Review: Pentrex's "Doublestacks over Donner"

One of Pentrex’s latest releases, Doublestacks over Donner.

Back in May, when I ordered the “At the Throttle Cab Ride Volume 5 - The Surfline” from Pentrex, I also ordered their latest release, at the time, Doublestacks over Donner.

Donner Pass has always been one of my favorite locations for vacations with the family. The area is steeped in history and offers a myriad of outdoor activities to do and breathtaking vistas to behold.

For the railfan, Donner Pass is one of the premier locations due to the arduous climb that trains must make through tunnel and snow sheds to conquer the pass. This route dates back to the original transcontinental route that the Central Pacific Railroad completed in the late 1860’s to meet up with the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869.

Considering most of the line was built back in the 1860’s, many of the tunnels can no longer accommodate the longer and larger containers that are part of today’s international transportation system. As such, this line saw a marked decrease in traffic with many of the doublestack trains being rerouted through the longer, yet less-restrictive, Feather River Canyon route.

Through the years of mergers and acquisitions, this line eventually became part the Union Pacific Railroad and remains a core east-west corridor for the Union Pacific Railroad today. As such, UP decided it was profitable to increase the tunnel clearances on Donner Pass to accommodate the new doublestacks and shorten the distance for trains heading over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So in 2008, UP began modifying the tunnel portals and linings accordingly.

This video documents the renewed life that the line over Donner Pass is experiencing thanks to Union Pacific’s work in the tunnels. I couldn’t be happier. There’s little that rivals seeing Theodore Judah’s dream of a railroad over the Sierras come true with a nearly 2-mile long doublestack train clawing at the grade! But I digress…

The video presents the glory and splendor of the Donner Pass region unlike any other video I’ve seen in recent memory. The video quality and post-production work is good and the 16x9 format lends itself nicely to wide vistas and spectacle that is Donner Pass. The piece is well written and the narration is spot on. A nice surprise of the DVD is the little bits of historical and operational datum that the narration provides. 

If I could be critical of one aspect of the production, it would be the maps displayed in the video. They are just not on par with all of the other aspects this gem. A rework of the maps, with more details and a fresh look, would have completed this effort perfectly.

However, this is one of my favorite videos from any railfan video publisher. I highly recommend it. A job well done Pentrex, it is truly fun to watch. I will watch it often until I can get back to Donner personally.

My Rating:  A+

2 Hours
In Color with Stereo Sound and Narration
Presented in High Definition 16x9 Format
ISBN: 1-56342-295-6
UPC: 7-48268-00578-7

U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces Proposed Regulations to Prevent Railroad Crew Distractions While Operating Trains

In an age when more and more devices are becoming available and adopted for daily use in this “connected” world, the DOT takes a harder line on rail safety by proposing a rule “to prohibit the improper use of distracting electronic devices by on-duty railroad operating employees.”

I can appreciate the reason and the intent of the new federal proposal, but keep in mind that there was already a company policy against texting and still the Metrolink engineer chose to disregard it and text away.

Is this a case of over reacting? Shouldn’t we be focusing on in-cab controls and line safety devices to protect rail travelers and the public? Next time, God forbid, it might not be a cellphone but some other distraction that we failed to rule against.

Let me know your opinions.

From a United States Department of Transportation press release:

DOT-98-10                                                                             
Monday, May 17, 2010          
Contact:  Mark Paustenbach                                       
Tel:  (202) 493-6024

U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces Proposed Regulations to
Prevent Railroad Crew Distractions While Operating Trains

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today continued his campaign to stop distracted driving by announcing a proposed rule to prohibit the improper use of distracting electronic devices by on-duty railroad operating employees.  If adopted, the rules would explicitly restrict and in some cases prohibit the use of cell phones and other hand held devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) by safety critical employees, including locomotive engineers, conductors, switchmen, and other train employees. 

“Operating a passenger or freight train demands the full and undivided attention of crewmembers at all times.  Lives depend on it,” said Secretary LaHood.  “We want to make sure that railroad employees know not to use hand held devices on the job because doing so jeopardizes safety.”

The proposed rule announced today is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department to combat distracted driving.  During a seminal September 2009 Distracted Driving Summit, Secretary LaHood announced the Department’s plans to vigorously pursue regulatory and other steps to reduce the risks posed by distracted driving. 

The rule would prohibit the use of an electronic device—whether personal or railroad-supplied— if it interferes with that employee’s or another employee’s performance of safety-related duties.  Railroad operating employees would be permitted to use cell phones or similar electronic devices under highly limited circumstances.

The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) provides certain exceptions for watches, calculator use, medical devices, railroad radios, cameras used to document bona fide safety hazards or violations of rail safety laws and various emergency situations.  The regulations would also authorize the Federal Railroad Administration to review a railroad’s training program on the use of electronic devices and require that records be kept documenting employees receiving recurrent training at specified intervals.  The NPRM seeks comment on whether violations of the rule should be used as a basis for revoking a locomotive engineer’s certification to operate a locomotive under other FRA regulations.
“There should be no confusion about when and where cell phones, video games or PDAs may be used by train crews,” said FRA Deputy Administrator Karen Rae.

FRA is proposing to codify a modified version of its 2008 Emergency Order No. 26 (EO 26), which sets forth stringent restrictions on the use of electronic devices by railroad operating employees.  FRA issued EO 26 less than three weeks after a September 12, 2008 collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific Railroad freight train in Chatsworth, California, killing 25 people. 

Preliminary investigative findings revealed that the engineer operating the Metrolink train was text messaging at the time of the collision.  While longstanding railroad operating rules and EO 26 have restricted the use of electronic devices, FRA has determined that Federal regulations are necessary to more effectively prevent the inappropriate and unauthorized use of these devices on the job.  A final rule would supplant EO 26.
The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, may 18.  Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted throughwww.regulations.gov (Docket# No. FRA-2009-0118).  The deadline for submitting comments on the proposal is June 17.  Click here to view the NPRM.