"Extreme Trains" hosted by Matt Bown

Mattydred wrote: You've also got to wonder in PAR will work its way onto the show. That episode would probably be called "Making Do with Hand Me Downs." Sorry about the deliberate cheap shot. I couldn't resist.

I would be shocked if PAR let cameras anywhere near their property for any sort of show. They are famous for ignoring ANY forms of media and hiding their business from the public.

True. Although, in fairness, one must remember that 99% of the media inquiries they get are what they consider "bad press." (They don't seem to realize that "bad press" is made worse when they refuse to speak to the media.)

MEC407 wrote:

CSX Conductor wrote:On tonight's episode I love how he says he's only used to going 40MPH when in Maine.....um, didn't think the B&M went that fast,lol.

Freight speed on the B&M in Maine is 40. But I thought he worked on the MEC north of Portland... don't know of any 40 MPH running there. (Maybe he ventures south of Portland occasionally...?)

Anyway, I just watched the "Coal Train" episode (free download on iTunes) and I thought it was very entertaining. Was it the same as a Pentrex video? No. Was it a documentary with a focus on 100% accuracy? No. But it was fun to watch, it was interesting, and it made me want to see the next episode.

Do you have a link to that episode?

Here is the link:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... =188575542


You'll need iTunes installed on your computer in order for it to work.

Here, here.

I think this series can do for the 'railroad community' (good lord, did I really just say that?) what Ghost Hunters has done for the 'paranormal community', namely, bring railroading into popular prime-time culture and help to create a renewed interest in railroads.

Consider, for example, that many viewers tuned into this show all across America may well look to the nearest tourist railroad in their area and patronize it, perhaps for the first time. I think people often translate media phenomena in that way; you know, looking for something tangible locally that relates to what they've seen. "My kid watches this show about trains on the History Channel and now he's hooked on trains so we decided to take him for a ride on the Valley Railroad/Strasburg Railroad/Arcade & Attica/Durango & Silverton/Conway Scenic Railroad/Crooked River Dinner Train(what have you), and he can't get enough so we take him several times a year."

It's a worthwhile project and I think it's produced quite well.

I saw the episode of Extreme Trains and its was good in my opinion as Matt slow times on the coal trail with interesting facts along the way. Even with his hyper excitement. Hoping not to bore anyone, however here is my 45 minute version of Winston's extreme train video as I documented and chased the UP 844 Colorado State Fair Express from Denver, Colorado to Pueblo, CO during the Colorado State Fair in 2007.

Below is the video link.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... pr=goog-sl

Plus here are the photo link:
http://public.fotki.com/wwalker48/winst ... do-state-/

If you are having problems viewing the video or photos, contact me at [email protected] under my name Winston Walker and I'll send via email the links.

As one of the production team it's great to hear that some people at least 'get' the idea behind the series.

Extreme Trains is very consciously NOT aimed at people who already have an interest in railroads.

It's aimed at people who have no interest in trains whatsoever. We wanted to show those people why trains are important and to do that we deliberately took a very in your face stylist approach.

Sure things are simplified and there are continuity jumps but the big idea is to say - trains matter, trains are cool, the people who work on the railroads do a very dangerous and important job, even switching out a line of cars is extreme because if you do it wrong you could get cut in half.

For all those that say that Matt is to loud or the editing too choppy - think of the 14 year old who has never thought about how their sneakers got to the store or where the fruit on their table comes from or how America got to look the way it does - the answer to all those questions is TRAINS and if we can get that message to a new young audience then we'll have done our job.

Think of this show as being aimed at tomorrow's railfans not today's.

L

Its cool to hear from someone associated with the show!

I do like the commericals and how he talks about "if you are in front of a train your done, espeically if going 60 or 70mph" (or something like that) - any thing that might make folks think twice about going near trains and train tracks might just save a life. An operation lifesaver episode where they crash into a car would be fun

Keep up the great work, but tell Matt to keep on his safety glasses when he is on the head end hahahahha

I think that's cool, too. Even more so that Matt Bown, himself, actually posted a comment on this thread and then was gracious enough to respond to a private message I sent. He seems like a neat guy and I really do enjoy the show.

The post above about people seeking out the local tourist/museum railroad is on the mark. For years I heard from parents telling me how much their little guy (or girl too) loves trains due to Thomas The Tank Engine, The Polar Express, and other similar TV shows, movies, toys, etc. It is so great to see the look on some little kid's face as you invite him up into the cab to take a look around, and show him the throttle, brake handle, etc., and explain how it works. Open up that fire door and watch his mouth drop open! As they say in the commercials, PRICELESS!!!

A few kids who remembered the cab tour or the shop tour I gave them later joined up when they were old enough.

As far as the tourist/museum railroad industry, we can use any help to recruit new younger members to keep what we're doing in place for the next generations.

GSC wrote:The post above about people seeking out the local tourist/museum railroad is on the mark. For years I heard from parents telling me how much their little guy (or girl too) loves trains due to Thomas The Tank Engine, The Polar Express, and other similar TV shows, movies, toys, etc. It is so great to see the look on some little kid's face as you invite him up into the cab to take a look around, and show him the throttle, brake handle, etc., and explain how it works. Open up that fire door and watch his mouth drop open! As they say in the commercials, PRICELESS!!!

A few kids who remembered the cab tour or the shop tour I gave them later joined up when they were old enough.

As far as the tourist/museum railroad industry, we can use any help to recruit new younger members to keep what we're doing in place for the next generations.

And to expand on that, most railroaders remember their first cab ride as well and how special it was. At that instant, for most future RR'ers it was the point when they decided that they are going to work on the railroad or not. My first cab ride was on the B&O SD35 7402 at the B&O Museum around 1997-1998 or so.

I was visiting with some family today and a very distant relative, who was a trucker (since retired) said "I saw a TV show last night on trains on the History Channel and it was really interesting - it showed "the bullet train into NY" and it looked like some of your trains too (NJ Transit). It was a really cool show, did you catch it?" Of course I did I said - hhahaha

But we have to realize here that most of the country has NO idea about the current railroad industry, nor do they really care, which is a shame. This is just one example of a "normal" person catching the show and being drawn into it, and learning a little bit about the industry. Id be curious if the Acela and Amtrak start to get a few more riders as a direct result of the show.

I've seen the criticism that it's US-centered, which would make it "Extreme US trains". But Matt Brown would have to do a lot more traveling to get to the rest of the world, and he may be able to do that if his series gets a good-enough viewer response. Here are my nominations:

High-speed trains:
Japanese bullet trains -- the first ones and going faster and faster ever since.
Eurostar -- between London, Paris, and Brussels and using the Chunnel.
(tough choice)

Long rail routes:
The Trans-Siberian Express -- between Moscow and Vladivostok, spanning much of northern Eurasia. It has both freight and passenger service.

Successful third-world railroad service:
Thailand
India
(not sure)

Long coal and ore trains:
Australia?

Mountain railroading:
Switzerland

Railroading in harsh climates:
Arctic: Canada? Scandinavia? Russia?
Desert: Sahara nations? Australia?

Luxury and scenery trains:
Canada? Europe? South Africa? Australia?

lpetrich wrote:I've seen the criticism that it's US-centered, which would make it "Extreme US trains". But Matt Brown would have to do a lot more traveling to get to the rest of the world, and he may be able to do that if his series gets a good-enough viewer response. Here are my nominations:

High-speed trains:
Japanese bullet trains -- the first ones and going faster and faster ever since.
Eurostar -- between London, Paris, and Brussels and using the Chunnel.
(tough choice)

Long rail routes:
The Trans-Siberian Express -- between Moscow and Vladivostok, spanning much of northern Eurasia. It has both freight and passenger service.

Successful third-world railroad service:
Thailand
India
(not sure)

Long coal and ore trains:
Australia?

Mountain railroading:
Switzerland

Railroading in harsh climates:
Arctic: Canada? Scandinavia? Russia?
Desert: Sahara nations? Australia?

Luxury and scenery trains:
Canada? Europe? South Africa? Australia?

I would definaly say Chunnel. I think Matt would just have an easier time explaing the Eurostar since a portion of the crews naturally speak english. It's a reliavly short run between the two content wise comapired to the Aclea episode; Eurostar, London, HS1,The chunnel, the TVG, Paris

On the language barrier note I would also sugesst india. I saw a BBC/PBS documentery (I would think made within the last ten years) on an East west cross country trip there. It would also drop into the luxury catagory there was some sort of "palace on wheels" that realy took it to the next level. made you feel like royalty.

If you want Artic, try the Hudson's Bay Railway in Manitoba. The line is 800 plus miles of Ex Canadian National trackage from The Pas to Chruchill. It's also sees VIA operations.

The show is an example of the genre that the History Channel has been pushing lately to obviously attract young male viewers, 18-34. Other shows are "Ice Road Truckers", "Sandhogs" and "Axe-Men". The idea is to create documentary programming that will attract the average young male viewer with a short attention span. That's why you have all the "extreme" production values and the hyper-animated host. Don't be too hard on Mr. Bown; I'm sure all of his histrionics are at the direction of the programs' producers and director. My vote-thumbs down, I couldn't watch 10 seconds of it, with all the shouting and incessant rock guitar music in the background, but I'm not the target audience, so no matter! I'll just be happy with my Pentrex videos with the "mellow" narration!