"Extreme Trains" hosted by Matt Bown

Thanks for the post, i had no idea this was on tv



Screw ice road trucking, i want trains!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt bown is his name, I went to high school with him-nice guy. Great family. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy

NV290 wrote:

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Awesome. A show about locomotives, hosted by a conductor. (most comfortable chairs for sleeping, his main points, I imagine..... ) I saw where he has already said "train tracks are 4'8" gauge, the same as Roman charriots wheels". Seems his railroad is running a bit "tight". Awesome !!!

I was kind of bothered by that as well. You would think the producers would have found an Engineer to host a show about locomotives and the difficulties involved in moving trains. No offense to Conductors, but on road trains, once moving, a Conductor is nothing more then an extra set of eyes to look out for signals and danger. They do not in any way, shape or form have ANYTHING to do with running a train. And i can count on one hand the number of Conductors i have met in 10+ years who know even a 1/4 of the grades on my division and about the same number who even understand air brakes to the point they could run a train. It's not even in their job description. A Conductor does the ground work and the paperwork. Once moving, he is a set of eyes and handles the radio chores. Thats it. And to add insult to injury, the person they chose works for a regional most famous for incredibly slow, short, underpowered trains. The average train on PAR is around 50 cars. I have seen MANY that are 30 or less. And he works in an area with less then 10 trains a day in mostly DCS territory. It's like a shortline up there. This is the best guy they can find? He does not even know the track gauge and he is supposed to host a show about Locomotives? You would think CSX would have been able to provide plenty of great choices since after all, it is a real railroad.

The whole idea is to me, just as stupid as having a show about airplanes hosted by a flight attendant. Or a show about saling ships hosted by a deckhand. If you get my drift.

Congrats to Mr. Bown for landing the gig, but without even seeing the show yet, it's clear the producers are off to a bad start.

Juding by what I've seen so far, they more likly hired Bown for his exiablity for the subject at hand.

They probably also realized that since he already has conductor training, he would be less of a percieved risk while filming in a railroad environment. I imagine that would help immensely when presenting the idea to liability management people at a class 1.

Too much hand & arm motion for me Lol.

I haven't seen the show on TV but there are some clips you can watch on the History Channel's web site. I think it looks like a fun show which should appeal to a wide variety of people, railfans and average folks alike. Yeah, the guy is enthusiastic... isn't that the whole point? He's trying to take something that most people would find painfully boring, and make it look interesting.

Bottom line, it's entertainment. Take it as such. And if you feel the need to talk trash about the guy, maybe do it somewhere else... he's a member of this site, you know...

To me this is the best thing the History Channel has done since Trains Unlimited

Not bad. I have to give HC's editors credit, they managed to put that entire trip inside 45 minutes... which is impressive considering that the climb out of Johnstown to the summit at Gallitzin can take a couple hours by itself... on a good day.

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Awesome. A show about locomotives, hosted by a conductor. (most comfortable chairs for sleeping, his main points, I imagine..... ) I saw where he has already said "train tracks are 4'8" gauge, the same as Roman charriots wheels". Seems his railroad is running a bit "tight". Awesome !!!

Golden Arm, please could you indicate where Matt said that track guage was 4'8''. I might be wrong but I don't think he ever said that track gauge was 4'8" or compared track gauge to Roman Chariots. Perhaps you are confused with another show.
Thanks,
L

NV290 wrote:

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Awesome. A show about locomotives, hosted by a conductor. (most comfortable chairs for sleeping, his main points, I imagine..... ) I saw where he has already said "train tracks are 4'8" gauge, the same as Roman charriots wheels". Seems his railroad is running a bit "tight". Awesome !!!

I was kind of bothered by that as well. You would think the producers would have found an Engineer to host a show about locomotives and the difficulties involved in moving trains. No offense to Conductors, but on road trains, once moving, a Conductor is nothing more then an extra set of eyes to look out for signals and danger. They do not in any way, shape or form have ANYTHING to do with running a train. And i can count on one hand the number of Conductors i have met in 10+ years who know even a 1/4 of the grades on my division and about the same number who even understand air brakes to the point they could run a train. It's not even in their job description. A Conductor does the ground work and the paperwork. Once moving, he is a set of eyes and handles the radio chores. Thats it. And to add insult to injury, the person they chose works for a regional most famous for incredibly slow, short, underpowered trains. The average train on PAR is around 50 cars. I have seen MANY that are 30 or less. And he works in an area with less then 10 trains a day in mostly DCS territory. It's like a shortline up there. This is the best guy they can find? He does not even know the track gauge and he is supposed to host a show about Locomotives? You would think CSX would have been able to provide plenty of great choices since after all, it is a real railroad.

The whole idea is to me, just as stupid as having a show about airplanes hosted by a flight attendant. Or a show about saling ships hosted by a deckhand. If you get my drift.

Congrats to Mr. Bown for landing the gig, but without even seeing the show yet, it's clear the producers are off to a bad start.

Matt's experience as a conductor on PAR should not be taken lightly. He might not know everything but he is a genuine insider who knows what it's like to work on the railroad. Not many TV hosts can make that claim. His rapport with the men and women who work on the railroads enabled the production team to get access to areas of the rail network that no TV show has ever seen.

You can criticize his ability as a host but you can't fault his railroad credentials.

laika wrote:

GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Awesome. A show about locomotives, hosted by a conductor. (most comfortable chairs for sleeping, his main points, I imagine..... ) I saw where he has already said "train tracks are 4'8" gauge, the same as Roman charriots wheels". Seems his railroad is running a bit "tight". Awesome !!!

Golden Arm, please could you indicate where Matt said that track guage was 4'8''. I might be wrong but I don't think he ever said that track gauge was 4'8" or compared track gauge to Roman Chariots. Perhaps you are confused with another show.
Thanks,
L

It was in one of the comericals for the show.

Maybe some of us were expecting a more technical "things we insiders know" treatment, but the show is meant for the general public, leaning toward "Gee, I didn't know that" moments for those who never saw any of this before.

I liked it. Looking forward to more of them.

Good job, Matt. Maybe your enthusiasm can rub off on some of the less-than-excited railroaders you talked to.

As someone who spent some time on the production side of movies and TV, I did notice a few minor inconsistencies (right hand, then left hand, then right hand running; two, then four, then two pushers, one overhead of an empty train) but that's TV.

Never met him when I worked there - but he seems a natural on TV. He reminds me of the guy on Dirty Jobs a lot.

newpylong wrote:Never met him when I worked there - but he seems a natural on TV. He reminds me of the guy on Dirty Jobs a lot.

Yeah, he's in District 1 so you probably wouldn't have ran into him very often... I agree on the similarity to the guy who hosts Dirty Jobs... the overall style of the two shows seems similar as well.

laika wrote: Golden Arm, please could you indicate where Matt said that track guage was 4'8''. I might be wrong but I don't think he ever said that track gauge was 4'8" or compared track gauge to Roman Chariots. Perhaps you are confused with another show.
Thanks,
L

No, I can't "show" you. I don't regularly sit at home, recording trailers (or whatever they are called) for upcoming television shows. It was both spoken, as a narration, and was supported by a graphic, stating that "railroad gauge is 4 foot, 8 inches the same as chariot wheels". This was done in promotion of the first episode. So, perhaps you are confused. You've been here like 4 days, and have made like 4 posts, and you suggest I can't question something? As far as questioning his being a "railroader", you must have missed the point. If you are doing a show, about the technical aspect of ANYTHING, you need to have a technical consultant, to review your stuff, for accuracy, no? (I'm sure you've all watched a movie, showing some incredibly false things about trains, and railroads. Wouldn't it be nice, to have a factual accounting, from a place called "The History Channel"?) I'm waiting for the episode, where they describe "tankers" being hauled.......