Running through the southern third of Illinois, the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line from Centralia to Metropolis, Illinois, was always a coal line. For much of its history, the coal moved on the line was mined locally and shipped to locations to the north and west. With the advent of clean air legislation and the boom of low sulfer coal from the Powder River Basin, that flow of coal reversed.

This program features action on the line filmed between 1986 and 1991, with U30C, C30-7 and SD40-2 locomotives as the main power moving western coal to Joppa, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky. Oakway SD60s, GP20s, GP30s, GP35s, GP40s, and an SD9 are also seen. In addition to coal trains, manifest freights and intermodal trains are also seen. Trains are seen in all seasons, including snow scenes.

In addition to scenes filmed at Centralia, other locations include Cravat Hill, Woodlawn, Boulder, Shattuc and Smithboro. Considerable time is also spent on Goreville Hill, the stretch of former Chicago & Eastern Illinois (now Union Pacific) between Neilson and West Vienna which includes the steep grade from Neilson to Goreville.

The Heritage Series features railroads as they were, from fallen flags to steam locomotives in excursion service that are no longer in operation today.