Otto Perry's Rio Grande Southern. Often referred to as the most spectacular piece of mountain railroading in North America, the Rio Grande Southern was a world famous narrow gauge that disappeared in 1951. This film presents a complete record based on footage shot by famed rail photographer Otto Perry. Perry tracked the RGS with his camera for more than ten years: across three of America's highest railroad passes—Cima Summit, Dallas Divide and Lizard Head, with double and triple heading on 4% grades—to the fabled cities of gold and silver, Ophir, Telluride and Rico. Follow a cattle rush through the golden aspens of autumn and the ore and lumber Specials moving through the mountain meadows of spring. Narrated by the men and women who rode, worked for, and whose families were a part of the Rio Grand Southern, this film features more than 400 scenes, most of them run pasts, in color, with some black and white.

Otto Perry's Rio Grande Articulateds. This feature shows the mightiest steam engines on the Denver and Rio Grande system. It begins with a ride on the daily passenger train over La Veta Pass to Alamosa at the height of the glory days of steam. We ride the train from the sun-drenched Cuchara Valley into a driving blizzard at the top of the pass, and back down into crystal-clear weather at the foot of the breath-taking Blanca Peaks. The giant locomotives tackle the steepest grades on the railroad, from the Moffat Tunnel line to Soldier Summit to Tennessee Pass. Drag freights strain up mountains with three articulated engines pushing and pulling. Passenger trains are pressed to keep up speed in the high Rockies. The monster engines charge along the “joint line” south of Denver, cross the desert west of Grand Junction, and dive into the depths of the Royal Gorge. Runaways, landslides, and boiler explosions are part of the drama of this historic steam document.