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Hello All,

My son, who is 3 years of age, is completely thrilled with the 'Extreme Trains' series of videos.  I recall when it was released it was somewhat panned by railfans due to the 'reality-TV' editing style, lack of technical depth and the overbearing screen presence of the host, but I think these attributes make the series perfect for introducing railroad topics to youngsters.  Each episode presents an easy to follow story, which I think gives kids more to latch onto than our typical Pentrex-style rail videos.  Every day he wants to watch one of them, and he is retaining the knowledge presented.  The problem is, there are only 8 episodes, so I am on the hunt for similar material.

Basically, what other railroad films are presented in a similar positive and upbeat pace?

I can get him to sit through most of the 765 and 611 videos I own, and I think he generally enjoys them, but he keeps coming back to the other series.

Oddly, the only other train video I can't pry him away from is this one, which is completely different in style: meticulous, detailed and without narrative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx9Q8PphAVo

Last edited by Daniel Raible
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jhz563 posted:

It's not as educational, but you can't go wrong with the "I love toy trains" series.  

My kids used to watch it over and over while riding in the car.

I second the I Love Toy Trains or any of the other TM Books & Video videos.  I grew up with many of them.  I believe they're available on Amazon Prime as well.

I just wanted to circle back and report:

Choo Choo Bob has been a huge hit!  Wonderful show, love the wittiness, and offers a nice bridge between models and the real thing.  It's a shame they didn't make more seasons.  He basically plowed through all the episodes in a couple weeks, but I think they will be seen again and again.

Also the "Railroad Alaska" show has been a big hit.  Unfortunately it suffers from the same flashy/dramatic production of the "Extreme Trains" series, but the content and scenery is good, and he is really drawn into the work that the track gangs and train crews accomplish.  There is a lot of swearing, which is bleeped, but with the hamming-it-up/camera-drama it's distracting (for me).  Overall I think the beautiful Alaskan wilderness backdrop makes up for it, and he is learning a great deal.

We tried watching a few other things, but these two are the ones he is most into.  Last weekend we visited the Midwest Railway Preservation Society at the old B&O roundhouse downtown to see the Reading 2100 restoration, and he was readily identifying parts of the locomotive for the crew, haha.

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