Big "E" Newsletter
Big “E” Productions
P.O. BOX 75
GREENLAND, NH 03840
Our DVDs show the whole train!
Our web page is at www.trainvideos.com, email us at bigeee@trainvideos.com
 800-832-1228 or 603-430-3055   Visa, MasterCard, AMEX or Discover Card Orders Accepted.
Frequency – six times a year                                   Issue #138                                                April, 2012
Two new programs on the FEC and CSX in Florida from our trip to the Southeast last fall are now ready to ship. All of our DVD’s have chapters and menus and the 91 newest ones – everything videotaped from 2004 on and a few programs from 2003 - have a choice of being watched with narration and without narration by using the audio or language button on your DVD player controller. 256 programs are available in DVD and all are listed in the flyers. No other train video producer shows and explains railroading like we do and our catalogue includes programs on fallen flags ATSF, SP, Wisconsin Central, and Conrail. Our shipping and handling charge on repeat orders remains $5.00 with no charge on orders over $100. We offer discounts on large orders. See flyers for details. These discounts are available only by mail and phone. If you have questions and get our answering machine, please leave your name and number and we will call you back as soon as possible. 
 
New this month is “The FEC North End in 2011” and “CSX “S” and “A” Lines in North-Central Florida”. Over the past five decades the Florida East Coast Railway has had a most fascinating ride as it went from a railroad that had never paid a dividend, to one of the most profitable, and for many years the fastest growing rail line in North America. FEC’s trains today have an incredible mix of truckers’ containers and trailers on them. To its historian, the FEC of the last 50 years has been America’s greatest railroad – a maverick who went its own way and developed many of the operating practices now common on all railroads today. However labor groups fifty years ago held a contrarian view. The great recession still grips most of Florida with housing starts and construction way down from the level of five or so years ago. “The FEC North End in 2011” shows how this dynamic and once controversial little railroad is faring in the fall of 2011 on the north end of its system. As you will see, the Florida East Coast, currently owned by the Fortress Investment Group, has fought back with fewer but longer trains and maintained its profitability. “The FEC North End in 2011” is 49 minutes in length and sells for $28.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling. “CSX “S” and “A” Lines in North-Central Florida” shows over twenty-four hours of action on both of CSX’s main lines from Jacksonville to Tampa and Miami in north-central Florida in October of 2011. These lines are better known as the “S” and “A” Lines, referring to their Seaboard Airline and Atlantic Coast Line ancestry respectively. Both lines are in for big changes in the next two years as the State just purchased sixty-one miles of the “A” Line around Orlando for use as a commuter line. Several CSX trains will be transferred to the “S” Line and additional capacity will be added. Both lines are mostly single-track, high-speed, high capacity lines with long sidings about ten miles apart and centralized traffic control. Six Amtrak trains also run on this part of the “A” Line.   With housing starts and construction way down, this program shows how CSX is coping with the great recession, and as you will see, traffic on these lines has held up fairly well. “CSX “S” and “A” Lines in North-Central Florida” is 76 minutes in length and sells for $32.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. 
 
New two months ago was “CP River Line south of Winona, MN”, “NS and KCS around Mexico, MO”, and “UP Spine Line south of Des Moines”. “CP River Line south of Winona, MN” shows the trains and operations for over twenty-four hours on the historic, former Milwaukee Road main line now owned by Canadian Pacific along the Mississippi River railroad east but geographically south of Winona, Minnesota in May of 2011. Once the double track main line of the Milwaukee Road and the route of the Hiawathas, this line fell on hard times in the 1970s. Rescued by the CP owned Soo Line, this line today, known as CP’s River Subdivision and part of their Chicago to Twin Cities main, is in excellent condition and carries more trains today than anytime since at least World War II, thanks to increasing numbers of unit trains of agricultural products, fertilizer, coal, and coke from the northern plains and from Canada.  “CP River Line south of Winona, MN” is 81 minutes in length and sells for $32.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. The small town of Mexico in northern Missouri, not quite half way between St. Louis and Kansas City, is a neat railroad center with two class I railroads running next to each other through the center of town. Between Mexico and Centralia, a distance of 14 miles, Norfolk Southern’s St. Louis District between St. Louis to Moberly, and Kansas City Southern’s line between St. Louis and Kansas City run side by side. Once main lines of the Wabash and Gulf, Mobile, and Ohio, respectively, and home to Union Pacific’s City Streamliners, these tracks have seen many changes and several owners over the decades. This program shows three days and one night of action on the NS and KCS lines around Mexico, Missouri, including the unique Schneider National trains on KCS, in June of 2011.  “NS and KCS around Mexico, Missouri” is 61 minutes in length and sells for $30.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. Thrown adrift after the Rock Island went out of business in March of 1980, the Rock Island’s 429 mile long Twin Cities to Kansas City line known as the Spine Line was first leased and then acquired by the Chicago & North Western in 1983. Today this line is owned and operated by Union Pacific. UP calls the track between Des Moines and Sheffield, just outside of Kansas City where trains get onto the Kansas City Terminal, their Trenton Subdivision. UP uses this line in conjunction with the former Missouri Pacific Falls City Subdivision along the Missouri River between Omaha and Kansas City in a modified directional running operation. Most of the heavier southbounds use the Trenton Sub while most northbounds use the Falls City Sub. This program shows the trains and operations including a couple of DM&E trains on UP’s Spine Line between Allerton, south of Des Moines and the UP – Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern joint track north of Kansas City for three days and one night in June of 2011. “UP Spine Line south of Des Moines” is 59 minutes in length and sells for $30.95 plus $5.00 for S&H.
 
New four months ago was “The Tadpole – NS Kenova District” and “NS Valley Line north of Front Royal, VA”. Norfolk Southern’s Kenova District between Williamson, West Virginia and Portsmouth, Ohio has long been known as the Tadpole.   The district’s name comes from Kenova, West Virginia, where this former Norfolk and Western track crosses the Ohio River on a massive double tracked, 4000-foot long, 100-foot high trestle. This busy line handles a mix of loaded coal trains running in both directions, grain trains, mixed carload manifests, and thanks to the recently completed Heartland Corridor clearance project, double stack container trains. Except for the crossing of the Ohio River at Kenova, the track from Williamson to Portsmouth is level or downgrade all the way and passes through six tunnels. The superbly engineered Kenova District along the Tug Fork, Big Sandy, and Ohio Rivers sees some of the heaviest trains in the U. S. This program shows thirty hours of action between Williamson and Kenova on Norfolk Southern’s Kenova District or Tadpole in April of 2011. “The Tadpole – NS Kenova District” is 80 minutes in length and sells for $32.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. In June of 1988 Conrail began shifting its interchange with Norfolk Southern in the Northeast from Potomac Yard in Washington, D. C. to Hagerstown, Maryland. South of Hagerstown, NS trains then traversed the northern end of the former Norfolk and Western Hagerstown District or Valley Line to Front Royal, where they could head east on the former Southern Railway Harrisonburg branch or “B” Line to the ex-Southern Washington to Atlanta main line at Manassas. In 1999 NS acquired rights on the former Conrail Lurgan branch north of Hagerstown that connected NS to their new Conrail trackage at Harrisburg. All of this has transformed the north end of the Valley Line from a secondary main line to the NS main line between the Northeast and the Southeast that can host up to twenty trains in twenty-four hours. “NS Valley Line north of Front Royal, VA” shows a day and a half of continuous action between the junction of the “B” Line and Valley Line at Riverton Junction in Front Royal and the Potomac River at Shepherdstown in April of 2011. “NS Valley Line north of Front Royal, VA” is 67 minutes in length and sells for $30.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. 
 
New six months ago was “CSX and Amtrak at Ashland, VA” and ”Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor”. Ashland, where the former RF&P, now CSX main line goes right down the middle of the street, is one of the best-known railfan hot spots and most railfan friendly places in Virginia. Ashland is fifteen miles north of Richmond on the CSX and Amtrak main line between the Northeast and the Southeast. This program shows all the trains for 24 hours in March 2011 on the former RF&P two main track line that bisects Ashland with the tracks running right down the middle of Center Street and Railroad Avenue for nearly a mile and half through the center of the town. Traffic on the CSX main line is beginning to recover from the Great Recession and on peak days of the week forty CSX and Amtrak trains pass through Ashland.  “CSX and Amtrak at Ashland, VA” is 67 minutes long and sells for $30.95 plus $5.00 for S&H. “Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor” shows the trains and operations on the historic, former Boston and Main Fitchburg Route main line between Ayer, Massachusetts and Mechanicville, New York, known as Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor in August of 2011. In March of 2009, the Surface Transportation Board approved the Pan Am Railways – Norfolk Southern joint venture to jointly own and operate the Pan Am track west of Ayer, Massachusetts under the name Pan Am Southern. The main line between Ayer and Mechanicville was given the nickname: ”Patriot Corridor”. Three years earlier, Guilford Rail System, the operator of what was then left of the Boston and Maine and Maine Central lines in New England, changed its name to Pan Am Railways. This program shows the trains running in August of 2011 on Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor between Ayer and Mechanicville, New York. This line includes the historic Hoosac Tunnel that gives Pan Am the easiest rail crossing of the Berkshire Mountain range in western Massachusetts. Pan Am’s eclectic mix of older motive power still draws fans from far and wide.  “Pan Am Southern’s Patriot Corridor” is 92 minutes in length and sells for $34.95 plus $5 for S&H. 
 
Other recent releases that can be watched with and without narration include “CN’s South Bend Subdivision”, “BNSF Columbia River Subdivision”, “The Trains of Marias Pass 2010”, “CP & CN Calgary to Edmonton Mains”, “CN’s Yellowhead – Easiest Pass through the Rockies”, “The Trains of Kicking Horse Pass 2011”, “NS Chicago Line in Northern Indiana”, “CSX Garrett Sub across Northern Indiana”, “UP’s Triple Track Main in 2010”. “CN’s South Bend Subdivision” shows over 24 hours of action on CN’s South Bend sub in southern Michigan that is part of their main line between Montreal and Chicago in October of 2010. ”BNSF Columbia River Subdivision” shows over twenty-four hours of action on BNSF’s Columbia River Subdivision in October of 2010. “The Trains of Marias Pass 2010” shows over twenty-four hours of action between Conkelley, where the two main tracks out of Whitefish become single track, and Browning, twenty-six miles east of the summit of Marias Pass where the plains abruptly meet the mountains, in September of 2010. “CP & CN Calgary to Edmonton Mains” shows the trains and operations of Canada’s two main railroads on their fascinating secondary main lines between Calgary and Edmonton in September of 2010. “CN's Yellowhead – Easiest Pass through the Rockies” shows all the Canadian National trains for over twenty-four hours on both sides of Yellowhead Pass in the beautiful Jasper National Park and Mt. Robson Provincial Park in Alberta and British Columbia in September of 2010.  “The Trains of Kicking Horse Pass 2010” shows over twenty-four hours of Canadian Pacific action between Morant’s Curve along the Bow River east of Lake Louise and Field, British Columbia at the base of Field Hill on both sides of Kicking Horse Pass in September of 2010.   “NS Chicago Line in Northern Indiana” shows the trains and operations for over twenty-four hours on NS’s Chicago Line between the outskirts of La Porte and South Bend in northern Indiana in April of 2010. There have many changes in operations since our last look at this busy line across northern Indiana in 2001 as NS has really grown the business on their Chicago Line and CP now has overhead rights on it.  “CSX Garrett Sub across Northern Indiana” shows the trains and operations for over twenty-four hours on CSX’s busy Garrett Subdivision between Milford Junction and Walkerton in northern Indiana in April of 2010. “UP’s Triple Track Main in 2010” shows all the trains for over twenty-four hours on the busiest piece of track for freight trains on this continent around Kearney, Nebraska in May of 2010. 
 
Our next releases in late March should be two additional programs from our fall trip to the Southeast on CSX’s busy S&NA North and KD subdivisions, both including manned helper districts.
                                                Dick and Barb Eisfeller