantic about this country and trains.”
“Everyone has been touched by trains, especially men,” adds Clayton. “Everyone has a memory about a special train trip and that train that ran around the Christmas tree.”
Clayton has another theory. “You can own a boat or a plane but you can’t own a train,” he said.
The videos appeal to two types of train buffs: Those who like full-size trains and those who like miniature or toy trains. “Most people love both,” says Swanson.
The titles range from the historic, such as a documentary on the transcontinental railway, to video versions of existing train excursions.
“There are many niche tapes, for example, focusing on a particular railroad, steam engines, trolley cars or passenger trains,” says Swanson, who runs trains shows around the country. “There are even companies that produce audio tapes of nothing but train sounds.”
A sampling of a few of the more popular and unique train videos include:
“Chicago Steam Celebration”: This two-hour tape chronicles last year’s National Railway Historical Society convention in Chicago. In addition to scenes of trains that appeared at the show-the from ex-Nickel Plate locomotives to a North Shore Electroliner-there are tours of Chicago’s elevated train system and of the South Shore Lines, the nation’s last interurban railway.
“Amtrak X2000 Demonstration”: This 30-minute tape looks to railroading in the future and profiles the new, experimental high-speed train line that now runs between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
“Great American Train Rides Vol. 1”: Rides along eight train lines are featured in this one-hour video. Included are the Yreka Western Railroad in California, the Virginia and Trukee Railroad, and the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Railway in Colorado.
“Cajon Pass/Tehachapi Loop”: Two of California’s most famous railroad icons are documented in this 90-minute tape on the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific and Santa Fe railroads.
“Last of the Giants: Union Pacific’s Big Boys”: This 25-minute tape is a video reissue of a Union Pacific film produced in the 1950s about the construction of the largest locomotives ever built.
“Forty Feet Below”: This 40-minute tape chronicles the labyrinthine freight tunnel system winding 40 feet underneath downtown Chicago’s sidewalks. The tape also documents the infamous flood that wreaked havoc on the city two years ago.
“Rails Chicago”: Numerous Chicago-area lines are profiled in this 60-minute video, including the Indiana Harbor Belt, the Illinois Central, the Milwaukee Road and Metra.
“The California Zephyr”: A trip on this excursion train line is featured in this 70-minute video. Filmed by noted railroad photographer Emery Gulash, the tape chronicles the train’s ride through the Denver countryside.
Most of those tapes are priced from $15 to $40.
In addition to the following sources, train videos can be found at local hobby shops and in ads in “Trains Magazine,” available at major newsstands.
The Pentrex catalog is available free of charge by calling 1-800-950-9333.
The Country Club Hills-based Fusion Video catalog also specializes in railroad titles. For more information, call 1-800-959-0061.
Green Frog Productions is another large video catalog outlet. For a free catalog call 1-800-227-1336.
Information on Swanson’s monthly train shows, which feature dealers hawking train videos, can be obtained by calling 708-834-0652.
