Trains Unlimited
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe. Immortalized by Judy Garland in MGM's classic The Harvey Girls, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe began in the dreams of one man who saw the future of transcontinental transportation and its impact on countless cities across its 11,000 miles of track.
Built for Speed
At the inception of railways, trains moved about as fast as a horse; but as speeds increased, so did man's pursuit of even faster trains! We'll examine the train's evolution from the steam to the diesel and electrical age
The Caboose
For over 150 years, a caboose followed at the end of almost every freight train. Along the way, the red cupola-topped caboose became office, warehouse, and home for the conductor and brakemen. Most held the stove and cookware for a crew far from home. Life aboard a "crummy" was filled with good times, good food, and hazardous duty!
The Circus Train
When the circus came to town, the town took a break. And in the days before movies, radio and TV, when circuses were America's favorite form of entertainment, they traveled the country on some of the most colorful trains ever built. The whistle of the circus train meant an unofficial holiday.
THE CIRCUS TRAIN is a nostalgic look at a largely-vanished icon, from the specialized cars that carried the animals to the culture that grew up around the travelling circus. See how the train made it possible to do everything from set-up to take-down in a single day. Extensive footage captures the glory day of the circus trains, when they criss-crossed the nation bringing entertainment to big cities and out-of-the-way towns alike. Discover why they disappeared in 1956, and why the "Greatest Show on Earth" returned to the rails just four years later. Meet the folks who make the modern train go, and hear from veterans of the old-time travelling circuses.
The Engineers
A profile of the "captains of the tracks", the men and women who pilot some of the most powerful machines ever built. We'll talk to locomotive engineers about the railroad's romantic past, watch them guide today's sleek super liners, and take a peek at their future.
Grand Central
New York's Grand Central has been revolutionary since Cornelius Vanderbilt first envisioned it. Combining architectural beauty with functionality, it changed the face of Manhattan, spurring mid-town development in an area then called "the end of the world." And it won a pivotal Supreme Court case to prevent its destruction!
Great Railroad Visionaries
Railroads built America into a world power, making legendary figures out of entrepreneurial men. Meet the robber barons, engineers, and inventors who made transportation history in the "Gilded Age". And, ride the rails with some of the most loved and hated men of their age--financiers Vanderbilt, Gould, and Morgan.
Great Train Disasters
Throughout railroad history, disasters lay at the heart of progress, since expansion and profit proved the main goals of management. In 1875 alone, an average of 22 train accidents happened daily; in 1890, over 6,000 people were killed. We'll examine how safety, once a secondary consideration, became a primary goal
Great Train Robberies
As railroads evolved into the chief means of transporting mail and payroll, gold and silver, a flashy and deadly criminal emerged, etching his way into the annals of transportation mythology. From America's James Gang to a London heist that netted over $5,000,000
The Locomotive
For the early engineer, the locomotive boasted an open seat, a few control arms, and an insatiable appetite for coal. Today, it's the cockpit of a computerized high-speed missile. From the Industrial Revolution's Rocket to the SD-90 poised to pull trains into the 21st century, we'll track the evolution of the locomotive
Model Railroads
Model railroads first appeared in the mid-1800s--steam-powered miniature trains fueled by alcohol and water. But Joshua Lionel Cowen changed childhood forever when he made his first electric train at the turn of the 20th century. Track the evolution of model railroads, from cast iron push-toys to today's digital masterpieces.
The New York Central: The Water Level Route
The 20th Century Limited is just a memory now. The halls of New York City's Grand Central Terminal no longer echo with cross-country travelers. We'll go back in time to the days when the New York Central battled its cross-town rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Station: Manhattan Gateway
Early in the 20th century, the most powerful rail company, the Pennsylvania Railroad, built the largest monument a corporation ever built to itself. Manhattan's Penn Station had a vaulted hall with masonry derived from the Hermae of Rome. Tragically torn down in 1965, in its 50 years it symbolized U.S. railroading's grandeur.
Power & Speed: Diesel Locomotives
Since their inception in the 1920s, diesel locomotives drove trains as electric power generated by diesel engines displaced "King Steam" in the landscape of modern railroading. We'll track the evolution of the diesel's success and look at recent innovations
Presidential Trains
Jump onboard these vehicles of hope and promise, and sometime bearers of death and despair. Ride the rails as the chief executive journeys into America's heartland. From Andrew Jackson's 13-mile joy ride to the solemn processionals of the assassinated Lincoln and Kennedy, travel with the U.S. White House on Wheels.
Railway Marvels
Though steam-powered trains were a significant invention, they couldn't move without railroads. Historians, civil engineers, and train buffs accompany us as we track the ways of the rail--from America's transcontinental railroads to the Chunnel buried 131 feet beneath the English Channel.
Railroad Police
Ride shotgun along with the folks who protect trains, passengers, and cargo on American railways. From the gunfighters in the mid-19th century, the Civil War's Pinkerton Detective Agency, to today's special agents with federal authority, they pursue the bad guys who would derail the system.
Steam Trains
Until the diesel age, trains were powered by steam, and we'll trace the steam train's 160-year history. We travel to Steamtown National Park to see these 19th-century technological wonders in action; and, visit Union Pacific's Steam Operations Division to profile #3985, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world.
Toy Trains
Model railroads first appeared in the mid-1800s--steam-powered miniature trains fueled by alcohol and water. But Joshua Lionel Cowen changed childhood forever when he made his first electric train at the turn of the 20th century. Track the evolution of model railroads, from cast iron push-toys to today's digital masterpieces
Trains in War
Examines how the great 19th-century peacetime invention developed into a powerful war machine, forever altering how, when, where, and why battles were fought. Also looks at the brave men and women who kept the military Iron Horses running, often at their own peril.
When Giants Roamed: The Golden Age of Steam
Weighing over 600 tons, carrying over 28 tons of coal and over 25,000 gallons of water, giant steam locomotives pulled mile-long trains and did the work of three regular steam engines. Before the last days of America's golden age of steam, the mournful cry of the whistle would sing from the largest beasts ever to roam the earth!
August 20, The American Streamliner
August 27, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
September 3, The Locomotive
Monday, 9-4-00, *Classroom, Great Railroad Visionaries
[ * these 6am episodes shown without commercials ]
Wednesday, September 6, *Classroom, Pennsylvania Station: Manhattan Gateway
Thursday, September 7, *Classroom, The American Streamliner
Friday, September 8, *Classroom, Grand Central Station
Sunday, September 10, Railroad Police
Sunday, September 17, When Giants Roamed: The Golden Age of Steam
September 24, Trains in War
October 8, Great Train Disasters
October 15, The New York Central: The Water Level Route
October 22, Great Railroad Visionaries
November 6, Presidential Trains
November 13, Steam Trains
November 20, Great Train Robberies
November 27, The Engineers
December 11, Built for Speed
December 18, The Caboose
December 25, Toy Trains
January 1, The American Streamliner
March 19, Presidential Trains
March 26, Railroad Police
April 2, Railway Marvels
April 9, Great Train Robberies
April 30, The Caboose
May 7, Model Railroads
May 14, The American Streamliner
May 21, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
May 28, The Locomotive
