timedoctor 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.

parkey-34047 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.

spostma-297-931078 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!!!

moonrazer-487-184393 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.