Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
(Originally released in 2020)
Portland and Western’s Toledo Branch weaves through America’s premier timber producing lands in western Oregon. This backwoods railroad serves a Georgia Pacific paper mill in the small town of Toledo. Five days a week, trains make the seventy-five mile journey over the branch line between its namesake town and Albany in the lush Willamette Valley.
Part 2 of this series will focus on the east end of this former Southern Pacific branch line with an insightful combination of historic images and modern-day operations. We begin at the remote community of Summit and follow the weaving course of the Mary’s River down the east side of the heavily forested Coast Range. Aerial photography provides an amazing perspective of the more isolated portions of the branch.
EMD GP39-2’s and GP40P slug sets power trains of containerboard, wood chips, and lumber through the rugged coastal mountains. The railroad crosses numerous secluded trestles and passes graveyards of old mills with a history as rich as the beautiful scenery that surrounds it. Leaving the woods, the line traverses busy city streets and races through open farm land before meeting the Willamette River and the Union Pacific main line at Albany.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/portland-westerns-toledo-branch-part-2?_pos=1&_sid=4bb003003&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
2:46 Map
6:29 Summit
14:38 The Toledo Crawler
18:00 Blodgett
20:18 Alder
25:42 Panama Canal
29:34 Harris
35:18 Wrens
49:04 Noon
53:44 Flynn
1:00:18 Philomath
1:06:13 Conroy
1:08:56 Larson
1:11:56 Corvallis Local
1:14:56 Bailey Junction
1:26:36 Corvallis Junction
1:31:31 Ashahr
1:44:00 Willamette River Crossing
1:54:11 Albany
(Originally released in 2020)
Portland and Western’s Toledo Branch weaves through America’s premier timber producing lands in western Oregon. This backwoods railroad serves a Georgia Pacific paper mill in the small town of Toledo. Five days a week, trains make the seventy-five mile journey over the branch line between its namesake town and Albany in the lush Willamette Valley.
Part 2 of this series will focus on the east end of this former Southern Pacific branch line with an insightful combination of historic images and modern-day operations. We begin at the remote community of Summit and follow the weaving course of the Mary’s River down the east side of the heavily forested Coast Range. Aerial photography provides an amazing perspective of the more isolated portions of the branch.
EMD GP39-2’s and GP40P slug sets power trains of containerboard, wood chips, and lumber through the rugged coastal mountains. The railroad crosses numerous secluded trestles and passes graveyards of old mills with a history as rich as the beautiful scenery that surrounds it. Leaving the woods, the line traverses busy city streets and races through open farm land before meeting the Willamette River and the Union Pacific main line at Albany.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/portland-westerns-toledo-branch-part-2?_pos=1&_sid=4bb003003&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
2:46 Map
6:29 Summit
14:38 The Toledo Crawler
18:00 Blodgett
20:18 Alder
25:42 Panama Canal
29:34 Harris
35:18 Wrens
49:04 Noon
53:44 Flynn
1:00:18 Philomath
1:06:13 Conroy
1:08:56 Larson
1:11:56 Corvallis Local
1:14:56 Bailey Junction
1:26:36 Corvallis Junction
1:31:31 Ashahr
1:44:00 Willamette River Crossing
1:54:11 Albany
![Steam and Snow [Rotary OY on Cumbres Pass]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Uotv4QMNmgs/mqdefault.jpg "Steam and Snow [Rotary OY on Cumbres Pass]
Watch the Cumbres & Toltec Rotary OY in operation for the first time since 1997! In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, Rio Grande Rotary OY was brought back to life for an exciting two-day event, plowing snow between Chama, New Mexico and the summit of Cumbres Pass in Colorado.
The two-day event kicked off on February 29th with the rotary working between Chama and the New Mexico/Colorado state line, followed by a rare nighttime photo session. On March 1st, the OY battled icy drifts around Windy Point to the 10,015-foot summit of Cumbres Pass.
Two K-36 Class Mikados number 487 and 484 put on a great show of brute force against gravity lugging the OY and its classic snowplow train up the 4% grade. The San Juan Mountains thundered in a continuous eruption of steam, snow, and smoke!
Narration is limited so you can enjoy the sight (and sound) of classic Rio Grande narrow gauge equipment working in the dead of winter. If you weren’t able to see this event in person, this program is the next best thing!
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/products/steam-and-snow-rotary-oy-on-cumbres-pass?_pos=1&_sid=5ad01f809&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
3:02 Chama Yard
10:15 Rotary vs Snow Man!
12:53 Plowing Begins
15:14 The Narrows
25:10 Lobato Siding
32:43 Dalton
43:20 Second Crossing of Hwy 17
52:12 Approaching Colorado State Line
57:57 Nighttime Photo Shoot in Chama
1:00:01 Photo Line Below Coxo
1:00:28 Coxo
1:08:14 Windy Point
1:14:06 Approaching Cumbres Summit
1:19:05 Summit of Cumbres Pass")
![Across the Utah Desert [Union Pacifics Green River Sub]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/V1Lj2ooWYL4/mqdefault.jpg "Across the Utah Desert [Union Pacifics Green River Sub]
Taken from our 2013 DVD release, explore this remote and beautiful railroad main line framed by the majestic Book Cliffs between Grand Junction, Colorado and Helper, Utah.
Hike into Ruby Canyon and see Amtraks California Zephyr rolling beneath giant sandstone cliffs. Watch heavy Union Pacific coal trains climbing the grade at Thompson Cut. The scenic highlight of the route is the thirty-seven mile Cane Creek Branch near Moab that twists and winds between Arches and Canyonlands National Park.
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray by visiting 7ideaproductions.com.
https://www.7ideaproductions.com/products/across-the-utah-desert?_pos=1&_sid=018f32025&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
2:29 Map
4:29 Grand Junction
12:07 Fruita
13:55 Mack
15:58 Ruby Canyon
27:13 Utahline
32:19 Cisco
36:00 Elba
40:23 Thompson Cut
45:30 Thompson Springs
47:10 Cane Creek Branch
1:10:53 Brendel
1:11:57 Floy
1:13:47 Solitude
1:20:30 Green River
1:25:04 Desert
1:26:58 Vista
1:31:17 Woodside
1:32:09 Cedar
1:36:36 Mounds
1:38:36 Sunnyside Branch
1:47:41 Wash
1:49:31 Castle Valley
1:50:35 Savage Coal
1:53:36 Maxwell
1:55:56 Helper")
![Main Line to the Great Salt Lake! [Union Pacifics Lynndyl Subdivision]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WKWQ1MYNQkA/mqdefault.jpg "Main Line to the Great Salt Lake! [Union Pacifics Lynndyl Subdivision]
In the remote desert country of west-central Utah, a pair of steel rails provide an important connection between Salt Lake City and southern California.
Known today as Union Pacific’s Lynndyl Subdivision, this 207-mile-long territory is the northern segment of the former San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake rail line.
Although it is not one of Union Pacific’s busiest corridors, the Lynndyl Sub does offer the patient railfan a variety of trains. Intermodal trains roll to and from the ports at Long Beach. Coal trains enter off the Sharp Subdivision from Provo. Long manifest trains originate from various points such as North Platte, Nebraska, or West Colton, California. And an occasional rack train makes an appearance. In addition to through-trains, locals are busy servicing the various industry along the line powered by older EMD SD70M’s.
We will begin at the crew-change point in Milford and head north to Salt Lake City passing old ghost towns such as Black Rock and Clear Lake. The old railroad town of Lynndyl marks the junction with UP’s 88-mile Sharp Subdivision to Provo which was the original route of the LA&SL. We continue north, on what was known as the Leamington Cutoff toward a crossing of the Tintic Mountains at Boulter. The line then drops down through the Rush and Tooele Valleys to the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake.
At Smelter, Western Pacific’s main line from Northern California joins the Lynndyl Sub, adding more traffic to the mix for the final miles to Salt Lake City. We will spend some time at Grant Tower and catch Utah Transit Authority’s Frontrunner commuter trains in action and the Salt Lake City Southern makes an appearance as well.
Shot in both winter and summer, the stark contrast between the seasons adds to this amazing presentation which is our final chapter on the old Salt Lake Route.
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-pocatello-sub-part-1
0:00 Intro
4:15 Map
7:54 Milford
17:01 Murdock
22:58 Read
24:32 Black Rock
31:17 Twin Peaks Road
36:49 Cruz
40:00 Graymont Lime Plant (Bloom)
56:33 Clear Lake
1:09:57 Fort Deseret
1:13:03 Delta
1:20:02 Strong
1:22:10 Lynndyl
1:27:55 Champlin
1:29:22 Jecicho
1:33:54 McIntyre
1:37:06 Tintic
1:39:15 Boulter
1:42:15 Lofgreen
1:44:47 Faust
1:51:54 Stockton
1:55:00 Erda (Great Salt Lake and town of Tooele)
2:02:12 Great Salt Lake
2:03:22 Kennecott Smelter and Mine
2:04:27 West Garfield
2:05:33 Smelter
2:10:02 Grant Tower (Salt Lake City)
2:18:19 UP North Yard")
![Winter on Marias Pass Part 1 [Along the Flathead River to Essex]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/W_OHJ7BOz6k/mqdefault.jpg "Winter on Marias Pass Part 1 [Along the Flathead River to Essex]
Winter comes to the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana.
BNSF trains follow the frozen route of the Great Northern over Marias Pass.
Part one of this two-part series covers the western half of the line between Whitefish and Essex.
The entire program is available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/products/winter-on-marias-pass?_pos=1&_sid=9faa3245d&_ss=r
00:00 Intro/Whitefish
03:38 Halfmoon
05:33 Bad Rock Canyon
09:09 Coram
10:56 Belton
15:27 The Canyon
18:48 Nyack
22:33 Stanton Creek
23:45 Paola
26:15 Milepost 1175.1 Detector
28:02 Essex")
![BNSFs New Mexico Main Line [The Gallup Sub]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X9aaY2kPTQs/mqdefault.jpg "BNSFs New Mexico Main Line [The Gallup Sub]
[This program was originally released on DVD in 2015]
BNSF’s Gallup Subdivision cuts through a wild country etched in red rock cliffs, high mesas, and jagged black formations of ancient lava flows. Running nearly 165 miles from the Arizona border at Lupton to Belen, this former Santa Fe route through the Land of Enchantment continues to see a high volume of rail traffic.
Watch long double stacks, hot shot Z trains, coal, grain, and mixed manifests roll beneath the huge sandstone cliffs that mark the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. Thrill to the sight and sound of high horsepower diesels lugging freight over the Continental Divide and racing down the east side toward the Albuquerque Basin. Besides BNSF trains, catch Amtraks Southwest Chief racing between LA and Chicago plus the Escalante Western Railroad hauling coal to a power plant just off the main line.
Well even show you some of the last remaining semaphore signals still working on the nearby Raton Subdivision. This is modern day main line railroading through the rugged setting of the American southwest! This is BNSFs New Mexico Main Line: The Gallup Sub.
This program was shot in March of 2015.
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/products/bnsfs-new-mexico-main-line?_pos=1&_sid=3453f94b3&_ss=r
0:00 Intro
2:42 Map
4:27 Lupton
12:11 East Defiance
14:44 Gallup
18:59 Zuni
20:10 McCune
22:56 Perea
30:38 South Guam
40:35 Continental Divide
42:27 Gonzales
45:53 Thoreau
48:55 Pegs
52:01 West Baca
53:59 Escalante Western Railroad
1:00:17 East Baca
1:04:05 Mount Taylor
1:08:12 Grants
1:14:00 The El Malpais
1:17:10 McCartys
1:19:07 Laguna
1:22:23 Quirk
1:24:10 Mormon Crossing
1:27:28 Rio Puerco
1:31:28 Dalies
1:39:00 Semaphore Signals on nearby Raton Sub
1:42:04 Belen")
