Railroad Alaska TV show

[Ralph]

Been watching it, but it's too full of hype and manufactured "crises" to be very worthwhile.

I prefer to watch Trains and Locomotives, which is a documentary series shown weekly on the Farm Channel.

I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

[Green_Elite_Cab]

I have to agree with some people here. When I was younger, it seemed like the history channel had actually interesting shows, like Modern Marvels. Most of the old shows I liked to watch no longer seem to be on the air. At some point, the history channel went from being about documentaries to reality shows and "historical" dramas.

Its one thing if you air "Band of Brothers" every once in a while, but everytime I flip past History now, its just dumb junk.

This is why I'm starting to like netflix. You can just find what you do want to watch. Also, the History channel has an "app" on Xbox live, so some of their shows are accessible that way. Unfortunately, the selection is also often pretty limited, so this doesn't work out much either.

Ultimately, I hardly watch TV, or even use the Xbox that much anymore. There is always a book to read, a website to explore, or a model to build.

[jwb]

The program actually has some interest for people who railfan the ARR at a distance (like me). Several episodes show heavy conventional freights in the winter on the Seward-Anchorage route. I would say that anyone who wants to take a single ride on the ARR should try to get on one of the passenger trains that run on this route (summer only, weekly, from Anchorage Airport, not downtown Anchorage). This is the original Alaska Central route from which the US government built the rest of the ARR, and it is by far the most scenic, though the rest of the ARR is no slouch. However, the only freight on this route is normally unit coal to a loader at Seward for export to Korea, a few times a week, spring through fall. No conventional freights! I asked on the ARR Yahoo group and discovered that maybe half a dozen freights carrying containers on flats run from Seward in the winter, unloaded from barges, mainly if Anchorage is iced in. I wouldn't have learned about this if I hadn't seen the show. However, as usual, the show mischaracterizes the whole situation!