Rolling the Freight

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

How to build a model railroad.

Just as the original hobos of the early 20th century were scorned the mainstream of society, so too are today's train riders. FREELOAD is a dive into a beggar's existence. It is a ride through America's backyard. It is a musical endeavor that feels like a drama. It is a sociological examination of the ignored.

Inside the train from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, the snow-covered landscape and the darkness of the tunnel, three windows offer serene yet ever-changing impressions.

Kolem republiky

Could our mounting modern problems have ancient solutions? Travel to the depths of China to find out.

TGV, 30 ans de vitesse

This incredible journey features the famous steam trains that power through the spectacular San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. From Durango to Silverton, see the forested wilderness, and its beautiful lakes, waterfalls, and rivers. Be amazed at the route that travels over narrows passes, high bridges, and steep cliffs!

During the World Ski Championships, hundreds of thousands of people were in Holmenkollen. A great many of them used the Holmenkollbanen to get out into the fields and arenas. When the Holmenkoll Railway was opened in 1898, it was the Nordic region's first suburban railway; today the line is part of Oslo's subway network and transports permanent residents and tourists to Holmenkollen and Frognerseteren. Now you get an orchestra seat for the tour - minute by minute. The recordings were made on Saturday - before the women's three-mile race.

TGV, la réussite française

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

La saga du rail

This documentary features about 20 minutes of footage of and from North Korea's aging rolling stock - steam trains being used quite in earnest rather than for the historical interest of kids and hardcore train geeks - and then about six minutes of footage of Pyongyang's subway and trams.

Alice Diop's enchanting short film, a work of transcendent transformation, shows how the rough lines of Drancy station are immortalized in watercolor by the French artist Benoît Peyrucq. A tribute to a location fraught with historical and contemporary poignancy.

A film about the Southern Pacific Railroad and the men and women who keep the trains running.

A production of the association of American Railroads outlining the wonders of America's rail system.

A documentary on the railroads of America produced by the Association of American Railroads

Documentary on the evolution and introduction of modern coal burning locomotives on the Norfolk and Western Railway line.

The story of the railroad man in his role in keeping the trains moving on the rails.