UP 844 – The Valley Eagle-Houston to Bloomington
Finally! You wouldn’t think it would take me 10 days to get the next segment of Valley Eagle footage edited and posted, but then again sometimes I just have to do other stuff. Like work, file taxes, yard work, computer issues…
I shot and edited this segment a little differently than the Navasota to Houston trip. The shots were more spread out, and I tightened up the footage a bit more.
I’m happier with the pacing footage in this segment. It could be because I wasn’t driving and shooting at the same time! Thanks to my son, Eric, for the NASCAR-esque moves to get the car into position for the pacing shots.
PS-When the video starts to play, please click the button at the bottom, right side of the player marked “360p”. It will convert the playback to 480p, which will look a lot better. (Disregard this if you are on a dial-up connection)
Southwest Rails 
Excellent overall coverage of the Houston-to-Bloomington segment of the Valley Eagle Heritage Tour. I was out there getting video, too, but you sure took video from a lot more spots than I did. I couldn’t find the time to scout spots ahead of time, but evidently you did. I also figured the train would be running 60 mph in some places. When I was a brakeman on the Kingsville Division in the early 80’s, the MP spruced up things and came out with a special timetable with passenger train speeds, however, I don’t think they did that for the VEHT–it did not seem to ever go faster than 50. I therefore skipped a lot of key places you included, and spent a lot of time cooling my heels waiting for the 844 to show up. I especially enjoyed the curve at Brownie, the bridge at Brazoria (I thought that would have been inaccessible–I should have scouted), and the curve south of Bay City (walked a lot of train inspections there). Good job.
Glad you liked it…We scouted the line with Google maps, and the radio really helped keep up with the trains movements.
Great coverage. I love the clanging of the side rods, and you capture that burley whistle. The high pitched sound is the steam generator?
Thanks for the compliment!
I believe the high pitched sound is the steam driven electrical generator.