Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD
4.6 of 5 (10)

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD Pentrex SFMERGE-DVD 748268004650

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Step back to September 21, 1995, Santa Fe's last full day of independent operations before its merger with Burlington Northern. Days prior to that milestone, Pentrex set out on an odyssey across America's heartland to document the final chapter of this historic railroad. Two videos resulted which have now been combined on one new DVD, bringing you the full story of this great adventure.

Across the Heartland - Santa Fe's Chillicothe Subdivision
Stretching from the greater Chicago area to Fort Madison, Iowa lies the Chillicothe Sub, a double-tracked ribbon of rail that was home to Santa Fe's hottest trains. We'll take you back to the Chillicothe Sub as it was in 1995, just days before Santa Fe's merger with the Burlington Northern. Flashy Warbonnets leading high-speed trains are seen at favorite spots such as McCook Junction, Streator, and Edelstein Hill-the line's most famous location. There are great scenes at Galesburg and Cameron where Santa Fe and Burlington Northern tracks cross over one another and more drama at Fort Madison where trains are seen crossing the Mississippi River on the railroad's impressive bridge there. From urban sprawl through lush, green croplands, this was Santa Fe action at its very best.

Countdown to Merger - Santa Fe's Marceline Subdivision
Six days prior to the merger with Burlington Northern, Pentrex set off to record the last moments of Santa Fe's independence by tracing the action on the Marceline Sub from Fort Madison, Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri. Facing sunshine and rain, trekking across isolated backwoods hills and through river valleys, we relentlessly sought out the best photo locations along the double-tracked line. Overhead bridges offered excellent views of Santa Fe's hottest trains. Thirty miles of joint operations with Norfolk Southern provided plenty of excitement as trains from both roads raced over the line. On September 21, 1995, Santa Fe's last full day, we view the single-tracked Missouri River Bridge and head into Kansas City to reach the end of the Marceline Sub-and the end of an era.

DVD Special Feature:

Chapter Menus provide instant access to program segments.

2 Hours 49 Minutes
In Color with Stereo Sound and Narration
Full-screen (4x3) Format
No region code; can be played in any NTSC DVD player worldwide
Packaged in Sturdy Vinyl Clamshell Case
ISBN: 1-56342-182-8
UPC: 7-48268-00465-0

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TVD Price:	$ 23.95
List Price:	~~$ 29.95~~
Live Stock Status:	IN STOCK!
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DVD Item#:	SFMERGE-DVD
Runtime:	2 Hours, 49 Mins ($0.14/min)
Producer:	Pentrex
Aspect Ratio:	Full Screen
DVD UPC:	748268004650
Shrink Wrapped?:	Yes
Disc Type:	DVD
Region Code:	0 Worldwide NTSC

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

rrvideoman on 2008-01-25 10:40:29.

People who found this review helpful: 5

4 of 5

This is a video that I classify as a "Point A to Point B" video on one main line railroad. Chicago to Fort Madison to Kansas City. These types of videos are always very interesting. The vast majority of the power belongs to one railroad, the Santa Fe in this case, with the addition of some Norfolk Southern near the end.
We follow the route from the urban sprawl of Chicago through the rural country side, past farms and small towns and end in the urban sprawl of Kansas City.
From Chicago to Carollton Missouri, I was very impressed with the making of the video. The region to Carollton is well covered. Noted was how the landscape changes a few times along the way. From wide, open flatlands, to the river valleys to hills and again to the open country side, back to river valleys. At this point, I felt that a rating of 9 out of 10 was well deserving. However, from Carollton Missouri on, I got the impression that the producers got into a hurry to finish up with the video. Only a couple of stops are made from here to Kansas City. There also seems to be less emphasis on Kansas City as compared to Chicago. I found the last 20 minutes or so of Part # 2 - Countdown to Merger to be disappointing. An extra 15 minutes of video, more time at the bridges, espescially the crossing of the Missouri River would have been beneficial and really added to a fine production up to Carollton.
One other thing that I noted was that many times the Pentrex narrator used phrases like "we can only assume that..." or varations of it. It's like the narrator is admitting a lack of knowledge without wanting to say just that, and wants to continue talking. This has been noticed in other Pentrex videos as well, but is very apparent in this video. The result is that I did lower my rating for the video, and felt that a 7 rating was generous.
I'm not disappointed for making the purchase of this video. It's just that it's not in my top 25 favorates of my collection. I have no problems with recommending it to anyone. Enjoy.

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

Harold L. White (Marietta,South Carolina) on 2014-02-14 10:01:35.

People who found this review helpful: 4

5 of 5

Yes: I have watched the DVD to let you know on the second Santa Fe Countdown to Merger video I am the inbound Conductor turning the responsibilities of the train over to the Fort Madison to Kansas City crew. Thank You for having it available. Harold L. White, Retired Conductor Train Manager.

Additional remarks by Harold L. White:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Definitely!
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? Definitely.

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

Texas Hi-Railer (West Texas) on 2011-09-07 10:35:58.

People who found this review helpful: 4

We have verified that this reviewer has purchased this item from Train Video Depot because this reviewer is a member of our loyalty program and was signed in when they purchased the item and when they left the review.

5 of 5

Absolutely loved this DVD collection! If you're a Santa Fe fan, then this DVD is a "Must Have" for your collection. It covers the Santa Fe in the final weeks of operation just before the merger with Burlington Northern and is jam-packed with the beautiful Red/Silver and Blue/Yellow Warbonnet locomotives. It covers areas of the old Santa Fe lines that most have never seen, as well as old Santa Fe terminals and bridges that are still in operation today, even though the railroad is now the BNSF Railroad. You will love this video with its show of more Santa Fe motive power than I have ever seen in any other Santa Fe video? I highly recommend this collection and I promise you will be glad you added this DVD to your railroad library! It truly is a great video in my opinion!

Additional remarks by Texas Hi-Railer:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

Bill S (Houston TX US) on 2021-02-05 18:13:04.

People who found this review helpful: 2

4 of 5

A long time ago l had Countown to Merger on VHS. l wanted better picture quality and the Heartland program, so l got this DVD. Unfortunately, picture quality is not much better than the VHS. Seems that RR videos are not as good quality as Hollywood movies made in the same era. Narration is great, typical of all Pentrex videos. With the length of both programs, you get a great amount of MPD(Minutes per dollar)with this one.

Additional remarks by Bill S:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: A little rough around the edges.
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

chris collins (fletcher north carolina) on 2017-11-07 21:06:45.

People who found this review helpful: 2

5 of 5

I haven't done any reviews on trainvideodepot for two years so I thought I do it again with the santa fe combo dvd by pentrex this dvd show cases some of the last action of the santa fe before they merged with the Burlington northern to form the now famed BNSF railway the first show across the heartland shows the Chillicothe Subdivision from Chicago to Fort Madison Iowa and countdown to merger traces the last six before the merger picking up from fort Madison Iowa to Kansas city Missouri Norfolk southern is also featured this video features the beautiful santa fe red and silver warbonnet and yellow and blue locomotives and scenery that you will enjoy and a nice look back at the santa fe as one of America's favorite railroads

Additional remarks by chris collins:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

trackside (Missouri) on 2014-06-25 19:30:46.

People who found this review helpful: 2

5 of 5

Typical excellent Pentrex videography. Good railroad scenery passing through small rural towns from Chicago to Kansas City which don't receive a lot of fanfare. Various types of freights are headed by new and old colorful lash-ups. The action is high speed over the level farm country route. Even nice to see some trains on rainy days, something that is not often filmed. Glad Pentrex covered this route as it's hard to get to since it's off the beaten path. One of Pentrex's best.

Additional remarks by trackside:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

Steamboy (Revere MA US) on 2018-02-11 06:30:49.

People who found this review helpful: 1

4 of 5

All good things from the golden years must come to a painful end. Railroading in the '90s was a huge pain for various disappointments. From Amtrak's discontinuation of some routes in the west and southern new england to cape cod in the east, to the last run of mainline steam on NS & CSX, Rio Grande on the Tennessee Pass line in Colorado, and also for well known fallen flag paint colors, Conrail, Burlington Northern, Chicago & Northwestern, Southern Pacific, and the main railroad in this nearly 3 hour video, the AT&SF. Today, Union Pacific have re-painted the fallen flag units since the last surviving C&NW units are now forced to be in Union Pacific Paint.

Additional remarks by Steamboy:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

mitcho (California) on 2014-05-14 16:15:31.

People who found this review helpful: 1

4 of 5

Very nice video wish they had talked more on the Merger and how it came about!

Additional remarks by mitcho:
Narration: Could have used more.
Would kids enjoy this? Yes.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value:: Fair.
Recommend to others? Yes.

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD

GamerKeags_YT (VA) on 2022-12-25 10:00:52.

5 of 5

As someone who loves the Santa fe it is absolutely awesome

Additional remarks by GamerKeags_YT:
Narration: Just enough.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value: Excellent Value!
Recommend to others? A "Must Have"!

Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD 4.6 of 5 (10)

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Santa Fe Combo - Across the Heartland The Chillicothe Sub & Countdown to Merge - Pentrex DVD
4.6 of 5 (10)