I really enjoy the way these people live, and the importance of the train in their lives. I enjoy seeing all the problems involved in keeping the railroad running and how the railroad personnel deals with them. I didn't, however, realize how unique this train is, until reading these reviews. Why didn't I learn that from the program? There is so much that could be included and expanded upon, but instead of doing that, it's always urgent to get the job finished so the train can get through. Amazing how nothing ever happens until there's a train about to hit the area. Why not turn it into an educational documentary instead of a reality show, so we can learn about the train and its people? Last night, a family was expecting a shipment of soil & plants, so they had to quickly get the support holes dug in the frozen ground. Why didn't they do this last fall, or at least last week? I'm so fed up with all the hype, I swear I'm going to quit watching it, but I want to know whether Jim gets his new house built, and what about the couple who had the baby last year? PLEASE change this program instead of having it canceled because no one watches it!!!
15 Reviews
Need more on camera time on people that rely on the RR
dbelko9931 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
My vote would be a higher if they removed the track issues. it's always the same. Is there really a train coming in 20 minutes when the track is blocked with ice or snow?
There needs to me more about the people who need the railroad, more on their reasons for living off the grid, and how the railroad caters to their needs. i would also like to more how much it costs to take the rail into town and where the off grider's get the money to pay for using the railroad.
one last thing, the writers need to do a better job with the three in the engine compartment, they are really boring and their awful predictable dialog really is insulting to the program. Good thing I record it so I can skip over those parts.
There needs to me more about the people who need the railroad, more on their reasons for living off the grid, and how the railroad caters to their needs. i would also like to more how much it costs to take the rail into town and where the off grider's get the money to pay for using the railroad.
one last thing, the writers need to do a better job with the three in the engine compartment, they are really boring and their awful predictable dialog really is insulting to the program. Good thing I record it so I can skip over those parts.
Fascinating - I want more
juke-869077 November 2015
The Alaskan imagery and off-grid way of life is fascinating.
I do agree with the notion that each episode is like the next and it's a little over-dramatic to be a "reality" show, but conceptually, it's great.
I love watching and I watch this show more than other Alaska- based shows because of the railroad aspect.
I'm hoping for another season, and would love to see the show expand on that, including historical looks and scenery that most people would never otherwise see.
More Railroad-based programming would be equally as fascinating.
I do agree with the notion that each episode is like the next and it's a little over-dramatic to be a "reality" show, but conceptually, it's great.
I love watching and I watch this show more than other Alaska- based shows because of the railroad aspect.
I'm hoping for another season, and would love to see the show expand on that, including historical looks and scenery that most people would never otherwise see.
More Railroad-based programming would be equally as fascinating.
Fake trash
13Funbags28 September 2018
Not only is it fully scripted, they don't even try to hide the fact that they have a dozen cameras. They climb a mountain in the forest and the camera angle changes every 5 seconds. They never show the people's faces as they climb because even though they are elderly, they have no problem talking and never being out of breath. It's just nonstop lies. How about the over acting, miked up trespassers and the cop who thinks he's on Just For Laughs? I've seen 70 year old sci-fi movies that were more realistic.
For the scenery alone
tfmiltz20 December 2015
I have been fond of Alaska reality TV shows for the scenery.
However, many shows just complicate the matter with pointless theatrics.
I think of all the shows though, this one wins considering so much terrain the train passes through is simply uninhabited.
I once saw a documentary on Kamchatka, that was interesting when the host said 'there is not a single human being 400 miles in any direction'.
This show has some amazingly beautiful scenery - period.
Trains are always a fun ride anyway, but I highly recommend catching this show at least once.
If only there were more passenger trains?
Who knows maybe with global warming, Alaska becomes the new Texas.
However, many shows just complicate the matter with pointless theatrics.
I think of all the shows though, this one wins considering so much terrain the train passes through is simply uninhabited.
I once saw a documentary on Kamchatka, that was interesting when the host said 'there is not a single human being 400 miles in any direction'.
This show has some amazingly beautiful scenery - period.
Trains are always a fun ride anyway, but I highly recommend catching this show at least once.
If only there were more passenger trains?
Who knows maybe with global warming, Alaska becomes the new Texas.
Should have used Mike Rowe instead of...
timedoctor1 June 2018
Whoever is narrating it. Sounds like the guy is shouting, but I guess I've gotten used to Mike Rowe's narration on "Deadliest Catch" among other shows he has done. I found the content interesting, but
I can't find anything over season 1, episode 6 on "Destination America"...Thank God it was not on ABC, (worst network ever!), as it probably would not have gone past the first episode.
Only interesting the First Time
clydeboyd320 December 2014
The premise for this reality show is actually very interesting, however, EVERY show is basically the same plot, namely: 1. There is ice/snow/rocks/debris on the track 2. The train MUST get through with the essential freight 3. "Hurry up the trains a coming."
When I say everything is the same every episode I am not exaggerating. The scripted words are so lame its amateurish. The dialog is so absurdly stilted it is almost funny. What is particularly annoying is the phony attempt in every episode to make it seem like disaster is about to strike if the track isn't cleared so they always have at least one railroad person yelling at the workers " hurry up the trains coming" .The workers actually doing the work ignore these commands because even they know that the exclamations are phony and made for TV. The simple reality is that if the tracks are blocked the trains are going to stop and wait until they are cleared, but this show's producers think the viewers are so stupid that they actually believe that the train will keep on coming down the tracks even though the track is blocked. The other part of the show is to focus on the weirdos living off the grid which depend on rail access, with a particular emphasis on focusing on a one handed mutant looking guy And his toothless wife.
All in all they took would could have been interesting and turned it into a lame soap opera like show with the SAME plot every episode. If you have seen one or two episodes of this show you've literally seen them all.
When I say everything is the same every episode I am not exaggerating. The scripted words are so lame its amateurish. The dialog is so absurdly stilted it is almost funny. What is particularly annoying is the phony attempt in every episode to make it seem like disaster is about to strike if the track isn't cleared so they always have at least one railroad person yelling at the workers " hurry up the trains coming" .The workers actually doing the work ignore these commands because even they know that the exclamations are phony and made for TV. The simple reality is that if the tracks are blocked the trains are going to stop and wait until they are cleared, but this show's producers think the viewers are so stupid that they actually believe that the train will keep on coming down the tracks even though the track is blocked. The other part of the show is to focus on the weirdos living off the grid which depend on rail access, with a particular emphasis on focusing on a one handed mutant looking guy And his toothless wife.
All in all they took would could have been interesting and turned it into a lame soap opera like show with the SAME plot every episode. If you have seen one or two episodes of this show you've literally seen them all.
I have a love-hate relationship with this show
fatlizz18 November 2015
On the one hand I would just as soon remove it from my record list, on the other hand the subject matter, scenery and characters keep dragging me back season after season.
I might be a faithful watcher, but I'm getting really tired of being subjected to editing that is sloppy and obviously forced in an attempt to create drama where none exists, nor is needed.
To be fair this is a trait shared among most 'reality' shows, but come on! Just how many times do we have to sit through a train 'bearing down' on a repair crew or broken-down piece of equipment only to find the blockage is cleared in the nick of time!
And on the sloppy side of editing, we loyal viewers are repeatedly subjected to panoramic shots of trains that are clearly not part of the current narrative. A fact glaringly obvious when the number of engines on the trains don't match and/or the load is different.
All of this would be much easier to swallow if I didn't have to listen to the far from dulcet tones of narrator Demetri Goritsas. I'm not sure who thought this stage actor would make a good television narrator but they didn't consult with me first!!
His near-shouting style of speech and uncomfortably close to fingernails on a chalkboard voice might work when trying to project from the stage all the way to the rear row of a 1000 seat theater, but on the small screen it's just annoying!
Yet here I am, faithfully subjecting myself to the first episode of the third season anyway. . .
I might be a faithful watcher, but I'm getting really tired of being subjected to editing that is sloppy and obviously forced in an attempt to create drama where none exists, nor is needed.
To be fair this is a trait shared among most 'reality' shows, but come on! Just how many times do we have to sit through a train 'bearing down' on a repair crew or broken-down piece of equipment only to find the blockage is cleared in the nick of time!
And on the sloppy side of editing, we loyal viewers are repeatedly subjected to panoramic shots of trains that are clearly not part of the current narrative. A fact glaringly obvious when the number of engines on the trains don't match and/or the load is different.
All of this would be much easier to swallow if I didn't have to listen to the far from dulcet tones of narrator Demetri Goritsas. I'm not sure who thought this stage actor would make a good television narrator but they didn't consult with me first!!
His near-shouting style of speech and uncomfortably close to fingernails on a chalkboard voice might work when trying to project from the stage all the way to the rear row of a 1000 seat theater, but on the small screen it's just annoying!
Yet here I am, faithfully subjecting myself to the first episode of the third season anyway. . .
Interesting show. Horrible narrator.
james-lang9012 November 2018
While entertaining at first...
bluecoupe-623141 March 2019
No train blows their whistles in the middle of nowhere and every 2 minutes. To signal moving forward, reverse and crossings are the main whistle signals. I actually can't watch it anymore because of all of the stupid whistles they insert. I guess to reinforce the fact that it's a train or something.... makes no sense
Poorly scripted
parkey-340479 October 2016
The show has the potential to be very entertaining, but its just sickening to see how much the producers try manufacture drama. In almost every scene, there is some kind of falsified drama, and you can very easily tell that it is scripted, and very poorly at that. I would love to be able to watch the show without drama being shoved down my throat. Some drama throughout the show would be welcomed, but this much falsified drama coming from people who, for the record, cannot act at all, are trying to propose the idea of constant drama, of which doesn't exist,
If this is supposed to be a reality TV show, it should start being more real.
If this is supposed to be a reality TV show, it should start being more real.
Stories not as compelling but scenery better than Thomas the Tank Engine
moonrazer-487-18439319 December 2014
Warning: Spoilers
OK full disclosure here. I like trains, earlier this week I was shopping for a caboose for the back yard. I'm afraid the house management is going to object and we haven't even gotten to the HOA despite my plan to letter it for our subdivision.
Anyway on to the show. If it's running on rails it's got my attention so this show caught my attention the first time I caught it channel surfing.
This one those myriad reality shows that shows mundane jobs and hypes everything to the point that you would think that life on this planet would cease as we know it if they somehow failed to complete the task that they do five days a week.
The Alaska Railroad is a 500 mile line that serves the interior of Alaska, starting in Seward Alaska. It's owned by the State of Alaska and has no land connections to any other railroads. The railroad is unique in that it has both freight and passenger operations.
A typical episode breaks down in several smaller stories with the railroad either as a back drop or as the subject itself. Off griders comprise a lot of the stories. Off griders are people that live off the grid roughing it the Alaskan wilderness usually after a trip to Alaska and giving up everything to move there. (No thanks, I'll take a beach, anywhere without icebergs) With the off griders usually some critical item has to come by train. A recent episode had off griders working to put a roof on a house before a snowstorm. Another story was about another group of off griders moving a house about the size of decent tree house out of the path of rising river. All of these depended on the railroad to get them supplies in the most dramatic manner imaginable. I think Thomas does it better but the Island of Sodor cant beat Alaska for scenery.
Meanwhile on the railroad, crews were dealing with their own troubles. One crew was pulling a train with supplies vital to a mining operation and was concerned with getting through a tunnel. (tape measures anyone?) and having enough horsepower in their cheeky little locomotives to get over the highest park of the railroad. (There are formulas for this, and that's why they sometimes double head the engines on Thomas the Tank Engine.) One of the more interesting jobs and dramatic is snow clearing. The railroad employs a number of tactics to deal with this. In the last episode they were using a military surplus cannon(I got to get me one of those, although the HOA is not going to like it.) to trigger controlled avalanches.
If after years of mind numbing reality TV you hear a narrator when you're going to grocery store or plunging a toilet, then this will keep you staring blankly at your television screen for an hour. If trains are your thing, then you'll enjoy the photography, it very well done. If you suspend reality to some degree you may even enjoy the operations. This might be better with less stories offered and done in a half hour as opposed the one hour format it's in now.
Anyway on to the show. If it's running on rails it's got my attention so this show caught my attention the first time I caught it channel surfing.
This one those myriad reality shows that shows mundane jobs and hypes everything to the point that you would think that life on this planet would cease as we know it if they somehow failed to complete the task that they do five days a week.
The Alaska Railroad is a 500 mile line that serves the interior of Alaska, starting in Seward Alaska. It's owned by the State of Alaska and has no land connections to any other railroads. The railroad is unique in that it has both freight and passenger operations.
A typical episode breaks down in several smaller stories with the railroad either as a back drop or as the subject itself. Off griders comprise a lot of the stories. Off griders are people that live off the grid roughing it the Alaskan wilderness usually after a trip to Alaska and giving up everything to move there. (No thanks, I'll take a beach, anywhere without icebergs) With the off griders usually some critical item has to come by train. A recent episode had off griders working to put a roof on a house before a snowstorm. Another story was about another group of off griders moving a house about the size of decent tree house out of the path of rising river. All of these depended on the railroad to get them supplies in the most dramatic manner imaginable. I think Thomas does it better but the Island of Sodor cant beat Alaska for scenery.
Meanwhile on the railroad, crews were dealing with their own troubles. One crew was pulling a train with supplies vital to a mining operation and was concerned with getting through a tunnel. (tape measures anyone?) and having enough horsepower in their cheeky little locomotives to get over the highest park of the railroad. (There are formulas for this, and that's why they sometimes double head the engines on Thomas the Tank Engine.) One of the more interesting jobs and dramatic is snow clearing. The railroad employs a number of tactics to deal with this. In the last episode they were using a military surplus cannon(I got to get me one of those, although the HOA is not going to like it.) to trigger controlled avalanches.
If after years of mind numbing reality TV you hear a narrator when you're going to grocery store or plunging a toilet, then this will keep you staring blankly at your television screen for an hour. If trains are your thing, then you'll enjoy the photography, it very well done. If you suspend reality to some degree you may even enjoy the operations. This might be better with less stories offered and done in a half hour as opposed the one hour format it's in now.
Modestly interesting. US-citizens yes, natives fully absent.
chnutscher29 April 2021
Modestly interesting. US-citizens yes, natives fully absent.
Hello from Switzerland. Alaska, of course of some exotic taste, and the premise of railroads in icy environments is appealing enough for the tech savy.
But then? Various portraits of society dropouts, where it is left completely out from what the do live at all? Pretty pathetic in some parts, where the "daily deadly danger" is pointed out ad libidum, as if the alaskian people would be endangered all day long, struggling permanently for life. Where the "danger" seem to consist in mobile phones not working for an emergence call, or not to be able to reach the next supermarket. Involuntary hilarious.
But the "best", from a foreign point of view: the native indigenous people, descendant of inuits etc. Are completely absent. Unbelievable! Serie 1, 6 episodes, I haven't seen a single one. Hopefully, they in some way also profit of that railroad? Don't know the demographics, but I'm sure there must be some. From that point of view, a shameful one-sided view. Where one would think that probably they should somehow be the most experienced there concerning the real struggle of "surviving".
The tech part is OK, but the whole narrative is quiet one-dimensional.
Hello from Switzerland. Alaska, of course of some exotic taste, and the premise of railroads in icy environments is appealing enough for the tech savy.
But then? Various portraits of society dropouts, where it is left completely out from what the do live at all? Pretty pathetic in some parts, where the "daily deadly danger" is pointed out ad libidum, as if the alaskian people would be endangered all day long, struggling permanently for life. Where the "danger" seem to consist in mobile phones not working for an emergence call, or not to be able to reach the next supermarket. Involuntary hilarious.
But the "best", from a foreign point of view: the native indigenous people, descendant of inuits etc. Are completely absent. Unbelievable! Serie 1, 6 episodes, I haven't seen a single one. Hopefully, they in some way also profit of that railroad? Don't know the demographics, but I'm sure there must be some. From that point of view, a shameful one-sided view. Where one would think that probably they should somehow be the most experienced there concerning the real struggle of "surviving".
The tech part is OK, but the whole narrative is quiet one-dimensional.
Is this the richest country on the planet?
term-4052227 January 2021
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