again since the FW&W goes through some undulating terrain with more than a few curves in the line. Next up we visit Cresson and learn about
how fracking and frack sand play such an im- portant role in the economy here. Frack sand is transloaded into trucks for delivery to the local oil fields and accounts for a good bit of FW&W’s revenue. Onward to Godley and Cleburne we go, and
then it’s beautiful downtown Granbury on the shores of the Brazos River. The coverage of two movements over the bridge here were highlights of this DVD for me. Really a nice location and one I need to get back down to see in person. We’re treated to some great scenes in plac-
es like Teller, Stephenville, Dublin and Co- manche before, all too soon, we find ourselves back at Tower 60 where it all began. I found this to be a very enjoyable DVD with
some creative camera work and some very in- formative narration that you can switch on and off. I like how Bradley Plets takes the time to set the scene — he talks about the his- tory of the line and the motive power used, train operations, and what kind of traffic each train is carrying, and he wraps it all up with some nice lessons in Texas history. I’m happy to give this one two thumbs up.
I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of the FW&W’s west end and a little less of the BNSF and UP action, but this is just a preference and not a complaint. Now that I’m hooked, I can’t get enough of the FW&W. If you’re looking for something a bit more enjoyable than an endless stream of GE wide- cabs on your local mainline railroad, this just might be the thing for you. It’s chock full of classic EMD power in a very attractive paint scheme (along with a few gensets) and not a widecab to be found. That’s just for starters. Throw in friendly railroad crews, really nice (if not “awesome,” like “Montana awesome”) scenery, and good Texas food, music, and beer and how can you go wrong? Buy this DVD and start planning your visit to the Fort Worth & Western. — FRANK GARON
Fallen Flags in the ’90s Volume 1: CSX, NS, GTW, Conrail and Amtrak from Green Frog Productions; Neff Video Productions, 189 Wa- terbury Way, Douglasville, GA 30134; www.
greenfrog.com. DVD or Blu-ray,109 minutes, $24.95 DVD or $29.98 Blu-ray plus $7.00 do- mestic shipping (free shipping for orders over $25.00).
I feel old. I admit it. I mean, if the early 1990s are considered “historic” now, then what are the glory days of my rail- fanning youth back in the late 1970s consid- ered? The years tend to blur together as you get older, and it really took watching this title for me to realize just how
much railroading has changed over just the past 20-25 years. This very entertaining disk starts off with
a montage of Indiana & Ohio trains, followed by some Conrail, Union Pacific, Canadian National, Amtrak, EMD demonstrator, and
Grand Trunk Western action. Evidently the guys at Green Frog and Neff figured that starting out with a “shock and awe” bit of footage was the way to get things off to a rol- licking start. The first bit of actual footage shows an In-
diana & Ohio fantrip running up the former New York Central line through Springfield and on up to Bellfontaine. It’s interesting to see this formerly busy line with welded rail and signals sort of fading into the sunset. Next it’s some serious Conrail action blast-
ing through Degraff, Ohio, with widecab SD60s leading one and a standard cab SD50 leading the other. Good stuff here, and I ap- preciate how our cameraman left the camera rolling for the entire train. Your jaw will drop when you see how little graffiti there was back then. Almost none, in fact. We see a nice UP and Chicago & North Western combo on a Conrail freight, and then another shot of Mail 4 in the snow. Then it’s on to some serious Grand Trunk Western ac- tion with UP power on one train and CN pow- er leading the other. The lead unit is a former Detroit, Toledo & Ironton GP40, and the rear is brought up by a good old-fashioned red ca- boose. Remember cabooses? The “variety” dial gets turned up to 10 as
we go through the next part of this disk. Con- rail’s office car train crosses the viaduct in Sidney, Ohio, we see the street running on the former Nickel Plate mainline through Erie, Pa., and then take a quick trip to Rockville Bridge just outside Harrisburg, Pa. Two really sentimental pieces follow next.
One is the last night of Amtrak service through Lima, Ohio, and ends with the ticket agent turning out the lights and locking the door for the last time. It’s hard to watch as the former Pennsy mainline loses passenger service for good. Then we see a Conrail rail train pulling the rail up on the former Erie Dayton branch from Enon to Fairborn, Ohio. More and more good stuff follows. The
scenes of the former Monon street running in Lafayette, Ind., are great as both CSX and Amtrak roll through town trying not to hit or get hit by any of the vehicular traffic that scatters as the horns blare. Then it’s on to some fun times in Quincy, Ohio, as two GTW and one Conrail freight all try to gain control of the diamond in town at the same time. A CSX detour train rolling past the NYC tower in Cold Springs, Ohio, is another real gem, since Cold Spring was a hard place to find un- less you really knew where you were going. I could list 20 other bits of footage that I
found enjoyable but I’m hoping by now you’re seeing that this is one sweet DVD full of a wide variety of action that you are bound to enjoy. I own dozens of Green Frog and Neff Video DVDs and have never been disappoint- ed. Steady and competent camera work com- bined with informative (yet not intrusive) narration at a very fair price equals a series of titles well worth some of your railfanning dollars. This disk is the first in a series of “Fallen
Flags In the ’90s” titles and I can’t wait to pick up the other two. I have a hunch you’ll feel the same way. Buy this one now and get ready to enjoy some really classic railroad ac- tion from our not-so-distant past, a past that somehow still feels like 50 years have gone by. — FRANK GARON
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