Customer Reviews

The California Zephyr - The ultimate fan trip

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This video certainly lives up to it's promotional billing. It brought back memories of my trips years ago on those cars and along the scenic route (at least from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to Salt Lake City). Probably the most unusual feature, is from Denver to Salt Lake City, the film was shot from the inside of the lead locomotive. What an interesting view as well as hearing all of the radio communications to and from the railroad dispatcher. A must have for any western railroad fan.

A film about a train can be presented as a general travelogue, or, in this case, a specialized coverage. But if you choose the latter, you need to explain certain inconsistencies, such as, how the Wolverine Limited can start out as a regular train from New York to Detroit and turn into a mixed train between Dearborn MI and Chicago. I was intrigued by a shot, westbound out of Denver, of three trees and the curving track in the distance, the very same trees I photographed in a shot in one of two films I have made on this subject. The sounds of the train from the engineer's cab made me feel relieved that as a passenger one is not subjected to such noise 8 hours a day. There is a wonderful shot of the eastbound CZ in Illinois disappearing into the clouds of a steam excursion train proceeding in the other direction. The important thing is that there are at least seven films, including two made by myself, on the subject of a train that, in its original form, has vanished from American railroading.