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road historian (and former C&NW vice president) Chris Burger. The first four chapters are fairly short, but give a gen- eral early history of the units. Chapter 1 gets into a short history of the arrival of F-units in general on the C&NW, while in Chapter 2 we find the C&NW dieseliz- ing its passenger trains in the late 1950s, with F7s and E8s rebuilt to power the new all-electric bi-level coach fleet. Chapter 3 chronicles the F7s in suburban commuter service after another rebuild in the early 1970s. By now the F7 fleet has dwindled to 20 cab units. Chapter 4 covers the exploits of the commuter F7s in freight service on weekends when they weren’t needed on passenger runs. Much of the chapter cov- ers an incident when bad weather strand- ed a four-unit F7 set in the Twin Cities, causing a mad scramble to cover the Mon- day morning rush hour. In the late 1970s the C&NW system expanded into the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, so the railroad instituted dedi- cated inspection trains for officials to look at the railroad. Three F7s were selected to power these trains, a fleet that would ul- timately expand to five units. The bulk of the book is used for the final two chapters. Chapter 5 chronicles the beginning of the executive fleet, while we find the “presi- dential units” (now numbered 400-403 in honor of the C&NW’s famed 400 passen- ger trains) being used for all kinds of pro- motional trains in the 1980s in Chapter 6. The book is well-illustrated with nu-
merous photos, the vast majority in color. Reproduction is good, although a couple of photos printed a bit heavy. The text doesn’t bog down in minutiae but gets the job done. Diagrams show the F7s as de- livered and as rebuilt in the 1980s. All in all, it’s a good history of a fleet of famous units. — STEVE BARRY
Video Review
Tripleheader To Cumbres Pass: Chama Steam 2014 from
SteamTrainVideos.com, James Parfrey, P.O. Box 2562, Blaine, WA 98231-2562;
www.steamtrainvideos.com; DVD or BluRay, 76 Minutes. DVD $20.00 or BluRay $25.00 plus $3.00 domestic shipping. This DVD should have come with a label on the case — “Warning: watching this DVD can give you the DRG&W Narrow Gauge Blues if used im- properly.” I know this to be true be- cause upon view- ing this title I had an immediate and overwhelming de- sire to book a flight
to New Mexico to see the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic in action. The opening scene was enough to get me
hooked on the idea — the combination of ex- cellent camera work, crystal clear sound, blue skies, and not one, not two, but three former Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives under steam was one this reviewer could not ignore. If you don’t like narrow gauge steam
going into this video, you sure will coming out of it. Consider yourself warned. This very special one-day photo charter
was operated right after the C&TS closed for the 2014 tourist season last fall. K-27 463 was chosen to lead, followed by K-36 helpers 489 and 487. Each locomotive had a different whistle and slightly different exhaust sounds, and to see them live and in person must have been quite the visual and auditory overload. This DVD is the next best thing to being there, as the photo charter is shown in all its steam and sound glory in some of the nicest scenery this side (or maybe it’s that side) of the Pecos. We start out departing from the Chama,
N.M., stock pens, and right away the action begins. We see both lineside and in-cab views as the tripleheader rolls out of town. “Authen- tic” is the word of the day here as all three locomotives, all the freight cars, and the ca- boose (cabeese, actually) were relettered for the late, great D&RGW. One could be forgiv- en for thinking they somehow took a time ma- chine back to about 1955 — the restoration and attention to detail was simply that good. The footage follows the entire trip as it
steams it’s way into Colorado to Cumbres Pass and Osier. We are treated to some really atmospheric videography here — the cam- eraman has worked hard to shoot interesting (high level, low level, close up, distant, you name it) scenes that really help put the train in context with the amazing scenery. Rio Chama Bridge was the scene for one
of my favorite runbys in this DVD, and just when I thought it couldn’t get any better it did. Lobato Trestle can support the weight of only one locomotive at a time, so we get to see each locomotive uncouple and whistle off across the bridge. Great stuff here. Stateline Curve, Hamilton’s Point, and milepost 333.8 were just three of the multiple awesome runbys that follow the Lobato Tres- tle footage. The milepost 333.8 scene actual- ly gave me goosebumps as we see the train steam past us from a distance and fade be- hind a rock cut. A man would have to be dead inside not to get a bit misty-eyed at this scene. A definite highlight for sure. We next see the three locomotives arrive
at Cumbres Pass and get split up into two trains. No. 463 runs to Osier with 487 as a mid-train helper, and 489 runs to Chama. Places like Tanglefoot Curve and Windy
Point are shown in all their glory as the duo steams on. Closing footage shows the trains being switched out, another scene that could have been filmed 60 years ago. This is the second DVD I’ve reviewed by SteamTrainsVideos, and with good reason. Our good Mr. Parfrey has a great eye for put- ting the train into context with it’s surround- ings, something this reviewer really appreci- ates. Camerawork is steady and crystal clear, and sound is nothing short of amazing. You really can’t get a better quality DVD at a bet- ter price, in my honest opinion. For $20, this DVD is a no-brainer, and for just $5 more the BluRay even more so. The C&TS should certainly be on most rail-
fan’s “bucket list,” and this title shows us ex- actly why. I will certainly be looking to get out there and experience it in person after being “shocked and awed” into submission by this most-excellent DVD. I’m willing to be you will be too after viewing it. — FRANK GARON
TO HAVE YOUR NEW railroad books (except fiction), calendars, and videos considered for this column, please send review copies to RAILFAN & RAILROAD, P.O. Box 554, Andover, NJ 07821. For UPS/FedEx please send materials to RAILFAN & RAILROAD, 5 Lenape Rd. #554, Andover, NJ 07821.
Seaboard Coast Line IN FLORIDA
Seaboard Coast Line arrived in 1967 following the merger of Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line, ushering in a modern era of railroading in the southeast. From unit phosphates to Florida orange juice, from long passenger runs and special circus moves, you’ll enjoy 116 pages of quality black and white photography.
Go behind the scenes at Gary and Uceta shops. Visit charming stations and busy junctions. Witness the introduction of Amtrak and welcome back steam. Explore a bygone era in Florida railroading through the lenses of local photographers. Order your copy today!
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