Railfan Technology > Is Video Rails Still in Business?

I was wondering if the railroad video company Video Rails was still in business. I recently received my grandfather's collection of train videos and have found several of their titles. Included are two BETA tapes, "Take A Ride With Video Rails: Norfolk & Western Class J #611" and "Streamliners of Yesteryear". I want to contact them to find out if there is any way I can get digital copies of these titles or give them these titles for reproduction if not. If anyone can provide me with information it would be greatly appreciated.

Pentrex has most (all?) of Video Rails catalog.  

You can always just get them converted to DVD as well.  Most towns have a guy that does that sort of work.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/19 19:53 by sixaxlecentury.

sixaxlecentury Wrote:
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> Pentrex has most (all?) of Video Rails
> catalog.

Yes, Pentrex purchased Video Rails, something in the mid-1990's, I think 1993.  Since then, a LOT as changed in the railroad video market.  Highball Productions was purchased by another video producer who first took the Highball name, then purchased Pentrex and took there name.  I don't believe Pentrex produces any new videos, simply selling copies of there large catalog.

Per Wikipedia-Pentrex Media Group, LLC, is an American producer and seller of railfan-related videos and DVDs. It was founded in 1984 and was originally headquartered in Pasadena, California.

The company discontinued the sale of VHS video tapes on July 31, 2009.  Until 1999, Pentrex also published books and magazines, and its magazine editorial offices were located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It continues to sell books and back issues of its defunct magazines, but no longer publishes any. In 1993, the company acquired Glendale-based Interurban Press, a publisher of books primarily about streetcars, interurbans and trolley buses, in business since the 1940s.

Initially, Pentrex continued publication of books and all of the magazines it had acquired from Interurban Press, but these were gradually phased out, as the company concentrated on production and sales of videos and, later, DVDs.The last magazines published by Pentrex were RailNews (ISSN 1091-2436) (formerly Pacific RailNews, ISSN 8750-8486) and Vintage Rails, the final issues of which were those dated August 1999 and September/October 1999, respectively. Pentrex also published Passenger Train Journal (ISSN 0160-6913) until 1996 and Locomotive & Railway Preservation magazine (ISSN 0891-7647) until 1997.  Passenger Train Journal resumed publication in late 2006, with a new publisher, White River Productions.

On April 7, 2017, the company merged with Highball Productions and moved from Pasadena to Indianapolis, Indiana. (Info courtesy Wikipedia)  Bill Farmer was involved with Pentrex Media videos.

 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/19 04:09 by cozephyr.