Workin' on the Railroad

Just as the original hobos of the early 20th century were scorned the mainstream of society, so too are today's train riders. FREELOAD is a dive into a beggar's existence. It is a ride through America's backyard. It is a musical endeavor that feels like a drama. It is a sociological examination of the ignored.

Esteemed for its scenic beauty and respected for the difficulty of its terrain, Tennessee Pass has been a magnet, drawing railfans and photographers to Colorado's mountains for years. When word spread that Union Pacific was closing the pass in 1997, interest climbed to an all-time high. Along with visitors from throughout the world, Pentrex traveled to this revered line to document its final months of operation. Our efforts were rewarded with a high volume of movements and an outstanding mix of trains. The grit of heavy-haul railroading is an awesome sight. Coal trains slug it out on the 3 percent grade leading to the 10,000-foot summit. Colorado's highest snow-capped mountains loom over toiling freights. Squealing flanges echo off canyon walls as trains grind through serpentine curves, and past the raging waters of the Arkansas River.

The most complete and comprehensive collection of railroading films ever compiled on any subject - the Anthony DeRosa collection on the Great Northern. Shot in 8mm color film over a 40 year period, this collection covers the GN route from Seattle to Superior. This will be a stunning series of videos that brings you rare and spectacular scenes that you have never scene before. Volume II covers the diesel locomotives that are common to everyday use across the vast Great Northern system, including Northern Pacific and SP&S diesel power. You'll also see GN's mighty electrics!

Donner Pass – the name evokes daunting obstacles with good reason. Steep grades and seven months a year of winter weather put a railroad's resources to the test. Yet the need to transport goods over the Sierras produces a nonstop parade of trains over this famous line, and that was especially true in 1988 when Video Rails captured incredible Southern Pacific action over Donner Pass. Starting at the classification yards in Roseville, California, you'll follow Southern Pacific's trains up and over "The Hill." SP's 6-axle SD40s, SD40T-2s, SD45s, and SD45T-2 tackle 138 miles of up to 2.4 percent grades. Up to 11 units are needed for the climb. The standard arrangement for these 10,000-ton trains is 4 by 6, with four engines leading and 6 mid-train helpers, but you'll also see long trains with six units leading, six mid-train helpers, and an end-of-train helper.

Climbing gently from the tidewater ports near Portland, Oregon is the Columbia River Gorge'a wide, flat-water river passage that provides access to the inland agricultural regions of Washington and Oregon and divides the two states along most of their border. It is a spot of unparalleled beauty that hosts two railroad lines: BNSF to the north and Union Pacific along the southern shore. In Columbia River Gorge Volume I: BNSF's Fallbridge Subdivision, Pentrex explored the BNSF side of the Gorge, heading east from Vancouver, Washington to the arid desert mountains near the John Day Dam. Now, in Volume 2, we jump across the river to head back west toward Portland following Union Pacific's Portland Subdivision.

The most complete and comprehensive collection of railroading films ever compiled on any subject - the Anthony DeRosa collection on the Great Northern. Shot in 8mm color film over a 40 year period, this collection covers the GN route from Seattle to Superior. This will be a stunning series of videos that brings you rare and spectacular scenes that you have never seen before. Volume 1 covers the iron ore operations, including the mines and ore docks, from Kelly Lake to Allouez, St. Paul, and Superior. You'll see the mighty N-3 class 2-8-8-0's in action.

An unexpected speeding freight train ploughs into the film crew, a camera assistant is struck and killed by the locomotive. The film's director is subsequently charged with criminal trespass and involuntary manslaughter. An Australian crime author starts to dig and an exhaustive three-year investigation ensues, uncovering shocking new evidence of cover up, collusion and corruption.

The film explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich and the construction of the new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker’s window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history and its replacement with total security.

Year-round Metal Enjoyment explores the New England origins of North American freight train graffiti, tracing the narratives of several members of the prolific YME and Circle T crews, and giving unparalleled access into the fastest growing subculture in the graffiti movement. Challenged by the illegal nature of their passions, dangerous locales, and the pressures of a society that will not accept or understand them, these artists reveal what drives them to return, time after time, to execute their artwork on a canvas that is forever changing, moving and vanishing into oblivion. Both snapshot of a fading history and love-letter to the trains themselves, Year-round Metal Enjoyment captures the voices, faces and thoughts of artists, railfans and train-workers alike, while showcasing the unlikely beauty of the trains in their environment.

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Several films have been made about the lives of train hobos, but Aleksi Pohjavirta's A Good Day to Die is probably the first Finnish documentary on the subject. The film follows Billy, who travels in a pump on freight trains. In the way of life, the feeling of freedom and letting yourself be carried away by chance are attractive and they make the train bomb strive for a windy ride again and again.

This is the incredible story of the men and equipment that battle the long cold winter months against the impossible odds to keep this historic mountain pass open! You'll see the Legendary Snowfighters of Donner Pass in action as they struggle against the winter fury of the High Sierras. This amazing story shot with the full cooperation of the Southern Pacific, bringing you the spectacular footage that takes you directly to the front lines of The Battle for Donner Pass!

Tracing the eastern banks of the upper Mississippi River is BNSF’s St. Croix Subdivision, a mostly double-tracked route providing access for a nonstop parade of traffic from La Crosse, Wisconsin to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Pentrex takes you across the entire sub in the late 1990s, filming throughout the seasons to bring you a unique perspective on this important, busy line. Starting at the Grand Crossing diamond in La Crosse, where BNSF crosses Canadian Pacific trackage, we follow intermodal, coal, grain, taconite, manifest, and other trains along the shores of the Mississippi. Bald Eagles are seen circling overhead, boats ply the waters, and train whistles echo off the surrounding bluffs.

See the Union Pacific fight and win as it takes on the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon - the toughest challenge UP faces! Loaded with spectacular cab rides, Volume II hits all the highlights of this dramatic mountain district from La Grande to Hinkle. Scale the Blue Mountains from La Grande through Hilgard and Motanic to the summit at Kamela. Ride the cab of a new GE Dash 8. Get an engineer's view from a helper set on the rear of a UP freight. Experience Meacham Creek Canyon, the Umatilla River, Pendleton, and much more all in this exciting video!