Stampede Pass was the Northern Pacific's rugged and steep crossing of the Cascade Mountains in the state of Washington. Northern Pacific successor Burlington Northern closed the line but did not abandon it in the early 1990s. After several years of being moth-balled, Burlington Northern Santa Fe needed the extra capacity and reopened the line. At the time this video was recorded, much signal and switch control work was yet to be done, resulting in track warrant control of trains on a difficult mountain pass.

<p>The video opens with a brief history of Stampede Pass. Beginning at Yakima, the program moves west to Ellensburg and Stampede Pass, with many scenes along the scenic Yakima River. The program then jumps to Auburn WA at the west end of the former NP and moves back east to the pass and Yakima Canyon. Also seen are some interesting scenes at a Cargill facility showing the switching and unloading of grain cars. At about 2/3 of the way into program, several minutes are spent showcasing the frustrations and results of running a suddenly underpowered train through dark track warrant territory.

<p>Narration is sufficient and provides interesting information in addition to location of most scenes. The photography is sharp, but there is a lot of annoying glare and reflections from locomotive cab windows. Most scenes were shot under overcast skies and rain, but that is the way it is most of the year in this area. There are no location or train symbols markers.


Additional remarks by armchairrailfan:
Narration: Just enough.
Would kids enjoy this? I doubt it.
Image quality: Good.
DVD Value: Good Value
Recommend to others? Yes.

Very interesting to here about the history of stampede pass.