All three July 2003 railfan trips with Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 #3985 'Challenger' are included.
Features:
Brief scenes of current day Cheyenne railroad operations
Big Boy 4004 on static display in Holiday Park, Cheyenne
4-8-4 844 two brief action scenes from 1997 Tennessee Pass tour
Review of 844 restoration work in UP Steam Shops, Cheyenne
Moving and static views of 3985 outside Cheyenne Shops
Cab tour of 3985 and cab view of 3985 backing into Shops
Sherman Hill Model Railroad Club tour - July 12 2003 - from Cheyenne to Laramie over Sherman Hill with 16 cars and NO diesels, including on-train views from leading passenger car and trackside at all seven photo runbys (four different runby locations)
Denver Post trip - July 19 2003 - lineside views at Platteville, near Terry Ranch, Speer and Nunn.
Rocky Mountain Railroad Club excursion - July 20 2003 - featuring 3985 renumbered as 3967 and fitted with smoke-deflectors for Denver to Terry Ranch (Cheyenne) excursion. Pre-departure views at Denver Union Station, extensive cab footage on board 3967 between Platteville and Greeley, then three runby locations
Total running time approximately 1 hour 2 minutes. Filmed in digital video, stereo sound, except for the two brief 844 1997 clips which are digitally remastered Hi8 video. Informative maps and narration included.
"Challenger 3985, is always a very impressive steam
locomotive - even if it impresses just pure size basis. It is a giant of a
locomotive with just so much power that one is left to quietly contemplate
what the enormous power of UP's 4000 class "Big Boys" was like. As this DVD
shows, the Challenger had 'grunt' to spare when hauling a passenger train of
a mere 16 cars over Sherman Hill. I must say that over the years, I have
seen and collected a number of videos on 3985, but this DVD takes the cake.
It's well shot with good sound. Earlier sound and vision can never compare
with today's equipment.
The beauty of video or DVD is that even if there are 'not-so-good'
sequences, the opportunity to see other sequences that are 'heaps better',
totally offsets the losses. In this recording, there are minimal
'not-so-good' sequences and the only criticism I had is that some shots were
on the 'dark' side of the train. However, I think that this may have been
more a problem of the location of the "run-by" that was selected either by
UP or the trip organizers. Never-the-less, the vision of such a awesome
locomotive leaves an impression that stays, sunny-side or not!"
(Quote from 'Grant' from New South Wales, Australia)
"I don't get a chance to get photos or videos when I run one of these (excursions) and this is the best one I have seen."
(Quote from 'Steve' - Denver, Colorado)
