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Posts:
4
From:
Deptford NJ
Registered:
12/11/08
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(1 of 112)
Dec 11, 2008 4:17 AM
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Hi All,
I joined up to basically post here. While I am grateful that the History Channel has chosen to produce a series on railroads which is not a very popular subject in the computer and video game age, the show needs a MAJOR makeover. I have been a railfan for all of my 46 years. Seeing something new on TV on trains is always a good thing. I hope it is continued past the current episodes.
But...
The host is amazingly annoying to watch! He either HAS to GO or shut him up! At times I almost can't watch the show. The script is so dumbed down that a 5th grader can explain it to a 1st grader. I realize the show is catering to the masses, not a die hard rail fan like me, but they go WAY beyond what is necessary here. He is continually trying to make things that happen every day 50+ times a day E X T R E M E. This is NOT WWF Wrestling! Trains traverse Cajon Pass constantly. Show THAT not MATT saying how EXTREME it is 50 times!
If the editors chopped out all but 1 time of Matt stating how fast they were going in the Acela episode, it would have cut 15 minutes form the show! When Matt interacts with the locomotive crews and asks a really dumb question (which is often) the response is unsurprisingly underwhelming. Eeehor from Winnie The Pooh has answered questions more enthusiastically.
The zoom in and out camera angles and fast cuts are from some horrid Britney Spears music video reject. I don't need to see the pores in Matt's nose or what he had for breakfast before they zoom in at the next subject. The music for the latest show (Union Pacific 844 goes to the Cheyenne Rodeo) was like something from a Star Wars battle scene. ALL bad, cheesy, over produced, and some statements were just plain WRONG. It IS the HISTORY CHANNEL. Are correct facts and statements not important?
In spite of the above, I watch because there are snippets that I would not otherwise be able to see. I have never seen a NS coal train going through a continuous loader. I never would have guessed that there are produce warehouses large enough to take in a whole train for indoor loading. So YES, the show DID inform even ME.
With the aide of someone that KNOWS railroading, I believe the show CAN be saved!!!!!!! Back off a few million light years on the choppy camera cuts and zooms, KILL the constant script and shot repetition and get a new host. or tone him down to the opening and closing credits. Just because he works for a railroad in Maine, it does not qualify him to KNOW railroading, or be a good host for a TV show.
Think about WHO is watching the SHOW. Like it or not, it is ME. I am by far on the young side of the railfan age group at 46. I know that because of the train groups and meetings I attend.
NO one I know that has seen the show has said it is great as is. Everyone has said it is difficult to watch.
FIX it and we WILL watch!
Bill Lane
Deptford NJ
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Posts:
20
Registered:
12/9/08
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(2 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 11, 2008 5:13 AM
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Yes, the show is painful to watch, but does contain some points of interest. None of them involve the host.
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Posts:
1
From:
Indiana
Registered:
12/11/08
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(3 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 11, 2008 7:14 AM
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This program has good intentions and potential. However, why must I suffer through this MTV format to squeez a few bits of information from the copy while trying to focus on the quick flashes of video shot from the visual angle of a dead poodle lying along the tracks. Clearly the producers do not have a clue as to the type of individuals that are interested in the subject. Changes are needed.
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Posts:
17
From:
N E Florida
Registered:
11/15/08
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(4 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 12, 2008 8:57 AM
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I totally agree with everything that's been said here. Actually, if we got rid of some of the stupid stuff, there'd be more time for pertinant FACTS!
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Posts:
1
From:
Jacksonville, FL
Registered:
12/12/08
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(5 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 12, 2008 6:35 PM
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I am a retired railroad officer with 34 years on both the Southern Railway (not NS) and Chessie System leading to retiring form CSX.
The Host has got to go. In all honesty, if I was his trainmaster, he would have been run off the property a long time ago. A few railroads welcome railfans as employees, but many do not, based on experiences with Employees like Matt Bown.
I can assure that running a train over Cajon Pass, through Blue Mountains, or over the Horseshoe curve has nothing on a distributed power train going over Saluda Mtn. in the Carolinas when that line was in use, or over the Old Fort Grade which is in use.
The behavior exhibited by the host of this program ruins what is otherwise an excellent program and then the coffin is nailed shut with those dead animal shots and quick speedups. Even with all that, the program is informative. I have participated in unloading coal trains several times at Belmont & Catawba, NC, and Milledgeville, GA, and it is still interesting to see.
Railroadman
retired employee, active railfan till God calls me home.
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Posts:
98
From:
Scrap Yard
Registered:
11/18/08
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(6 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 13, 2008 2:38 AM
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How did the SOU and Chessie/CSX allow you to work for them if you are an "active railfan 'till God calls me home" Not all railfans act like Matt does, some of us actually act mature enough to hold responsible jobs. What is unfortunate is that folks like Matt provide the basis for a stereotype that limits employment options for thousands of people who could use and could perform a good job, particularly in this economy. I'm glad I'm working but many other railfans are unemployed, having the option of railroad employment would be nice for those fellows.
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Posts:
17
From:
N E Florida
Registered:
11/15/08
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(7 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 13, 2008 7:55 AM
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A couple of questions for Railroadman:
What is a "distributed power train"? I would guess, power on front, rear and middle, but it's just a guess.
Could you give a little more info on the Saluda Mtn and Old Fort grade? Like location.
Yes, it's still informative. I'm learning stuff I didn't know, so I'll keep watching.
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Posts:
3
Registered:
12/13/08
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(8 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 13, 2008 10:43 AM
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Could not agree more. The host is HORRID, juvenile, annoying and counterproductive to what could be an excellent show. His hyperbole is distracting. What really bothers me is how he actually LIED in the segment about the steam train, 844. He talked and talked about how it hauled the passenger cars, how it was on its own, needing a tool car--yet a few distance shots clearly showed a diesel locomotive PUSHING engine 844. I found that remarkably disappointing.
If 844 needed help, that is understandable...but for the host to LIE about it is inexcusable!
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Posts:
1
Registered:
12/13/08
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(9 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Dec 13, 2008 7:08 PM
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This guy is a conductor? On what, the Christmas Train at the Mall?
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Posts:
1
From:
Montesano, Washington, USA
Registered:
1/4/09
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(10 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 4, 2009 9:42 PM
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Hello everyone,
I'm new here and this is my first post.
My husband and I just found the Extreme Trains show ON Demand and really like to watch. We are Senior's but have loved trains all of our lives. We have learned so much by watching and listening to Matt. His great enthusiasm is contagious and we feel that he is a joy to watch.
We don't understand the negative comments about how he acts on the show!! Is there something wrong with showing your love of trains?
To knock Matt for what he says, gives us the impression that some of you, who have posted here, are jealous or envious of the job Matt has with the History Channel..
You don't seem to remember that he works for the History Channel and they are the ones who write the script that Matt uses in the show. Matt may add some of his own words, but his boss is the one to approve what was said on each episode before it is aired.
How would those of you, who are bad mouthing Matt, conduct yourselves, if you were on the show as the Host? Would you do as you were told by your producer of boss? Or would you have to do it the way you think it should be done, because you have or had been in the business for more years than Matt has been living!!!???
I too joined this group to post my comments. To hear right off the bat all the negative about Matt and the show, really was disappointing to us.
We wanted to say thank you to Matt for such a great, exciting job done on the show. Also to thank the History Channel for hiring Matt as their host.
His love of trains and the enthusiasm he brings to the show, is what makes the show so GREAT!!
Is it so difficult to watch some young guy, filled with so much love and enthusiasm for trains, have so much fun?
The great part for Matt, we feel, is he's not only doing what he loves, but he is getting paid to do it!!
How much better could a job be???
Instead of belittling Matt for his enthusiasm, why not be constructive if you think there is room for improvement and give him some pointers.
Kindness goes along way!!!
Teedee
Montesano, Wa.
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Posts:
20
Registered:
12/9/08
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(11 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 4, 2009 11:03 PM
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Because some of us have a different opinion than you, and just as you have the right to post here and wax poetic about the sweet boy and his "enthusiasm", we have the right to complain about his embarassing lack of self control! Of course he is being directed by others; that point has been made before and I'm sure everyone understands that, but the end result is the host looks foolish.
Pity that.
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Posts:
11
From:
Soddy Daisy, TN
Registered:
12/29/08
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(12 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 5, 2009 4:27 PM
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You obviously don't understand railfans. We are a different breed of people, and when you make us look bad by giving a weird stereotype, we will act. Also when you try doing the things we do but without quality and try to sell it, we will act. This show has made railroaders and railfans look bad and many of us have no respect for it.
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Posts:
2
From:
surprise, az
Registered:
1/5/09
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(13 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 5, 2009 9:55 PM
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i'm so glad to see that i am not alone on this - the host stinks!!!! i am a huge train and railroad enthusiast, and i was very happy to see this show come on the air. i got about half way through the first episode, and i wanted to bite my arm off and throw it at the tv after hearing that semi retarded moron yammer on about nothing. i have not watched the show since - i hope the history channel revamps the show with the host doing his farewell episode strapped to the front of a locomotive as it plows into the side of a mountain. that mushmouth almost made me lose my love for trains, but alas, i composed myself, and realized that this dummy was not going to rob me of my love for all things concerning railroading. if history revises the show, i will watch it again.
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Posts:
1
From:
RI
Registered:
1/6/09
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(14 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 6, 2009 10:02 AM
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I am willing to bet that all of you would not know what to say or do if you where him. Most of you spend your whole life to get that single "cab ride" and when you do you ask questions like "what does that knob do?" Give me a break...if you do not like him just do not watch the show. I am sure all of you have thousands of movies you can fantasize over. Leave him alone . Right now I think it is the only show about trains even on.
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Posts:
6
Registered:
12/17/08
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(15 of 112)
Re: The host has GOT to GO!
Jan 6, 2009 12:57 PM
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And I guess that's part of the reason why people complain about it. If there was a better alternative they would just watch that and shut up. For the most part, people who complain are people who care. For some it might be a habit.
To say "If you don't like the guy don't watch the show!" is a bit short-sighted, IMHO. Not everything is that black and white. Looks like many people like some aspects of the show (or they wouldn't watch it) and dislike others (the way it is produced) and I agree with them. I don't agree with the wording of some posts, however.
The same goes for "I bet you couldn't do it better!" You don't need to be a baking expert to determine whether a bread is good or bad. And you don't need to be a screen writer to say whether you like how the show is produced.
Matthias
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