Just like Numbers we need a realistic TV show about railroads.

[TracksideFan]

Hey trainmanj and mehrlich,

That Trackside host is just a happy, enthusiastic kind of guy who just happens to work for free. I've threatened to tape his eyebrows down when he turns it up a notch but to no avail...

Ken Brown
Producer: Trackside

[ValleyX]

I remember watching Supertrain. You must have been one of the other two viewers.[(-D]

Soap opera-type show about Amtrak would be depressing now, all full of people wondering what they're gonna do if. . .

[Anonymous]

Does it have to be realistic? What about a y2k version of "Supertrain"? How about a futuristic sythesis of neo-retro-railroading in the vein of a "Logan's Run", "Soylent Green", and "Silent Running"? What about a sci-fi series on a parallel universe where modern steam is still king?

Remember the old Spielberg movie "Duel" about the mysterious psychotic truck(er) chasing Dennis Weaver all over desert California? We could have a railroad version where an old Alco is always chasing a Metro around the Rust Belt.

We could have a take-off of "Lost" in which a motley collection of survivors of an Amtrak cra***ry to survive in the American Outback.

Maybe they could make a series out of "Runaway Train" in the vein of "24".

We could have a realistic take-off of "The Grapes of Wrath", except it would be based in Montana, and the "Joads" lose their co-op elevator to evil BNSF thugs ("No kin of urine are a gonna grow no more wheat 'round here") who tear up their branch line, and they collect what's left of their family and head to the promised land of the Powder River Basin, where it is rumored railroads are still being built, but when they get there they find it's all a big scam, and they have to take jobs polishing the dinosaurs at that park in Rapid City, then they hear that Nebraska co-ops are getting competitive rail rates and they head down there and try to start up their own co-op in the Sand Hills, but the locals chase off the "Montanies", then one of them gets kilt by a gang of "Dakoties" who also lost their co-op to monopolistic rail rates and terminal consolidation............

[Anonymous]

Gee, guys, if a hip and cool show like "Supertain" couldn't last past December... realism doesn't have much chance.

Wait a second. Realism. There it is! Put "World's Wildest Railroad Videos" on SPIKE TV right after "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge". Have someone from the railroads like Sheriff John Bunnell breathlessly describe how educational gruesome videos of grade crossing accidents can be!

Yeah, I think we got a winner here!

Kenny to Vic: Indeed. Insightful as always, Vic.

Erik

[Anonymous]

Ken,
I thought maybe I was the only guy who noticed his eyebrows. He seems like a nice guy and I'd love to railfan with him (and you) sometime. I really enjoy the show, I just wish it was on more or an hour long.


mike

[Anonymous]

If I remember right did not "Loguns Run" feature a underground people mover/subway?
And did it not take place in the future underground in Washington DC. And was not the movie based on the premis that there was a law in the future that all old people were to be put to sleep in the pleasure dome. And is it not a fact that todays polticians in modern day aboveground Washington DC want to do the same thing to Old folks by feeding them to young venture captilists by dismatinling there social security,allowing companys to raid there pensions and making it harder for them to declare bankrunptcy when high priced medical bills have taken everything? Loguns Run was based on the premis that there will be no more "Old people" Or "Old Ones" in the future. Uncanny how truth and Science Fiction come together
[V][8][:(!][*^_^*][banghead][oX)]

[spbed]

Are their enough rail fans out their to make it profitable for a network to put on such a show?

[Anonymous]

Are there enough railfans to make a network program feasible? Nah, probably not even close. That's why the programs that have been mentioned above, "Trains and Locomotives" and "Trackside" are important to us. At least we have something!

I was wondering how many railfans are out there. I don't have my copy of "Trains" right here, so someone who has it handy, how many copies are printed each month? I suppose that would give a baseling to how many of "us" there are, as I'm sure there is some sort of formula to how many railfans there are to how many read "Trains" or any of the other railroad magazines. I imagine that the number in our demographic isn't even remotely close enough to get network execs to think about train programs.

Dunk, I don't see people being put to sleep yet, so isn't your statement how "uncanny" it is that "truth and science fiction have come together" a little obtuse?

Obtuse, I love that word...

m

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by erikthered

Gee, guys, if a hip and cool show like "Supertain" couldn't last past December... realism doesn't have much chance.

Wait a second. Realism. There it is! Put "World's Wildest Railroad Videos" on SPIKE TV right after "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge". Have someone from the railroads like Sheriff John Bunnell breathlessly describe how educational gruesome videos of grade crossing accidents can be!

Yeah, I think we got a winner here!

Kenny to Vic: Indeed. Insightful as always, Vic.

Erik

I like it!

Or another idea would be "Survivor Metra". The cast has to endure living on a Metra coach for 30 days going around the raceway. And when you get voted off........ouch ...that's going to leave a mark....

[Anonymous]

Peter,
Yes, for a little while while the Olympics were on, The Games was shown in Canada. I enjoyed the show immensely and hate myself to this day for not taping it! I did hear that many of the things that happened on the show were based on actual events (like sharks living where some of the swimming events were to take place). Simmilarily, a lot of real-life events could probably be used in my Penn Central show. What do you do when you find out that your railroad left some cars loaded with mail on a siding and forgot about them for two years? It would be great!

ValleyX,
Actually, I've never seen Supertrain before. I was born in 1986, so was never alive when it was on. I've learned a lot about it from several topics about the show that have been here on the forums.

[dharmon]

Okay.....how about "The SImple Life - Railroads"...Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie spend a season doing various tasks on a railroad........engineer, conductor, dispatcher.....

[chad thomas]

What can I say about a sitcom/drama that hasn't already ben said.....

Dan, Your idea about a show paralleling Dukes of Hazard had me laughing so hard that the girls in my office thought I had lost it. That was soooo funny. [:D][:D][:D][:0][:D][:D][:D]

But seriously.
I would really like to see a educational style show on railroading TODAY. A show that would focus on what trains do for us day in day out. Something that portrays how railroading is vital to todays world, how it works, what it does.

Here are some ideas for episodes:

An episode on coal. Where it comes from. How it is mined, processed and loaded into trains. How the railroad transports it to the power plants. How it is unloaded, and what is done with it at the power plants to generate electricity. Also the coal used for other things like steel processing. How it is handeled differently. what it is used for in those industries.

An episode on grain trains. What crops are produced and what regions they are grown in. How the crops get to the loading silos. What factors determine where and when the grain is shipped. What ways are the loads handled (unit train or blocks of cars) and where it goes. Who buys it and how they process it into what goods. How grain is exported and at what ports does this happen and how is it x-loaded into oceanliners. Where is it exported to and why.

An episode on land bridging. How the railroads haul goods between Europe and Asia and vise-versa. Why it is economical to do this. What goods are shipped this way. How cargo is transfered to railroads at the ports. How the drayage operations work when the port and railyards are not in the same location. The logistics of moving the doublestacks over our rail network, and what ports this traffic goes to and comes from. What routes are used for this and why. Mabee even a side take on security issues. And what this bussiness means to the railroads.

An episode on domestic intermodial. Why this is an important componet to freight transportation. How it fits into freight companys systems for transporting goods. How it keeps immense amounts of truck traffic off of the interstates/highways. How the trailer yards work. What happens to the trailers on the trains. What logistics are involved. What are the key intermodial lanes. Who are the big users of TOFC. And what this bussiness means to the railroads.

An episode on automobile / vehicle production & distribution. How the parts are delivered to the assembly ( & subassembly) plants. What vehicles are made where. How the distribution systems of the various mfgrs. work. And how the imported vehicles are transloaded and distributed.

An episode on steel production. From Iron ore,coal and pota***o steel. Everything in between and the delivery of the finished products. And something about who consumes steel for what and where.

An episode on other mineral mineing/production. how copper,lead,potash,borax,bentonite and other clays,gravel-balast-riprap,salt,ect.. are mined processed and loaded onto railcars. What kinds of cars are used and where do the various materials go. What are these thing used for and by who.

An episode on chemical / plastics. What raw materials are used and how/where are they shipped from. What processing is involved (this could get complicated and require a 2-part episode). What,and in what forms, are they transported between plants, and how it's done (rail , pipe , conveyer or truck). What the end products are. Where they are shipped to and how they are shipped (what kind of cars). What kind of special handeling & precautions are involved (hasmat). What are the end users and what products do they produce.

An episode on loose car railroading and branch lines. How the locals work. How the yards makeup / breakup blocks of cars. How sorting / classification yards work. What kind of goods are shipped "loose car" style , from where to where and why. With discussions on lumber/paper, agricultural , processed foods, manufactured goods, ect.......

An episode on terminal operations. How railroading works in the citys. What industry is still served by the local switch crews. What logistics are involved. What goods are shipped by rail today.

An episode on Amtrak. How it came about. How the government is involved today. What the intercity rail network is, what it could become, and what it might become (non-existant). What kind of equiptment is used and what kind of passenger acomodations are available. How Amtrak could be a intregal part of a intermodial public transportation network.

An episode on commuter operations. How they work. The logistics. There funding. The equiptment used. Where it is used. Ect.ect......

An episode on infrastructure. What railroads run where and why. How the tracks are maintained. How the trains are dispatched. Signaling systems and how they work. How the railroads are managed and regulated. Ect......

The ratings winning episode, what happens when things go wrong. Weather damage. Train wrecks. Grade crossing accidents, and the devistation / impacts they have. And what steps are taken to deal with these things and clean up the mess.

An episode on equiptment and maintainance. Who makes the locomotives. How are thay maintained. Who makes the cars and where. Who makes ties&rails and where. And the signal & dispaching systems and equiptment. Maintainance work and how it's done, railgrinders, track welders, weed spraying, ect.....

An episode on what jobs there are in the industry. What the different jobs are and what they do. Engine crews, switchmen, yard & road managers, track maintainers, signal & communications system maintainers, shop workers, dispachers, managers, marketing people, ect........

Anyway the list coud go on. If this show was done right, Kind of like Modern Marvels, I belive it would be successfull. Well reasearched and well presented would be key aspects.Hard numbers and facts would be a must. As would clear and accurate explainations. If it were presented like "railfan fluff" it would tragicaly miss the mark.
For that matter I would like to see more articles of this nature in trains magazine. Pretty pictures and nostalgia are cool (don't get me wrong) But we need more articles about the nuts and bolts of how contemporary railroading works and what it does. Is anyone else with me on this ? If so lets let our voice be heard by the right ears.

[2c] [soapbox] [:)] [:)] [:D]

[dharmon]

Great Idea Chad......especially for History Channel or Discovery...

[cpbloom]

Here are some non-realistic shows:

The "Love Train"

Love is in the air...Well, not only in the air but also on the rails! Passengers who search for romantic nights decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Train" where Gopher, Dr.Adam, Isaac, Julie and Engineer Stubing try their best to please them and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy but in the end love wins and everybody leaves the dream train satisfied. (even if hours and sometimes days LATE to their destinations [:p] )

or

Conrail "Street" Blues

A gritty, realistic look at the life of Engineers and Conductors in a large metropolitan city. Led by Trainmaster Frank Furillo, the crews of the Conrail street Station keep the trains moving in, out and through the city. This would focus more on the characters within in the station than on the trains they were operating.

[dharmon]

Yeah or one called "Fantasy Island" where Amtrak needed no subsidies......

[Anonymous]

Well, put Marg Helgenberger in it and I'll watch it even if it's about raising earthworms!

[espeefoamer]

Actually,the Fantasy Island theme would show a Union Pacific train actually moving[}:)].

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ebriley

Well, put Marg Helgenberger in it and I'll watch it even if it's about raising earthworms!

I was saving her for the role of a stripper turned journeyman surveyor who with her mentor, a seasoned old bird, go around searching for clues regarding ROWs..called "ACSM - La Junta".

[Anonymous]

I watch Canadian train stories every day well almost so i am good

[chad thomas]

Just sit right back and hear a tale
a tale of a fatefull trip
that started in this rail yard
aboard this tiny train
the engineer was a mighty railroadin man
the conductor brave and shure
five crewmen set off that day on a 12 hour tour..
a twelve hour tour..
the track started getting rough
the tiny train was tossed
if not for the courage of the dispatcher
this train would be lost.....

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

Okay.....how about "The SImple Life - Railroads"...Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie spend a season doing various tasks on a railroad........engineer, conductor, dispatcher.....

It would probably only take two minutes until a loss of a limb.