For me this DVD was completely refreshing and satisfied my appetite for a good railroad video. I've always been fascinated with the DM&IR since I became acquainted with it. This DVD gave me what I like in that it had the essentials of trains and railroad infrastructure in a remote setting but with an emphasis on the reason for the DM&IR's existence. No one has said it better in my opinion than the author of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range chapter in the book "RAILROADS you can model" edited by Mike Schafer for Kalmbach Books, copyright 1976 wherein the author writes "'The Missabe Road' can be explained by the awe-inspiring appeal of a railroad that literally manufactures transportation -- by hauling its prime commodity, iron ore, with single-minded devotion and purpose." The author goes on to say that "there may be no more visually impressive operation in all of railroading than the delivery of ore to giant docks and the..." loading of that ore onto boats of gigantic proportions. This DVD did not cover the dock operations but it did give the viewer a peak into the processing of iron ore into taconite pellets. The T-Birds were dedicated trains from the Thunderbird mine to the Fairlane pellet plant. These operations were owned by Ford motor Company at the time (if I heard correctly) hence the name "T-Birds" for the trains. This focus on this small part of the DM&IR system made the DVD exceptional in my opinion. I highly recommend this DVD to ANYONE who loves trains and what they do!