BURLINGTON NORTHERN - FROM MERGER TO MERGER: A look back on the Burlington Northern from the 1970 merger to the 1995 BNSF merger through video, photos and slides.

The video is 94 minutes long. $29.95

FREIGHT CARS & CABOOSES: The album is look back on an era in freight railroad rolling stock that mostly no longer exists. The 465 images are mostly from the 1970’s and 1980’s from many locations in the Midwest, along with a number in the Northwest, East and Southeast. The once common caboose is included with 80 photos, and rarely seen rail equipment used in steel mills and the iron ore & copper businesses are also viewed. The presentation is like looking through a book on a computer. The CD-ROM works in PCs & Macs and is self-starting. The images can be printed out. $19.95

THE GREAT NORTHERN: The photo & film video follows the James J. Hill line from the Twin Cities to the rest of Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana to the West coast through photos, postcards, film and historical documents. The narrated video includes depots, steam locomotives, numerous diesels, the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota, ore docks in Superior, Wisconsin; freight cars, cabooses, MOW equipment and passenger trains/cars. The photos and film are grouped by separate Great Northern routes.

The six historical documents on the accompanying CD-ROM include publications on the Oriental Ltd., GN steam, the story of the “William Crooks” and the 1959 annual report.

The DVD video, with 1,136 images and about ten minutes of 8 mm film, is 95 minutes long. The accompanying CD-ROM (both PC (WIN 2000/XP/Vista) & Mac) has photos of cabooses, freight cars, MOW equipment and memorabilia in a self-starting “book,” along with the historical documents. The CD contents can be printed out. $29.95

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CANADIAN NATIONAL'S HUDSON BAY LINE: The rail trip on the Canadian National starts in Winnipeg, Manitoba and heads north to Churchill on Hudson Bay. The area is extremely remote country, with the northern part becoming treeless. The depots shown include Dauphin, Portage La Prairie, The Pas, Cantyre, Thompson, Thicket Portage, Cormorant and Churchill. At Flin Flon, the Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co. is visited and at Thompson, the International Nickel mine & smelter are shown. In the Port of Churchill, the grain elevators, docks and foreign ships are featured. Maps show the locations.

The album has 83 photos. The presentation is like looking through a book on a computer. The CD-ROM works in PCs & Macs and is self-starting. The CD also has a brochure on the line and it's attractions. Photos can be printed out. $14.95

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. LOUIS RAILWAY: The M&St.L, a line with transcontinental ambitions and a selling point of avoiding Chicago congestion, has been gone since 1960. Yet, it still remains a fascinating railroad.

The DVD video is 40 minutes long and the self-starting CD book has 215 images. Also on the CD are passenger and employee timetables, a 1938 Industrial Guide, annual reports, brochures, advertisements in “Railway Age” and a 1960 railfan trip booklet (all in PDF format). CD contents can be printed out. $24.95

MINNESOTA PRAIRIE LINE - THE PHOENIX OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA: After two years of no service, a Twin Cities & Western train was run on an old Minneapolis & St. Louis line in central Minnesota. The first part of the video is from the locomotive cab, trailblazing the absolutely decrepit 96-mile line on a cold day in early April, 2002 from its eastern beginning of Norwood to the halfway point near Franklin.

The video is 65 minutes long. $24.95

MINNESOTA SHORTLINES - PAST & PRESENT: A trip around Minnesota, using video, 8 mm film and photos, to see shortline railroads from the past and present. They range from terminal operations and branchline operators to railroads using stretches of former Class One railroad lines.

The shortlines featured are Cloquet Terminal, Dakota Rail, Duluth & Northeastern; Duluth, Rainy Lake & Winnipeg; Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific, Koppers Coke, Lake Superior & Mississippi, Minnesota Central, Minnesota Commercial, Minnesota Northern, Minnesota Zephyr, Minnesota Prairie Line, Minnesota Southern, Minnesota Transfer, Minnesota Valley, Minnesota Zephyr; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern, Minneapolis Eastern, North Shore Scenic Railroad, North Star Steel, Northern Lines Railway, Northern Plains, Otter Tail Valley, Progressive Rail, St. Croix Valley, St. Paul Union Depot, Twin Cities & Western, United States Steel Duluth Works and some grain elevator operations. [DVD - 115 minutes] $29.95

NORTHERN PACIFIC FREIGHT CARS & CABOOSES: The album, with 189 images, is a collection of Northern Pacific freight car and caboose photos mostly taken in the 1970s in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana and Washington. The box cars range from wood-sided to “waffle-side” in a variety of paint schemes, covered hoppers include the “Conditionaire” cars, there are numerous GS-type gondolas and the cabooses are of both the wood and steel varieties.

The presentation is like looking through a book on a computer. The CD-ROM works in PCs & Macs and is self-starting. The images can be printed out. $19.95

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SOO LINE - FROM MICHIGAN TO MONTANA: The first route followed is along the original Soo Line through Michigan and Wisconsin and then on the old Wisconsin Central in Wisconsin to the Twin Cities. Shoreham Yard is explored, leading to the routes in Minnesota, North & South Dakota and Montana. Transfer freights in the Twin Cities are followed by steam railfan trips in the late-1950s. The video concludes with Soo Line memorabilia.

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SPOKANE, PORTLAND & SEATTLE RAILWAY: The Spokane Portland & Seattle Railway provided its parents Great Northern and Northern Pacific a gateway to the port of Portland, Oregon‘s forests and a line to reach California. The narrated video starts out on the scenic Astoria Line and then heads for Portland and Vancouver, Washington. A large part of the video is on the mainline from Vancouver to Wishram along the north bank of the beautiful Columbia River Valley using 8 mm film and photos. After a trip between Pasco and Spokane, the video concludes with SP&S memorabilia.

The video is 42 minutes long. $24.95

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CATS ON THE PRAIRIE - THE TWIN CITIES & WESTERN: Twin Cities & Western's rare Caterpillar-powered Geeps and a CF-7 slug ply the ex-Milwaukee Road mainline from the prairie to the big city, moving agricultural products for river or rail interchange in the Twin Cities. In addition to its own tracks, the railroad also rides the rails of the BNSF, Canadian Pacific, Minnesota Commercial and an ex-M&St.L line.

The video is 97 minutes long. $29.95