Do The Dew! OK, this review is just a quickie. A 30 second commercial, to be exact. I first saw this ad online while waiting for my YouTube Virtual Railfan camera to fire up (My favorite cams are Skykomish, LaPlata, Fort Madison, Flagstaff and Arvada).
I believe this commercial was heavily “touched up” (as we used to call it) with whatever modern manipulative software they use nowadays.
From a railroad standpoint, the first thing I see are two, orange diesel locomotives leading a freight train. It is a single track line with a dirt road running alongside. They’re in a desert setting with small, hopefully-extinct, volcanic peaks in the background. The orange engines are POSSIBLY BNSF Railway GE units of some kind, or maybe even Genesee and Wyoming short line power.
In other words, this could have been filmed almost anywhere.
Three cars behind the diesels is the neon green Mountain Dew box car — the main “protagonist” of our feature. Very eye-catching. Unfortunately, there’s a startling lack of information about today’s short on the Internet — at least what I can find. So let’s dig a little deeper…
Just for fun, here’s a K-Line O-scale DIET Mountain Dew box car and a Lionel Mountain Dew tank car.
Our story opens with four Generation Z mountain bikers overlooking a freight train from a bluff. From what I can see, the train consist is:
Two BNSF GE ES44DC diesel locomotives (elephant style) leading a tall hopper car, a single-level (blue) 40′ container, a 50′ single plug door box car (Mountain Dew) with both doors open, hopper car with braces, covered hopper car, covered sand or cement hopper, blue double stack containers, and another 50′ box car (with closed doors).
The kids roar downhill and approach the moving train. Note the frozen ice just inside the door and around the stacks of beverage. This is NOT a mechanical refrigerator car, so where the ice comes from is a mystery. The train must not be going very fast, because the bikers are gaining on it.
With the help of a conveniently-positioned ramp, one biker after another leaps inside the Mountain Dew box car.
WHOA! One of the riders comes in hot and nearly shoots straight out the other door! Fortunately, one of his comrades hauls him back inside.
Time to sample the product. Where have I seen this Dew-swilling guy before? I know. He looks a great deal like my old college roommate Duncan Marsh — shown here in Anderson-Langdon Room 314 along with Chad Haines and Maureen Hood. Rainier Beer was the preferred cheap beverage back in those days.
FINALE: The quartet of Zoomers stand mouth-agape at the menagerie of pursuers after their carbonated soda. I spy: motorcycles including one with a sidecar, automobiles, man riding a camel, helicopter, golf cart, man on scooter, and of course, someone hovering with a jet-pack.
Good info about the commercial found on this link (if it’s still working):
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/1Xgs/mountain-dew-train-chasers
As well as the actual commercial on YouTube:
If you have ANY information about this commercial you’d like to share, please contact me at: Lindsay.Korst@gmail.com, or leave a comment. Thanks and enjoy the blog!
THE END
More Obscure Train Movies 