These two films are made up of footage taken by the SP's photographers, from the 40s and 50s. The vintage footage on the first video is excellent; the second film of winter railroading is also good, but I was a bit disappointed in the lack of footage of the rescue of the City of San Francisco. More on that in a minute.

In Daylights, Cab Forwards and Early Diesels, we see many fabulous images of streamlined trains such as the Daylight, and even the Sunbeam makes an appearance. The locomotives pull both lightweight and heavyweight equipment throughout the entire SP system. Lots of nice shots of 4-8-4s and First Generation Diesels on the Salt Lake Trestle which was demolished in 1959. Nice images a two different types of Cab Forwards are seen. We also see crews performing tasks such as unlocking and using special phones to call in for orders. The show ends with images of Alco PAs pulling various passenger trains along pristine scenery.

The second film, Flangers, Spreaders and Steam Rotary Snowplows, was to me, a bit of a disappointment, but still interesting nonetheless. I bought this dvd for the anticipated footage of the rescue of the City of San Francisco. Unfortunately, there's only about 30 seconds of this significant event. The main part of the show looks at the three types of snowfighting equipment used by the SP. It starts off interesting, but soon you see similar scenes several times over again. There's very little of the equipment at trackside. Most of the footage is taken from a cab window or in a special train placed in front of the snow-fighting equipment. There also wasn't much on how these machines operate, or how the engineer operates these unique pieces of equipment. Still, there's nice images of huge plumes of snow being thrown aside, mixed in with black smoke from the snow-fighting equipment.

In addition to the trains, there's also a rare look at the Tucker Snowcats that the SP operated in its territory. That was very interesting; these vehicles looked like no snow storm could stop them.

All in all, a nice presentation. Could also have been longer, especially the part about the snowbound passenger train in Yuba Pass.

Additional remarks by Jeffrey Ornstein:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Yes.

There are 2 programs in the Southern Pacific Film Archives Combo DVD.

In Volume 1, the main content features Daylights, Cab Forwards, Additional SP Steam, and Early Diesels.

In Volume 2, the main content features Flangers, Spreaders, Steam Rotary Snowplows, January 1952 footage of the snowbound City of San Francisco, Sno-Cats, and winter action scenes.

In my opinion, I think Volume 1 is better than Volume 2 due to the fact that many locations on the Southern Pacific system are documented. Although most of the locations are in California, which is where most Southern Pacific vintage films were recorded, other states are seen briefly including Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. In Volume 2, though, the location is primarily confined to the Donner Pass Line in Northern California.

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

I found this combo package of SP archival footage to be very enjoyable. The first part focuses on images of the colorful Daylight steam trains, cab-forwards, and early diesel locos. The photography is generally excellent and all in color - recalling scenes from the 1940-50's period - the passenger trains are elegant and the freights show some interesting WWII military loads... many run-bys and fantastic scenery. The second feature concentrates on SP snow fighting equipment - mostly in the Donner Pass area of the Sierras. Beginning with a nice sequence of engineer POV footage from a cab-forward traveling east from Reno up into the snowy mountain pass - the film then goes on to show ample footage of snow flangers, spreaders, and steam powered rotary plows 'in action'. The coverage of the snow-bound stream-liner incident is minimal (barely a minutes worth) but the winter scenery and snow equipment are all very picturesque to watch... not super 'in depth' coverage but, all in all, good value in a a great two part package.

Additional remarks by R. Inwood:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Excellent!
DVD Value:: Fair.
Recommend to others? Yes.

This Southern Pacific DVD has some Great Footage of the early streamlined GS class 4-8-4's
especially at San Luis Obispo and Chatsworth Rocks. The shots of Cabforwards are good too!
Its a shame there are for me not enough photos of Steam Locos in the Snow but the Flanger
pulled by a Espee Steam Loco in the high Sierra`s is Great!

Additional remarks by Franc Wells:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: A little rough around the edges.
DVD Value: Seemed a little high, but not too bad.
Recommend to others? Not unless they REALLY were interested in the subject matter.

Very interesting footage of U.S. railroading from an operating era that will never return. Very enjoyable viewing.

Additional remarks by Mark:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Seemed a little high, but not too bad.
Recommend to others? Yes.

Great content of SP scenes, run-bys, locomotives, and operations. Excellent photography. Unfortunately, video resolution appears no better than the VHS tape. The image is too soft. It should have been re-mastered for DVD. Narrator is good.

Additional remarks by PCMC:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Poor.
DVD Value:: Fair.
Recommend to others? Yes.

There was a time about 65-80 years ago just shorly before, during, and after WWII, the Southern Pacific provides some decent action in California & Texas. Eventually Volume 1 was silent with dubbed sounds, while volume 2 has on-location sound with various crews documenting the city of San Francisco stranded in the snowbank for a week helplessly in 1952. When these 2 30 Minute programs released on VHS in 1999, they have been combined to DVD 4 Years later in 2003.

Additional remarks by Steamboy:
Narration: Could have used more.
Narration CAN be turned off in special features.
Would kids enjoy this? Maybe.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value:: Fair.
Recommend to others? Yes.