bump
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Yeah, seems like the real history has moved to History International which I don't get. Any my wife and I had those same discussions about the all Hitler all the time thing of a few years back.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
Let's hope that this succeeds. The alternative may be more thrilling quests for Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and the Abominable Snowman.
In general, the so-called History Channel has gone into the terlet. Maybe it overdid coverage of 20th Century wars (my wife called it the Hitler Channel), but that still beats "Ice Road Truckers," etc.
I'd enjoy some real coverage of history again.
(No offense intended if you like "Ice Road Truckers," but it really belongs somewhere besides the "History Channel."
I only made that comment about the host based on the opinions made above, not as an expression of my own opinion. I didnt' want to be misunderstood. Thanks.
The host is a conductor on the Pan Am (Guilford) and is quite knowlegble.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I'm sure it will include too little info stretched into too much time. It probably won't teach me anything I don't already know and the host may well be stupid and annoying. But I'm sure I will enjoy watching the trains anyway and the general public who knows next to nothing about trains will probably learn something, which is their goal in the first place. You didn't really expect them to make a documentary aimed specifically at the relatively small population of railfans and model railroaders did you?
Hosted by Matt Bown, a real-life conductor for Pan Am Railways, Extreme Trains (premieres Tuesday, 10 ET/PT) is the latest cable channel reality entry to go behind-the-scenes on a vital but mostly little-known industry.
Trains' eight episodes are packed with the technology, history and tough blue-collar workers that have popularized History Channel shows such as Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men.
Then there's Bown, who routinely looks and sounds like an over-caffeinated train geek, whether he's schmoozing with rail workers or getting a chance to operate the equipment. Bown, who has no prior TV-hosting expertise, got the gig after responding to an open audition call.
"Trains have been a passion of mine since I was a kid," says Bown, 35, who plays drums in a rock band when he's not on the job for Pan Am Railways, where he has worked the past decade.
The opening episode focuses on the Norfolk Southern's massive freight train carrying millions of tons of coal from the mines of western Pennsylvania over the mountains to electric plants that power homes and businesses.
Future shows will focus on America's fastest train — Amtrak's 150 mph Acela — the Ringling Bros. Circus Train and the Union Pacific's refrigerated train traveling from Washington state to New York.
For History Channel programmer David McKillop, Extreme Trains wasn't a hard sell.
"I'm a train buff," McKillop says. "I had a summer job as a conductor and a stint as a fireman on a train." But he believes the show will have wider appeal. "This isn't a niche show. It plays right to our core audience, people who love to be wowed by big machinery and fun facts. We're pretty confident we'll have a real solid performer."
Still, some railroads were initially reluctant to participate because they didn't want the show to disrupt workers, while Amtrak required the film crews to take a special safety course.
Bown says he's convinced the series will serve as a recruitment tool for the industry. "For most people, railroads are dead," he says. "People don't realize how important the rail industry is."
Should the show find an audience, there's no shortage of train stories both in the USA and abroad for subsequent seasons. And then there's Bown.
"He has a sense of authenticity and a wonderful, boyish enthusiasm," McKillop says. "When the camera's on him, he's infectious."
Milepost 266.2 I'm also not very happy with the way the history channel is watering itself down, what with all the UFO crap and idiots driving trucks.
.....and don't forget about that gawdawful "Tougher in Alaska" crap, that guy is a complete tool.
"Here in Alaska, we don't use cranes, instead, we're gonna hoist this 1200 lbs transformer up the pole on the back of 3 tough Alaskans, why, cause were in Alaska, and we're tough, after this we're going to go wrestle a bear, why? cause we're tougher in Alaska"
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Milepost 266.2 I like Mike Rowe quite a bit, and the success of Dirty Jobs is due as much to his self-effacing personality as the situations he keeps getting himself into. The Extreme Trains host just comes across as a foamer. It might be just me, though. I'm sure there are people out there who can't stand Mike Rowe. I'd rather see the show done in the format of Modern Marvels, where the host and interviewed experts guide us through each episode, rather than some guy who feels he has to take part in every little thing, but I'm a geek who likes documentaries, so my bias is showing. I'm also not very happy with the way the history channel is watering itself down, what with all the UFO crap and idiots driving trucks.
I like Mike Rowe quite a bit, and the success of Dirty Jobs is due as much to his self-effacing personality as the situations he keeps getting himself into. The Extreme Trains host just comes across as a foamer. It might be just me, though. I'm sure there are people out there who can't stand Mike Rowe.
I'd rather see the show done in the format of Modern Marvels, where the host and interviewed experts guide us through each episode, rather than some guy who feels he has to take part in every little thing, but I'm a geek who likes documentaries, so my bias is showing. I'm also not very happy with the way the history channel is watering itself down, what with all the UFO crap and idiots driving trucks.
What can I say. I agree with you 100%, Internet first. Maybe!
Magnus
LillenMilepost 266.2 Not that I want to see dry railfan video with endless meaningless stats rattled off about rivets and door panel specifications, but another Mike Rowe wanna-be isn't much (any) better. I like Mike Rowe! But lets face the music. No show that just describes the engine of F unit X will get many outsiders to watch. Not only are these programs obviously necessary for bringing in a bigger audience but without them they wouldn't even exist. But using a good looking charming man like Mike Rowe makes some TV shows watchable for the missus to since the presenter isn't a geek. It's like the Pentrex presenter. He got a good voice and actually sounds interesting. Some train shows are so exceptionally poorly presented that not even I can watch them. Even less likely will I be able to convince my wife to watch even 15 minutes of poorly presented television. If anything, getting good presenters are essential for the TV shows(of course), I like deadliest catch for example. But I can not stand it with a Swedish presenter. It just sucks and makes it sound very poor. Magnus
Milepost 266.2 Not that I want to see dry railfan video with endless meaningless stats rattled off about rivets and door panel specifications, but another Mike Rowe wanna-be isn't much (any) better.
Not that I want to see dry railfan video with endless meaningless stats rattled off about rivets and door panel specifications, but another Mike Rowe wanna-be isn't much (any) better.
I like Mike Rowe!
But lets face the music. No show that just describes the engine of F unit X will get many outsiders to watch. Not only are these programs obviously necessary for bringing in a bigger audience but without them they wouldn't even exist. But using a good looking charming man like Mike Rowe makes some TV shows watchable for the missus to since the presenter isn't a geek. It's like the Pentrex presenter. He got a good voice and actually sounds interesting. Some train shows are so exceptionally poorly presented that not even I can watch them. Even less likely will I be able to convince my wife to watch even 15 minutes of poorly presented television.
If anything, getting good presenters are essential for the TV shows(of course), I like deadliest catch for example. But I can not stand it with a Swedish presenter. It just sucks and makes it sound very poor.
Still, it looks better than another "reality" show where all the participants try to create as much tension between each other as possible, and the danger of the situation is overly hyped. I'm sure I'll check out the first episode.
Texas Zepher I just hope it isn't a typical History Channel style where they fit 15 minutes of material into an hour of repetition and commercials.
I just hope it isn't a typical History Channel style where they fit 15 minutes of material into an hour of repetition and commercials.
That is a superb description on most of those documentaries. Stating the same things over and over again.
I recently watched a show about Dinosaurs. Their is a professor on the show who is a respected researcher. He gets about 30 seconds of time in the hour show. The guy who is game on saying just anything has the less encouraging title "expert" and a name like "Dinosaur Joe" or something like that. The small parts of science that is in the show doesn't make up for the repetition and the completely absurd statements that the "expert" comes with.
When it comes to actual human history it gets even worse since that is where I'm educated and thus can see through even more of the crap they portray as science.
Texas ZepherI just hope it isn't a typical History Channel style where they fit 15 minutes of material into an hour of repetition and commercials.
No, it looks like the type of "history" channel program where it's mostly about the adventures and misadventures of the barely literate host. I watched the samples on the website, and between watching this guy drive around in a coal loader (which he described as a big ice cream scoop) and his childish demeanor during the "extreme railfans" sequence, I'm not filled with a great deal of confidence.
n2mopacwho cares. If you don't want to read a repeat thread, try ignoring it.
rrinker loathar New Haven I-5 This is like the 3rd topic on it. But, I think it is about 10:00 pm western time. Fifth this week...(but who's counting...) The new search engine only brings up 2 of the other threads. Really? I put "history channel" (no quotes) in the search box on the right and clicked Search. I found all five "Extreme Trains" posts plus a whole bunch of older ones referencing other shows. What are you people trying to search for? "history channel" makes sense to me as far as what keywords to search for in this case. --Randy
loathar New Haven I-5 This is like the 3rd topic on it. But, I think it is about 10:00 pm western time. Fifth this week...(but who's counting...) The new search engine only brings up 2 of the other threads.
New Haven I-5 This is like the 3rd topic on it. But, I think it is about 10:00 pm western time.
This is like the 3rd topic on it. But, I think it is about 10:00 pm western time.
Fifth this week...(but who's counting...) The new search engine only brings up 2 of the other threads.
Really? I put "history channel" (no quotes) in the search box on the right and clicked Search. I found all five "Extreme Trains" posts plus a whole bunch of older ones referencing other shows. What are you people trying to search for? "history channel" makes sense to me as far as what keywords to search for in this case.
--Randy
Who cares. If you don't want to read a repeat thread, try ignoring it.
If you hit this site once every 2 or 3 days you'd have seen most of the Extreme Trains posts!!
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
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- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
Tuesday night November 11th.. I didn't catch the time