My first professional DVD project was an exploration of the Texas State Railroad, including all of the abandoned trackage, from Rusk to Palestine, Texas.

While there are many things I would fix if I could, I'm quite proud of how this turned out. What started as a simple railfan video with on-screen text narration, quickly blossomed into a full-blown production covering the history and future plans for the railroad as well as every major location on the 30 mile route through the East Texas piney woods. 

Legendary singer/songwriter Ed Stabler graciously offered to narrate the video and gave an exceptional performance. In addition, he supplied the music and even composed an original piece titled "East Texas Train."

Kevin Gentry provided copious amounts of historical data on the railroad and the country through which it runs. I included every bit that I could squeeze onto the DVD and I'm eternally grateful to Kevin for his generosity.

Everett Lueck was also instrumental in the production by providing history, technical data, and moral support. He was also the catalyst for the project when he asked me to consider fundraising ideas in the summer of 2013.

Brian Jansky, Blake Bogs, Mike Predmore, Ben Fournier, and, of course, Michele Rose accompanied me on trips to the TSR for video footage. Brian, Mike, Everett, Kevin, and Michele contributed photos and video footage for the project.

We copied and packaged 300 DVD's at our own expense. The railroad sold them during the 2014 & 2015 seasons until they ran out. This was a purely volunteer effort and all profits went to the railroad.

Special thanks to (then) General Manager Earl Knoob for trusting me to take this on. I had a great time working on the project and I'm very much looking forward to the next one.

Extra special thanks to Michele for helping me produce this. It looks as good as it does because of her relentless attention-to-detail.

Exploring the Texas State Railroad: 2014

Trailer

Exploring the Texas State Railroad: 2014

Documentary