Challenger Goes East DVD
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Challenger Goes East highlights some of the eastern territory covered by Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" number 3985 as it heads for Clinchfield country to do the Santa Train. This video shows 1992 footage that is just being released on DVD in 2012, and shows several trips of the largest engine in the world. First we see two- camera coverage of the Louisville to Cincinnati segment along the former Louisville and Nashville (The Short Line as it was called), route. 3985 is pulling a medium sized train with no diesel helper. From KC Tower in Covington(Across from Cincinnati), the train continues east along the former Chesapeake and Ohio railroad toward Huntington, and we chase it about as far as Maysville where it continues in the dark. Next we are back several days later and see the Challenger made-up as Clinchfield 676 heading down the Big Sandy Subdivision of the C&O to connect to the Clinchfield Railroad, and operate along that line down to Kingsport, Tennessee. After the Santa Claus train(See in another video "Santa's Challenger"), there was a short trip with 676 on a rainy day north of Kingsport. Later we catch Union Pacific 3985 on its homeward journey from Cincinnati, Ohio to Seymour, Indiana on the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Union Pacific and CSX cooperated on this monster trip, and its unlikely one will see this again. There is a wide variety of interesting locations and its all shot on broadcast video equipment, and two days of it with two camera coverage. This was the last articulated locomotive to operate east of the Mississippi river since N&W 1218 was last operated in 1991. Sometimes trips like these in the past are far better than current operations.