This is a description of the whole DVD program available at www.cspmovies.comas item number D-121
See the historic 1970 formation of Burlington Northern. See great vintage trains of Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Chicago Burlington & Quincy and the Spokane Portland & Seattle from the 50s into the 70s. We bring the history of the “James Hill Lines” and how he reshaped the northwest. See the steam to early diesel transition of these lines.
Follow the career of Chicago Burlington & Quincy’s, Ralph Budd. His early years as a design engineer made him one of the industry’s greatest innovators. He was the youngest railroad president when earlier he took charge of the GN as he was also a sharp businessman.
Follow the early passenger Ralph Budd-inspired Zephyrs, the California Zephyr plus passenger and freight trains of the CB&Q, GN and NP. Visit Chicago, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and more locations with passenger and freight. We offer a special section of the “Inside Gateway” line jointly operated by the BN & WP.
To quote Model Railroad News, “The story is epic… plan to watch it several times…”.
To quote Railfan & Railroad, “This program, as all others Smiley has done, Contains a wealth of content requiring more than one sitting to digest fully. The maps are excellent, the corporate story-telling first rate.
FILMING CREDITS…. George Barnes, Joe Blackwell, Mark Cooper, Darrel Dewald,
Bob Finan, Bo Golson, Patrick Howat, Theodore Jocelyn
P. Wm. Landgraf, Eugene Lile, Gary McClain, Grant Oakes,
John Petros, Tim Saltzman, Joe Swenson.
source
I had this DVD years ago as a kid, it's one of the reasons why I love the Burlington Northern!
I liked there green color. Today there grain hopper cars look like there rusted with there dull paint. Another thing you don’t see in these videos is all the graffiti
Great video! Had the DVD.
20:23 that is the old Depot in Minneapolis not the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul
I have this….on VHS.
Great looking video, but the trailer doesn't mention the BN+Frisco acquisition.
I've always found if peculiar that the SP&S was an Alco holdout despite the fact that its owners were solidly in the EMD camp.
Orange and black beats green and black any and every day of the week! 😉
Funny how it is, these days, I even miss the BN and Conrail, go figure….😆😂
The 5632 was not scrapped. It is on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado.
Great video
Was it really necesssary to go back to Teddy Roosevelt's administration to tell the story of the 1970 merger?
There problem was when they merged with the SF in the 90s they became a Nasty Corporation I worked for them then!
He says that "most railroads were in good shape by war's end". That may have been true financially. But they were certainly worn out physically by war traffic added to much deferred maintenance due to the Great Depression.
Like his other video in the California Zephyr story, he got the direction reversed. East to West is logically the best.
Charles Smiley is the Goat of rail videos. My opinion.
In a way, he never answered his own title. But it's alright.
Well done video. Learned a lot.
This was a cracking video of a great, majorly influential railroads history! I love this kind of history and as an Australian, it’s a great way to learn about the background of American railroads!
Thank you for posting this!
super great video bro ❤❤😍😍
Life without YouTube ads. Imagine the possibilities.
Thanx for the history lesson. I wish that BNSF after the merger had gone with the BN green and black color scheme or one of the Santa Fe schemes rather than the terrible pumpkin color scheme.
35:30 whatever the name of this music track is i adore it especially in the ending of milw scrapbook
Money?
I seriously can't stand the narrator's voice. I'm sorry. 😂
I miss that old green BN livery. I am always stoked when I see an old BN car that hasn't been repainted.
An often overlooked suburb of Chicago, I was so happy to see old footage of my hometown rails in Clarendon Hills, IL at the 29:15 mark.
Burlington Northern is – and continues to be a PLAGUE on the face of American railroading. I would never have believed those jerks would have been allowed to subsume the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe – but it's done, thanks to the meddling of the United States Congress.
75 yrs in stpaul…got to watch/ play in GN and NP yards along rice st.window washer on 1st national Bank bldg,33 stories tall,washed louis hill jr.windows 52 wks a year…even-25°,🥶❄️🌬️…he was 5 ft 4" & nicest guy in St Paul 👋
Thanks! I worked two summers in the CB&Q Havelock shops as a Carman's Helper, a"Car Toad" in Q talk., and rode the Zepher from Hastings, NE to New York in 1966, and Hastings to Oakland, CA in 1969. Pullman all the way, and the bar car was great!
A fascinating account A thoroughly enjoyable history lesson in a subject about which I previously knew very little.
Truth be told Northern Pacific should've been left out of the Northern Lines merger. NP had bond issues which would haunt BN. GN+Milwaukee+SP&S+CB&Q should have been the merger. Then they could've scrapped Milwaukee's Pacific Extension from Judith Gap, MT to Renton, WA.