Another excellent production by Charles Smiley. I knew very little about the Southern Pacific before purchasing this movie. True to format, Charles Smiley does a fine job with explaining everything from the engine types - EMD, GE, Baldwin Alco's etc, including the trials of German built power; numbers owned, paint schemes, etc...
There are other Railroads as well -- California & Western, North Western Pacific, Pacific Lumber Comp, UP and more. Locations are primarily in California, and Oregon.
There is a visit to a lumber mill where the logs are actually being sawed, and lumber sorted. See lumber trains, intermodal and piggy back, general manifests as they conquer grades reaching well over 3%. In Sacarmento, there is a visit to the railway shops where engines are being re-built. Donner Pass makes an appearance, and what would Donner Pass be with out snow? It's included.
There is some music accompliment, but not to much. It does not over shadow the narration. Charles Smiley and all the photographers who put this movie together needs to be highly praised for a fine job of presenting the History and Education of one of the great Fallen Flags.

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SP When..this is another great Charles Smiley video. The narration is on par with his other offerings. This dvd includes great views of some fairly rare sights..the Daylight e's,the usual is covered too the Bay Area and the Martinez area. look at the good and bad there is alot of narration in his videos. Good part is its not filled up with very wrong sounding loco's. Listen and you just might learn something.
Wrap it up very informative. Nice vintage scenes. All SP fans should have this in their library

Additional remarks by minasmorgul8201:
Narration: A little bit too much.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

I think Charles Smileys video's are probably the best for information and sound.

Additional remarks by Uncle-Curly:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Yes.

Nice work. There is many interested engines ( FM`s, SD`s, GP`s....

Additional remarks by Johan K:
Narration CAN be turned off in special features.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

I saw this video being played in a local hobby shop and was really drawn to the late F unit and early Amtrak scenes. The store didn't have any left so I got a copy on-line and was anxious to view the entire program. I have always been a fan of the Espee and this program takes you back to a time when it was unimaginable that the road could disappear. There's a chapter devoted to the last of the cab units but I still could have used more. Most of the California system, including Bay Area commute action is covered and the Northwestern Pacific is shown extensively, however the Sunset Route is not included at all. Fans of the high-hood GP9's and SD9's will be very satisfied. Overall, there will be something for every Espee fan to love.

Additional remarks by Zephyrus:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Definitely.

A fantastic look at the Southern Pacific when it was an independent railroad. The old film may not be up to modern standards, but that's easy to forgive when the lens is aimed at Alco PAs, Trainmasters, and Black Widow -schemed Geeps. I also appreciated the (too-infrequent) shots of Baldwin switchers and first-generation Alcos like the RSD-5s.

I would have appreciated more coverage of St. Louis South-Western (Cotton Belt) and the special lettering/numbering of T&NO (the SP in Texas).

This film gave great coverage to the Black Widow scheme and to the Bloody Nose scheme of the 1960s. But I wish there had been more of the "Tiger Stripes" scheme used by switchers and some road units.

If you like your rail videos to feature locos and trains in their natural state--dirt, grime, and wear-and-tear, this one's for you!