Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
7idea Productions takes you on a winter journey through Marias Pass! This spectacular mountain railroad skirts the southern boundary of Glacier National Park in Montana.
From Whitefish, travel east on BNSF’s Hi Line Subdivision as trains traverse the icy canyons along the Flathead River. Visit the iconic Izaak Walton Inn and maintenance of way yard at Essex. This is the base where snow fighting equipment is kept on hand for the annual war against snow. We will see spreaders and vintage Great Northern snow dozers at work keeping the line clear.
Avalanches are a constant hazard and we will take you into the heart of the snow shed district, from both trackside and the air, as trains battle the 1.8% climb to the Continental Divide. Unit grain, crude oil, intermodal, and several mixed manifest trains ply the rails daily, along with Amtrak’s Empire Builder.
Watch trains crest the top of the pass while gale force winds whip up the snow. On the east side, forests give way to open prairies as trains pass the classic GN station at Glacier Park and on to Spotted Robe. This is the perfect combination of big trains and beautiful mountain scenery in winter! Bundle up for Winter on Marias Pass!
Shot in beautiful 4K!
2 Hours 23 Minutes
7idea Productions takes you on a winter journey through Marias Pass! This spectacular mountain railroad skirts the southern boundary of Glacier National Park in Montana.
From Whitefish, travel east on BNSF’s Hi Line Subdivision as trains traverse the icy canyons along the Flathead River. Visit the iconic Izaak Walton Inn and maintenance of way yard at Essex. This is the base where snow fighting equipment is kept on hand for the annual war against snow. We will see spreaders and vintage Great Northern snow dozers at work keeping the line clear.
Avalanches are a constant hazard and we will take you into the heart of the snow shed district, from both trackside and the air, as trains battle the 1.8% climb to the Continental Divide. Unit grain, crude oil, intermodal, and several mixed manifest trains ply the rails daily, along with Amtrak’s Empire Builder.
Watch trains crest the top of the pass while gale force winds whip up the snow. On the east side, forests give way to open prairies as trains pass the classic GN station at Glacier Park and on to Spotted Robe. This is the perfect combination of big trains and beautiful mountain scenery in winter! Bundle up for Winter on Marias Pass!
Shot in beautiful 4K!
2 Hours 23 Minutes
![Trains Below Sea Level! [Union Pacifics Yuma Sub]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BMi9tPk6Bk4/mqdefault.jpg "Trains Below Sea Level! [Union Pacifics Yuma Sub]
Join us for this fantastic adventure over Beaumont Hill and along the Salton Sea!
Running nearly 200 miles between Colton, California and Yuma, Arizona, the Yuma Subdivision is a part of the former Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route, which today serves the Union Pacific as an important rail corridor. It is part of the second Transcontinental Railroad built in the late nineteenth century connecting southern California with Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico.
The Yuma Subdivision is a diverse piece of railroad with steep mountain grades and high-speed desert running. It climbs over Beaumont Hill through San Timoteo Canyon, and drops down along the shore of the Salton Sea at an elevation of 204 feet below sea-level. It races over the arid desert to a meeting with the Colorado River at the Arizona State line.
This busy piece of railroad is mostly double-tracked, seeing a number of high priority intermodal trains along with manifests traveling to and from West Colton Yard. Long stack trains with both DPU and manned helpers out of Indio dig in for the climb over San Gorgonio Pass.
This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-yuma-subdivision
0:00 Intro
2:44 Map
5:44 West Colton
15:23 Colton Diamond and New Flyover
23:40 Redlands
26:58 Ordway
31:41 El Casco
41:49 Hinda
49:50 Beaumont
53:40 Apex
55:37 Robertson
1:00:00 San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farms
1:02:23 Palm Springs [Garnet]
1:12:49 Indio
1:17:32 Coachella
1:20:35 Mecca
1:26:24 Salton Sea
1:29:02 Mortmer
1:30:43 Eagle Mountain Railroad Grade
1:35:51 Bertram
1:39:58 The Niland Geyser at Wister
1:43:07 Niland
1:48:42 Regina
1:54:54 Vipers vs Train
1:56:33 Mesquite
1:59:12 Imperial Sand Dunes
1:59:31 Glamis
2:02:09 Clyde
2:05:41 Cactus
2:11:57 Araz
2:13:32 Winterhaven
2:16:17 Yuma")
![Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 1 [Tucson, AZ to Steins, NM]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DK4cJwXvw6E/mqdefault.jpg "Union Pacifics Lordsburg Sub Part 1 [Tucson, AZ to Steins, NM]
Today’s Union Pacific trains roll through the desert country of the American Southwest on a three hundred mile journey between Tucson and El Paso. As part of the legendary Southern Pacific’s Sunset Route through Arizona and New Mexico, it is known as the Lordsburg Subdivision. This double-track main line connects ports in southern California with eastern destinations like New Orleans, Chicago, and Houston, as well as, south of the border into Mexico.
In part 1 of this two-part series, we will cover the western half of the subdivision between Tucson and Steins near the New Mexico state line. Trains crest four different summits including Mescal, Dragoon, Railroad Pass, and Steins Pass west of Lordsburg.
Monster stack trains over three miles in length are common on the Lordsburg Sub. There are plenty of mixed manifest and unit grain trains to keep things interesting. This is also the route of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited which makes a tri-weekly run over the line.
In addition to main-line traffic, we will visit the San Pedro Valley Railroad at Benson and the Arizona Eastern which serves the large Morenci Copper Mine near Clifton.
This program was shot in April 2024
Available on DVD and Blu-ray at 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-lordsburg-subdivision-part-1
0:00 Intro
2:30 Map
5:28 Tucson
11:47 Vail
26:17 Cienega Creek
39:56 Pantano
51:42 Mescal
1:05:07 Benson
1:11:35 Fenner
1:14:11 Sibyl
1:17:30 Dragoon
1:22:25 Apache
1:29:07 Cochise
1:29:50 Wilcox
1:40:28 Raso
1:41:41 Bowie
1:51:20 Karro
1:52:52 Steins")
![Arizona Copper Mine Railroad [Freeport McMoRan Industrial]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DdZAEgyspEY/mqdefault.jpg "Arizona Copper Mine Railroad [Freeport McMoRan Industrial]
A unique collection of diesel locomotives power trains over a 5% grade in Arizonas Morenci Copper Mine. The Freeport McMoRan Industrial serves the copper mine and interchanges with the Arizona Eastern out of Lordsburg, New Mexico.
This program is part of our series on Union Pacifics Lordsburg Subdivision which is also available on Youtube, DVD and Blu-ray. Visit 7ideaproductions.com. https://www.7ideaproductions.com/collections/frontpage/products/union-pacifics-lordsburg-subdivision-part-2")
