Uploaded October 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
[Originally released on DVD in 2014]
The rugged beauty of the American West comes alive in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. From snow-covered peaks, to sheer cliffs and deep canyons containing a wealth of minerals and history, this land has been witness to a battle that has lasted for over 130 years...The battle of trains over Soldier Summit.
7idea Productions paid several visits to this former Rio Grande line and offers a stunning look at mountain railroading in the Wasatch during the fall and winter seasons. Union Pacific coal and merchandise trains are seen daily with manned helpers used on heavy westbounds. BNSF makes an appearance via trackage rights and Amtrak's California Zephyr slips through the night. The Utah Railway steals the show with their incredible power lash-ups of Morrison Knudsen MK 50-3's and six mid-train swing helpers!
Heading west out of Helper, you’ll witness trains thundering through the Price River Canyon. View trains racing through Colton as they march up the east side of Soldier Summit! See all three levels of the Gilluly Loops as we hike through this remote section of the railroad and visit the famed Thistle Tunnels. From beautiful fall weather to heavy blowing snow, our hi-definition cameras caught it all for you to enjoy in the comfort of your living room. This is mountain railroading you can see and feel!
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/soldier-summit?_pos=1&_sid=340aedc1e&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
3:10 Map
4:02 Helper
8:23 Utah Railway Junction
15:35 Castle Gate
27:45 The Heavy Grade
32:15 Nolan Tunnels
44:18 Kyune Tunnels
58:53 Colton
1:11:15 Summit
1:32:07 Gilluly Loops
1:50:14 Tie Fork
1:51:46 Detour
1:53:09 Narrows
1:57:18 Rio
1:59:43 Thistle Tunnels
2:07:00 Spanish Fork Canyon
[Originally released on DVD in 2014]
The rugged beauty of the American West comes alive in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. From snow-covered peaks, to sheer cliffs and deep canyons containing a wealth of minerals and history, this land has been witness to a battle that has lasted for over 130 years...The battle of trains over Soldier Summit.
7idea Productions paid several visits to this former Rio Grande line and offers a stunning look at mountain railroading in the Wasatch during the fall and winter seasons. Union Pacific coal and merchandise trains are seen daily with manned helpers used on heavy westbounds. BNSF makes an appearance via trackage rights and Amtrak's California Zephyr slips through the night. The Utah Railway steals the show with their incredible power lash-ups of Morrison Knudsen MK 50-3's and six mid-train swing helpers!
Heading west out of Helper, you’ll witness trains thundering through the Price River Canyon. View trains racing through Colton as they march up the east side of Soldier Summit! See all three levels of the Gilluly Loops as we hike through this remote section of the railroad and visit the famed Thistle Tunnels. From beautiful fall weather to heavy blowing snow, our hi-definition cameras caught it all for you to enjoy in the comfort of your living room. This is mountain railroading you can see and feel!
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/soldier-summit?_pos=1&_sid=340aedc1e&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
3:10 Map
4:02 Helper
8:23 Utah Railway Junction
15:35 Castle Gate
27:45 The Heavy Grade
32:15 Nolan Tunnels
44:18 Kyune Tunnels
58:53 Colton
1:11:15 Summit
1:32:07 Gilluly Loops
1:50:14 Tie Fork
1:51:46 Detour
1:53:09 Narrows
1:57:18 Rio
1:59:43 Thistle Tunnels
2:07:00 Spanish Fork Canyon
![Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 2 [Steins, NM to El Paso and the Morenci Copper Mine]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zr7D5vEaUg8/mqdefault.jpg "Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 2 [Steins, NM to El Paso and the Morenci Copper Mine]
Rolling across the American Southwest between Tucson and El Paso, The Lordsburg Subdivision has been an integral part of the Sunset Route since its rails were first spiked down in 1880. In Part 1 of this two-part series, we covered the west half of the subdivision through Arizona between Tucson and Steins.
In Part 2, we continue east to El Paso as trains race across desert of southwestern New Mexico and into the Rio Grande Valley.
At Lordsburg, Arizona Eastern’s Clifton Branch provides access to the impressive Morenci Copper Mine. We will visit this fascinating operation complete with its own railroad: the Freeport-McMoRan Industrial. Watch a quintet of non-turbocharged GP38-2’s and dash 3’s battle a five percent ruling grade out of Clifton, Arizona.
Back on the UP main line, heavy stack trains over three miles long sprint across the desert, passing old lava flows and ghost towns. We will visit UP’s busy Santa Teresa Intermodal Facility which first opened in 2014. It is an important hub linking Los Angeles with Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, and Mexico. Finally, we will cross the Rio Grande River into the west Texas town of El Paso.
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-lordsburg-subdivision-part-2
0:00 Intro
2:22 Map
5:08 Steins
12:35 Gary
20:43 Lordsburg Junction
27:27 Morenci Copper Mine
1:03:46 Lordsburg
1:08:22 County Line
1:13:49 Demming Junction
1:18:03 Dona
1:22:38 Adin
1:29:53 Lava Flow near Afton
1:33:15 Afton
1:40:45 Lanark
1:42:27 Santa Teresa
1:56:24 Rio Grand Crossing
1:59:47 El Paso")
![Donner Pass [Stacks in the High Sierras]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aIfmz6L-v3U/mqdefault.jpg "Donner Pass [Stacks in the High Sierras]
This is one of our earlier programs from 2010
For over 140 years the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California have reverberated with the sounds of hard-working locomotives of the Central Pacific, Southern Pacific and now the Union Pacific. In November, 2009 double-stack container traffic was re-routed off the nearby Feather River Canyon adding to the frequency of trains on this legendary route.
7idea Productions made three trips to Donner Pass between January and September 2010 to capture the many personalities of The Hill between Roseville, California and Sparks, Nevada. From late summer sun to blizzard conditions on the mountain, youll have a front row seat of the Union Pacific in action!
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray by visiting 7ideaproductions.com.
https://www.7ideaproductions.com/products/donner-pass?_pos=1&_sid=c3dd46f46&_ss=r
0:00 - Intro
2:05 - Map
2:57 - Roseville
6:20 - Rocklin
10:33 - Newcastle
15:52 - Auburn
16:36 - Clipper Gap
17:22 - Applegate
18:39 - Colfax
21:18 - Long Ravine
22:26 - Cape Horn
27:41 - American
35:55 - Blue Canon
37:24 - Switch 9
42:39 - Yuba Pass
44:19 - Shed 10
46:23 - Red Mountain
50:48 - Cisco Tunnel 38
54:08 - Troy
54:52 - Signal Bridge MP 189
56:22 - Norden
1:03:37 - Tunnel 41 The Big Hole
1:06:45 - Donner Snow Sheds
1:07:47 - Eder
1:10:49 - Shed 47
1:13:11 - Andover
1:18:09 - Stanford Curve
1:19:47 - Truckee
1:22:19 - Boca
1:24:39 - Floriston
1:25:51 - Reno
1:27:39 - Sparks
1:28:49 - Winter Operations")
