| Real Trains |
| Year |
Title |
Description |
| 1990 |
Alberto
Expre$$ | Alberto thought his upbringing
was on the house. Turns out, his parents were running a tab. Every
family has its own funny little traditions, but Alberto’s takes
quirkiness to the most hilarious. In Alberto’s family, the children must
pay their parents back every cent on their rearing; and the debt must be
completely repaid before the children start a family of their own.
Unfortunately, Alberto is 40 and flat broke. If he can’t come up with a
big chunk of change to repay his father in a hurry, he’s going to have
to figure out a way to return his about-to-be-born baby. Taking the
train to his father’s home to seek mercy, Alberto is struck with an
idea. Why not beg, borrow, and steal his way to financial fitness? A
wickedly funny comedy about families, finances and the kindness of
strangers. Staring Sergio Gastellitto with Nino Manfredi and Marie
Trintignant 90 min, comedy, unrated, in French and Italian with English
Sub-Titles (RW) (12/25/2009) |
| 1991 |
Addams
Family, The | A stark "O" Gauge layout
was constructed for this movie. Director Barry Sonnenfeld has a cameo as
a passenger. Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) looks in the window and laughs
before he crashes that train into another. Although Gomez moves the
handles on a Lionel ZW transformer, trains are actually controlled
off-camera. (05/23/2008) |
1951
-
1953 |
Adventures of Superman,
The | According to Jim Nolt's website (www.jimnolt.com/train-intro.htm)
, the locomotive in the opening sequence is SP DAYLIGHT GS-3 No. 4418,
also featured in two movies: The Beginning or the End (1947) and City
for Conquest (1940). It appears that the sequence was filmed not only
south of the tunnels at the Santa Susana Pass in western San Fernando
Valley, but south of the Chatsworth railroad depot. The area in and
about the Chatsworth area was quite popular for filming, as it was a
stone's throw from the Iverson Ranch. Of course, the west San Fernando
Valley was still quite rural at the time. Freezing a frame
during the close-up of whirling drivers reveals that they are spoked.
They belong to a different locomotive. Beginning with streamlined
GS-2's, SP DAYLIGHT 4-8-4's had Box Pox drivers, as sole survivor No.
4449 does today. When The Adventures of Superman was filmed in color,
the GS-3 was replaced by EMD A-B-B diesels in a DAYLIGHT paint scheme.
(TV) (09/19/2007) |
| 1935 |
Anna
Karenina | (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1954 |
Apache |
Steam locomotive |
| 1975 |
Apple Dumpling Gang |
Steam locomotive |
| 1956 |
Around the World in Eighty Days |
D&RGW narrow-gauge locomotives still running in 1955 were too
big and modern for the era of Phineas Fogg, but the producers came across
C-18 2-8-0 No. 315 (Baldwin, 1896) on display in Durango since February,
1950. Rather than restore her, they supplied smoke and steam as special
effects, and a K-28 2-8-2 and an Army diesel moved the train from the
rear. Locations included Rockwood Cut on the Silverton Branch and Ignacio
depot on the main line. Afterward, No. 315 was returned to her display
site. The movie has a galaxy of stars, including David Niven, Shirley
MacLaine, Cantiflas and Robert Newton. (01/18/2005) |
| 1999 |
Atomic
Train |
Hijacked
nuclear bombs on the way to Denver. Good train wreck with Rob Lowe and
Kristen Davis (TV)
(04/05/2005) |
| 1979 |
Avalanche
Express | |
| 1990 |
Back to the Future III |
Stranded in 1885 with no gasoline to fill the punctured fuel
tank of their time-traveling DeLorean, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and
Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) commandeer Sierra Railroad 4-6-0 No. 3 (built
by Rogers Locomotive Works, Patterson, New Jersey, in 1891; ex-Prescott &
Arizona Central) to push the car to 88 mph. At that moment, the car vanishes
and a model of No. 3 roars off the end of a bridge then under construction.
In the grand finale, Doc Brown, his dog (Einstein), his wife (Clara), and
their children (Jules and Verne) appear in the present to Marty in the cab
of No. 3, rebuilt as a flying time machine. (05/23/2008) |
| 1943 |
Background
to Danger | |
| 1955 |
Bad Day At
Blackrock | Southern Pacific Daylight
diesel passenger |
| 1960 |
Ballad Of A Soldier |
(Russian) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1946 |
Bataille du
Rail, La | |
| 1995 |
Before Sunrise |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1945 |
Berlin |
Steam locomotive |
| 1946 |
Berlin Express |
Trapped on a steam train in post-World War II |
| 1938 |
Bete
humaine, La | Murder mystery on a train |
| 1956 |
Bhowani
Junction | |
| 1985 |
Biggels Adventures in Time |
German Train |
| 1957 |
Big Land,
The |
Steam locomotive, stock car |
| 1975 |
Bite the Bullet |
Steam locomotive |
| 1998 |
Blade |
Has a several scenes of Wesley Snipes fighting vampire in subway tunnels (J). (12/16/2009) |
| 2002 |
Blade 2 |
Has opening scenes of a tram in Moscow (J). (12/16/2009) |
| 2004 |
Blind Chance |
(Polish) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1926 |
Block
Signal, The | |
| 1976 |
Bound For Glory |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1972 |
Boxcar
Bertha | Based on a gripping true story
BOXCAR BERTHA is a true spellbinding tale of railroad renegades and
runaway romance from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese and legendary
producer Roger Corman. When small-time crook and free spirit Bertha
takes up with union man—and Robin-Hood-of-the-rails- Big Bill Shelly,
they soon become the most notorious and wanted train robbers in the
South. But as their crimes grow more brazen, the law grows more ruthless
and the duo discovers that their lifetime of larceny may have brought
them a one-way ticket to a deadly destination! Stars Barbara Hersey and
David Carradine Col Sub-Title options (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1950 |
Brave Engineer, The |
Set to the song, "Casey Jones." Good ol' Casey delivers the
mail but does appalling damage to his locomotive. The narrator is Jerry
Colona, who co-starred with Bob Hope. Casey roars out of a yard, apparently
using every track. After moving big hand levers to open switches for Casey, an
exhausted towerman slumps into a chair and notes that departure on his form.
Above Casey's name is "W. Kimball," a reference to the late Ward Kimball, one
of the "nine old men" of Disney animators and proprietor of the Grizzly Flats
Railroad, "Scenic Wonder of the West," in his back yard. (12/03/2004) |
| 1975 |
Breakheart Pass |
Most of the film is set on the train!
And the train (headed by Great Western
Railroad 2-8-0 No. 75) was filmed on the Camas Prairie, a UP subsidiary,
in February and March, 1975. The snow is real. This movie conveys
unspoiled scenery, steep grades, and large wooden trestles that inspired a
nickname for this line: "The Railroad on Stilts."
The train is the star. It
includes the stream locomotive, some heavy weight passenger cars and some
troop transport cars. There are scenes in the locomotive and tender, a fight
on the roof walks, and a disastrous derailment. Internet Movie Database
mistakenly states that this story takes place in the Rocky Mountains of
Colorado but it is actually set in the Sierra Nevada mountains and other
northern California mountain ranges and ends in Eureka California. (JoK) (12/15/2008) |
| 1957 |
Bridge On The River Kwai, The |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1945 |
Brief Encounter |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1941 |
Broadway
Limited | This "screwball comedy" was
filmed with the cooperation of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The star is K4
Pacific No. 3768, the first streamlined PRR steam locomotive, and a
matching consist, all new in 1938. The movie begins with the train
speeding along "the broad way" - not the famous street but the PRR
right-of-way between New York City and Chicago, 4 tracks and 6 tracks wide
for 960 miles. Hilarious plot twists unfold aboard the train. When No.
3768 is pressed into emergency service, D-16sb 4-4-0 No. 1223, still
hand-fired, steps in. She brings the train into Harrisburg, PA, where a
GG-1 takes over. In 1969, No. 1223 in a fake stack and gaudy colors
starred in Hello Dolly. She now rests in The Railroad Museum of
Pennsylvania at Strasburg, heading a period passenger train. (05/17/2005) |
| 1975 |
Brother Can You Spare a Dime |
Steam locomotive |
| 1969 |
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1980 |
Cafe
Express | |
| 1937 |
California
Straight Ahead | |
| 1949 |
Canadian
Pacific |
Steam trains |
| 1954 |
Carmen Jones |
Escorting Carmen (Dorothy Dandridge) to jail, Joe (Harry
Belafonte) drives an Army Jeep along a dirt road. A chime whistle signals
train scenes. Joe and Carmen pass a local freight headed by a Southern Pacific
2-8-0 with a Vanderbilt tender and a SP caboose at each end. They stop at a
rural grade crossing. As the train passes, Carmen hops out, climbs the front
steps of the rear caboose, and runs on a flatcar, with Joe in hot pursuit. SP
lettering is blacked out. Lionel Postwar models and variations of that caboose
(Nos. 6457 et al.) are still in production. NOTE: For some reason, husbands'
comparisons of Carmen's black blouse and orange skirt to SP DAYLIGHT colors
seem farfetched to wives. Go figure. (01/17/2006) |
| 1976 |
Cassandra
Crossing, The | |
| 1954 |
Carnival Story |
Steam locomotive, trolley |
| 1965 |
Cat Ballou |
Train robbery on the D&RGW Royal Gorge Route features Lee
Marvin, Jane Fonda, Engineer Everett Rohrer with friends as the crew, and
ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 No. 51. Hardly any scenery included. Can't hold
a candle to A Ticket to Tomahawk. Columbia wanted to use No. 51 again for The
Professionals in late 1965, but No. 51 had developed mechanical problems. Mr.
Rorher notified the studio of Great Western 2-8-0 No. 75. That locomotive
doubled as "J. W. Grant No. 75" and "N de M No. 903." No. 75 starred in
Breakhart Pass, filmed on the Camas Prairie, a UP subsidiary, in 1975, taking
advantage of unspoiled scenery, 4% grades, tunnels and large wooden trestles. (11/19/2004) |
| 2003 |
Catching Out |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1980 |
Caught On A
Train | |
| 1998 |
Central Station |
(Portuguese) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1969 |
Cerveau, Le | |
| 1963 |
Charade |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1960 |
Chartroose
Caboose | |
| 1984 |
Chattanooga
Choo Choo | |
| 1967 |
Closely Watched
Trains | |
| 1997 |
Coca Cola Kid |
Steam locomotive, early cola bottling plant |
| 1996 |
Color of a
Brisk and Leaping Day |
The attempt to save the Yosemite Valley RR after World
War II. It was filmed on the Sierra RR and includes archival footage. (GD) (02/14/2008) |
| 1945 |
Dakota |
|
| 1930 |
Danger Lights |
A tough yardmaster (Louis Wolheim) befriends a young hobo
(Robert Armstrong, who would star in KING KONG in 1933) and gets him started
on the Milwaukee Road. Scenes show how railroaders lived on the job and at
home. The movie gets better and better. A Pacific and a Mikado push each other
back and forth during an Old Timers' Picnic with thundering exhausts, blasting
whistles, spinning drivers, and billowing steam. The sequence with a
dynamometer is reportedly the only one ever filmed. A poignant scene portrays
the yardmaster rescuing an old friend from alcohol by appealing to the higher
calling of the railroad: "It's our life." The hobo runs a special train at 100
mph to Chicago to save the yardmaster's life. Overlooked because of
black-and-white film and disregard for Hollywood trappings, this nitty-gritty
slice of life on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific is among the best
railroad films ever made - perhaps THE best. Look for it on tape or DVD. (01/17/2005) |
| 1968 |
Mercenaries,
The aka: Dark of the Sun |
Steam engine , wreck |
| 1970 |
Darling Lili | |
| 1978 |
Death on the Nile |
Steam locomotive |
| 1993 |
Death Train |
(Also Known as ALISTAIR MacLEAN’S DEATH TRAIN) Pierce
Brosnan (as James Bond in Die Another Day) and Patrick Stewart (Star
Trek: Nemesis) pack serious heat in this action-adventure based on
Alistair MacLean’s Death Train When a renegade Russian general send a
nuclear bomb hurtling toward the Middle East aboard a hijacked train,
special agents are dispatched to disarm the deadly device. Ten tons of
steel and one ounce of hot plutonium are now riding roughshod through
Europe. With time running out, the agents launch a desperate,
bullet-packed assault on a deadly moving target piloted by a
cold-blooded mercenary. (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 2003 |
Death Train |
Somewhere In the Mexican countryside, a runaway train is on
a collision course with terror. A band of trigger –happy, escaped
prisoners hold the passengers at gunpoint. Armed with only a gun and his
wits, agent Ryan ricks his life in a lethal game with the hijackers.
Seconds tick away as the unstoppable train rockets toward a head-on
impact, leaving Ryan and a trainload of people running out of
options…and time Stars Bryan Genesse, Michael Anthony Rosas and Bentley
Mitchum (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 2006 |
Death Train |
In this non-stop action adventure thriller, a brutal secret
order known as “Pugnus Dei“ is on a lethal mission for justice.
Determined to recruit a traumatized soldier, the group will stop at
nothing to achieve its goals. With a stellar cast that includes The
Mummy’s” Arnold Vosloo. DEATH TRAIN is packed with flying fists, martial
arts battles and dark secrets that will have you on the edge of your
seats (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1997 |
Deathline |
|
| 1952 |
Denver and Rio Grande |
The success of A Ticket to Tomahawk inspired producer Nat Holt
to film the battle for a route through Colorado's Royal Gorge. He used the
Silverton Branch and C-16 2-8-0 No. 268 (Baldwin, 1882). Good guy Jim Vesser
(Edmond O'Brien) and bad guy McCabe square off as representatives of the
Denver & Rio Grande and the Santa Fe, respectively. The most (in)famous scenes
record a head-on collision with Nos. 319 and 345 at Milepost 475, some 23
miles north of Durango. They met at a combined speed of 60 mph. Enhanced with
300 sticks of dynamite and 30 lbs.of black powder, the ensuing explosion
rocked the valley. Although both 2-8-0's emerged mostly intact and still on
the rails, they had been consigned to scrap. They were cut up and sent to
Colorado Fuel & Iron in Pueblo, where they were melted down for steel rails.
Ornamental cast-iron rings on No. 345's steam dome and sand dome were saved
and placed on No. 346 in the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden, by Coors
Brewery. Traces of the hotly contested right-of-way along the west bank of the
Arkansas River are evident as passengers ride the Royal Gorge Route Railroad
for 24 miles from Canon City, including the "Hanging Bridge" by the river at
the base of sheer cliffs 1,000 feet high (WEB SITE:
www.royalgorgeroute.com). (09/04/2006) |
| 1999 |
Dinner Game, The |
(French) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1979 |
Disaster on the Coastliner |
Amtrak, F diesel |
| 1939 |
Dodge City |
AT&SF steam engine, transcontinental railroad |
| 1965 |
Dr. Zhivago |
City railroad scenes were filmed in Spain, where the gauge
is 5' 6". Rural railroad scenes were filmed in Canada, including the log
station at Lake Louise on the Canadian Pacific, where the gauge is 4' 8
1/2" (standard gauge). The rails move farther apart and closer together as
the location changes. (11/01/2005) |
| 1971 |
Duck, You Sucker |
(Italian) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1941 |
Dumbo |
Walt Disney animator Ward Kimball based the little locomotive
heading a circus train on his own Emma Nevada, an 1881 Baldwin 2-6-0 operated
as the Sidney Dillon on the Nevada Central Railroad. In 1938, Ward purchased
her for the Grizzly Flats Railroad, "Scenic Wonder of the West," in his back
yard and renamed her for a opera singer born in an obscure California mining
town who rose to international prominence. Ward also animated the crows who
help Dumbo fly. Look for a small crow with black glasses. That's Ward. (12/03/2004) |
| 1966 |
Dutchman |
|
| 1957 |
Escapade in Japan |
Japanese steam locomotive |
| 1959 |
Earth Is Mine, The |
Rock Hudson, Jean Simmons, and Claude Rains share screen
time with Southern Pacific 2-6-0 No. 1744 (Baldwin, 1901)
on the Napa Valley Branch. No. 1744 and her 44 class M-6
sisters hustled PFE reefers through the San Joaquin Valley
for years. On May 4, 1958, she relieved SP No. 4460 on a
"Farewell to Southern Pacific Steam" excursion on the
Knight's Landing Branch. After retirement, No. 1744 was
displayed with UP 2-8-0 No. 6264 at a Golden Spike Railroad
Museum at Corinne, Utah, near Promontory. Then she ran on
the "Heeber Creeper" and on the "Big Easy Steam Train"
in New Orleans. On May 26, 2007, Engineer Earl Knoob and
Fireman Steve Butler made their first round trip with No. 1744
from Alamosa over La Veta Pass in Colorado on the Rio
Grande Scenic Railroad (www.alamosatrain.com). (09/06/2007) |
| 1982 |
Emperor of
Peru, The aka: Treasure Train |
Pacific Steam locomotive, cab view, kids restore train |
| 1973 |
Emperor of
The North |
Hobo's riding steam trains during the depression |
| 1988 |
End Of The
Line |
In the name of progress, a railroad company takes a magnificent
step backwards when management decides to abandon the rails for air freight.
Now two lifelong Southern railroad workers (Brimley and Helm) suddenly are
unemployed and their town is going out of business. Rather than sit back as
their lives and careers are destroyed the duo- two of the screens most
likely heroes- take off for the companies Chicago corporate headquarters in
a stolen locomotive to tell the chairman of the board a thing or two and
fight for their livelihoods and their own town. Stars Wilford Brimley, Kevin
Bacon, Mary Steenburgen and Levon Helm (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1991 |
Europa |
|
| 1948 |
Every Girl Should Be Married |
Trolley system |
| 2006 |
Everyone's
Hero |
This CG (computer-generated) movie brings fond railfan memories
to life. A boy named Yankee Irving travels from New York City to Chicago to
track down and return Babe Ruth's custom-made bat ("Darlin'," voiced by Whoopi
Goldberg), stolen from Yankee Stadium by a crooked pitcher so the Cubs will
win the World Series. The journey begins with the magnificent facade of Penn
Station. Then the boy enters the vast waiting room, walls soaring to the
skies. A chase sequence takes place on three heavyweight trains pacing each
other out of Penn Station, with exterior and interior views of coaches,
baggage cars and a diner. Subsequent scenes feature New York Central Hudsons,
apparently on the "Water Level Route" instead of the Pennsy's "Broad Way" ( 4
to 6 tracks wide) from NYC to Broad Street Station, Philadelphia, and west to
Pittsburgh and Chicago. It's good to see NYC Hudsons roaring along, but Pennsy
fans probably would prefer scenes on the huge bridge at Newark, the Horse Shoe
Curve west of Altoona, and the "speedway" through Crestline on the Fort Wayne
Division. Christopher Reeve was directing this movie at the time of his death.
His wife, Dana, is the voice of Emily Irving, the boy's mother. (10/08/2006) |
| 1939 |
Exile Express | |
| 1979 |
Express To Terror |
|
| 2003 |
Festival Express |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1971 |
Fiddler on the
Roof |
Steam train |
| 1984 |
Finders
Keepers |
|
| 1979 |
First Great
Train Robbery, The | |
| 2008 |
Fireproof |
A Georgia Southwestern Geep was used for one of the main
scenes. Kirk Cameron played the lead role of Fire Capt. Caleb Holt (DW) (04/22/2009) |
| 2007 |
Five Centimeters Per Second |
(Japanese) RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1969 |
Five Man Army |
Steam engine (POV, cab shoots, excellent) |
| 1967 |
Flim Flam Man |
Car on track, steam locomotive, |
| 1936 |
Florida
Special |
|
| 1929 |
Flying
Scotsman, The |
|
| 1942 |
For Me and My Gal |
Primitive steam locomotive race |
| 2004 |
4.50 From
Paddington | Two trains draw briefly
alongside each other as they race past a country house, and – to her
horror- Miss Marple’s friend, Mrs McGillicuddy witnesses a man in a
passing carriage briefly strangling a mystery woman. But with no body to
be found, the police decide she must have dreamt the incident. Miss
Marple is convinced the answer lies with the ill-fated family who own
the mansion passed by the train and persuades a bright young friend to
pose as a housekeeper and gather clues for her. Stars Nian Cusack, Pam
Ferris and John Hannah (TV)
(RW) (01/10/2010) |
| 1971 |
French Connection |
Steam locomotive |
| 1991 |
Fried Green Tomatoes |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1963 |
From Russia
With Love | James Bond |
| 1993 |
Fugitive,
The | In the title sequence of the ABC TV series (1963-1967), Dr. Richard
Kimble emerges from an overturned coach, freed by a derailment
en route to death row. In the movie, his prison van crashes through
a guard rail, overturns, and comes to rest on a railroad track. A
distant horn alerts guards and prisoners to the headlight of a
rapidly approaching freight train. A cowardly guard flees. Dr. Kimble,
his arms and ankles shackled, pushes guards and prisoners out
a window and jumps out just as a "GEEP" hits the van broadside.
Pursued by a second "GEEP" plowing through the ground, he
jumps beneath a small bridge and barely escapes with his life.
Quick scenes and ominous background music portray the wreck
in vivid detail. (09/06/2007) |
| 1960 |
From The
Terrace | After the opening credits, the
camera focuses on a skylight and pans down to a platform in Jersey City
Terminal, where a bell heralds the arrival of Reading T-1 4-8-4 No. 2124,
fresh from the first three Iron Horse Rambles. Sharp eyes notice
destination signs with John O'Hara's fictional towns, such as Gibbsville
(actually Pottsville). Actors board a 2000-series semi-streamlined
("Blimp") coach. Leaving, they walk past No. 2124 as a company official
barks orders to a subordinate. A caption states "PHILADELPHIA 1946," but
No. 2124 was too big for Reading Terminal at 12th & Market, so 20th
Century Fox filmed these scenes in Jersey City Terminal on December 2,
1959. About 10 minutes later, actor Paul Newman gets off a train at "Port
Johnson" at night. Filmed from the platform, the locomotive is a vague
black silhouette. After the train stops, fake-looking steam (probably
Hollywood "smoke") billows from stage right. Evidently a diesel is
standing in, because the Reading had scrapped most of its steam
locomotives by 1956. Fortunately, Jersey City Terminal has been restored
as part of Liberty State Park, and Reading Terminal is part of
Pennsylvania Convention Center. Reading Terminal Market at street level is
doing fine, too. (11/20/2004) |
| 1982 |
Gandhi |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 2004 |
Garfield |
There are brief shots of a Lionel "O" Gauge 2-level corner layout powered
by a ZW transformer in Jon Arbuckle's home. Garfield discovers that real
trains work the same way. Rescuing Odie from a callous TV star who has
boarded an Amtrak Superliner train bound for New York City, Garfield gains
entry to a high-tech interlocking room conveniently located in the "Train
Station" and unmanned during rush hour. Moving big silver levers and
pushing buttons, he sets a yard full of modern Amtrak trains on collision
courses and stops them in the nick of time. Then he backs the train
carrying Odie to Platform 12. He goes up to that platform, enters the
baggage car, and frees Odie from a cage. Fortunately, a host of dogs and
cats and an heroic Jon Arbuckle arrive in time to mop up the villain. (01/18/2005) |
| 2000 |
George Washington |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1971 |
Get Carter |
A British film from 1971, starring Michael Caine. It
starts out with a longish title sequence, photographed from the front of
a train, whooshing through the British countryside, tunnels and all.
Nice dynamic images, with music that conveys the excitement of a
high-speed train trip (PR). (06/18/2009) |
| 1931 |
Ghost Train,
The | |
| 1941 |
Ghost Train,
The | |
| 1953 |
Glen Miller Story,
The |
Inclined railway |
| 1940 |
Go West |
The Marx Brothers, Diana Lewis, and John Carroll run Sierra
2-8-0 No. 18 (Baldwin, 1906; renumbered 32) on a wild train chase. Location
scenes filmed on the Sierra feature stunt doubles for the brothers. A studio
mock-up of No. 18 is used for close-ups. A Heisler geared locomotive careens
around curves too tight for No. 18. A close look reveals an inclined cylinder
in front of the cab on each side. Both cylinders turn a shaft underneath the
locomotive, geared to each truck. This Heisler and Willamette No. 7 in
Timberjack (see below) are the only geared locomotives in Hollywood movies.
The movie concludes with a Marx Brothers version of the Golden Spike ceremony
in Cecil B. DeMille's Union Pacific (1939). (06/17/2006) |
| 1942 |
Grand
Central Murder | TV semi-documentary |
| 1966 |
Great
British Train Robbery, The | TV
semi-documentary |
| 1926 |
Great K & A
Train Robbery, The | Tom Mix Western |
| 1956 |
Great
Locomotive Chase, The | Filmed on Tallulah
Falls Railway, Georgia, by Walt Disney Productions in 1955. Released in
1956. William Mason and Lafayette from B&O Museum, Baltimore, as the
General and the Yonah, respectively. Paramount's Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0
No. 22 as the Texas, the locomotive that caught up to the General. Most
extensive use of B&O Museum locomotives and cars in a film. They ran about
1,000 miles during filming. (09/19/2004) |
| 1952 |
Greatest Show on Earth, The |
Cecil B. DeMille's melodrama features a circus that travels by train. Near the end,
robbers use a flare to stop the first section on a "dark" stretch of track (not protected by automatic
signals). One robber knocks out the rear brakeman as he leaves the caboose. A few minutes later, the
second section plows into the first. Although filmed with models, the wreck is unnervingly
realistic. (05/09/2005) |
| 1982 |
Grey Fox, The |
|
| 1979 |
Great Train Robbery, The (First) |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1987 |
Gunfighters, The |
Close up of 4 6 0 steam engine, caboose interior |
| 2008 |
Hancock |
The Pacific Harbor Line Railroad supplied SD18 #40 for
grade crossing scenes filmed in San Pedro, CA. No. 40 was lettered for
the fictional Southland & Western Railroad. The PHL serves the Ports of
Long Beach and Los Angeles, the largest container port in America. The
PHL handles more than 40,000 carloads each year, switching 9 on-dock
intermodal terminals and dispatching some 90 intermodal/unit trains
daily. The PHL Website (www.anacostia.com/phl/phl.html)
includes a link to "Film Location," highlighting passenger cars, freight
cars, yards, grade crossings, and loading docks available for filming TV
shows, movies, commercials, music videos, and media events, located
within a 30-mile radius of Los Angeles. Scenes for the movie GET SMART,
released on June 20 (2 weeks before HANCOCK), were also filmed on the
PHL. (07/08/2008) |
| 2004 |
Happy Endings | |
| 1946 |
Harvey Girls, The |
A bit of movie magic is evident. Opening credits feature Sierra
2-8-0 No. 18, painted yellow and black like a Rio Grande "bumblebee,"
rolling along with two Sierra coaches. Then the camera pans down from wispy
white clouds to focus on Judy Garland singing on the platform of a yellow
coach. As a huge cast sings "On the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe," the
train pulls into the station. Miraculously, Sierra No. 18 has become
Virginia & Truckee No. 22. Obviously, MGM rented Paramount's "studio train"
and filmed those scenes on a Western set. After a conductor calls, "All
Aboard," everyone runs to the engineer's side of No. 22 and moves their arms
back and forth, imitating the movements of her rods as she departs, jets of
steam from her cylinder cocks keeping perfect time with the music. They
don't make movies like this any more. One detail that sets No. 22 apart from
others is a swan-like filigree at the bottom front corner of her cab, on the
running board. Nitpickers notice that the engineer sings about the "ASL,"
though he probably means "ACL": Atlantic Coast Line. "ASL" is probably a
conflation of "ACL" and "SAL" [Seaboard Air Line], but attempts to point
that out are generally met by requests to "hush." To eliminate the expense
of renting Paramount's "studio train," MGM purchased V&T No. 11, the RENO.
But unprecedented wartime trafiic delayed No. 11's arrival, so MGM paid
rented Paramount's train once again. In 1947, No. 11 made her first
appearance as an MGM "prop" in "The Sea of Grass," a drama starring
Katherine Hepburn as Lutie Cameron, "a fiery, fascinating gal from St.
Louis," who marries ruthless cattle baron Col. James B. "Jim" Brewton,
portrayed by Spencer Tracy. The depot by No. 11 is called Salt Pork, New
Mexico - a far cry from the lyrical locales that she served on the V&T:
Virginia City (immortalized on the burning map that began the TV show
BONANZA), Gold Hill, Minden, Washoe Canyon, the fabulous Comstock Lode, and
a connection with the Central Pacific (later Southern Pacific) at Reno. See
STEAMCARS TO THE COMSTOCK, by Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg. (09/12/2008) |
| 1985 |
Heavenly Kid,
The | Steam locomotive |
| 1969 |
Hello Dolly |
Pennsylvania Railroad D-16sb No. 1223 and wooden passenger
cars ran from the Strasburg Rail Road to Garrison, New York, for filming.
Watch for a quick scene of a conductor unfolding steps on an open
observation car built by the Strasburg shops so dancers could hop on
board. Scenes irritate Pennsy fans who know that a meticulously restored
D-16sb is hidden under a fake stack and gaudy colors. Her PRR whistle and
Belpaire firebox are heard and seen. (11/01/2005). |
| 1952 |
High Noon |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1999 |
Hijaak | |
| 1992 |
Home Alone 2 -
Lost In New York | |
| 1972 |
Horror
Express | |
| 1978 |
Hot Lead and Cold Feet |
Primitive steam locomotive race |
| 1958 |
Houseboat | |
| 1962 |
How the West Was Won |
Steam engine, wreck |
| 1954 |
Human
Desire | |
| 1932 |
Hurricane
Express | The Hurricane Express is a
masterful, table-running mystery packed with action and suspense and
features an athletic young John Wayne, who performs many of his own
stunts, in the role of a lifetime. This 12 chapter serial is guaranteed
to keep you guessing “whodunit”? from start to finish! A masked villain
dubbed “The Wrecker” is hard at work sabotaging the L&R Railroad by
orchestrating train accidents. The motive? To ruthlessly eliminate the
railroad as competition for a nearby airline business. When “The
Wrecker” causes the Hurricane Express to crash. Killing the engineer Jim
Baker (J. Farrell MacDonald), his son Larry (John Wayne) swears
vengeance, vowing to unmask the saboteur’s identity and bring him to
justice. Like any villain, “The wrecker” doesn’t want his true identity
to be exposed, so he expertly assumes the identities of people in the
community who might have possible motives for sabotage, including Larry
who happens to be a pilot. Deflecting accusations of guilt, Larry chases
down hunches and leads but, time and again, each turns out to be nothing
more than a red herring. Further complicating matters are “the Wreckers”
henchmen, who, in Larry’s quest for vengeance give him a run for his
money-and for his life! (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1945 |
I Know Where I Am Going |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1986 |
I-Man |
Alco RS Diesel |
| 1967 |
In The Heat Of The Night |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1967 |
Incident,
The | |
| 2000 |
Into The Arms Of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1924 |
Iron Horse,
The | |
| 1966 |
Iron Horse,
The | Ben Calhoun (Dale Robertson) wins
the "Buffalo Pass, Scalplock & Defiance Railroad" in a poker game. Then he
discovers that it is bankrupt and still under construction. Sierra 4-6-0
No. 3, combine No. 5, and coach No. 6 (elegantly outfitted as a private
car, La Bonne Chance) provide railroad action, especially on Draper
Trestle. In one revealing scene, No. 3 takes on water, but the spout is
lowered into a small fuel oil tank beneath the woodpile in front of her
tender. No. 3 burns oil, not wood or coal. To cut costs of location
filming, Columbia Pictures built full-size mock-ups of Nos. 3, 5 and 6 on
rubber tires. Prefab rails, truck frames and drivers concealed the tires
when scenes were filmed on Columbia's ranch near Burbank. Steam generators
provided visual effects. The steam chest is higher than the running board
on the mockup, but lower on No. 3. Flat tops of slide valve steam chests
usually serve as steps between the pilot and the running board on each
side. An elaborate full-size replica of Rio Grande Southern No. 20 was
built by 20th Century Fox in 1949 for A Ticket to Tomahawk, listed below.
In 1963, this replica was moved to a Hollywood sound stage, joined to a
replica of combine No. 5, and filmed in scenes involving the cast of the
TV show Petticoat Junction, also listed below (TV) (07/30/2005) |
| 1990 |
It |
Charles St. Trolley |
| 1959 |
It Happened To
Jane | In this romantic comedy, Jane Osgood
(Doris Day), a single mom with two children, is in the live lobster
business. But when her first big order for the Marshall Town Country Club
turns up dead through no fault of her own, it kills her chances for
successful season. Discovering budget cuts at the railroad are to blame, she
turns to George Denham (Jack Lemmon), her longtime admirer and an attorney,
to seek compensation from the railroad’s tyrannical owner, Harry Foster
Malone (Ernie Kovacs). Jane wins in her local courthouse, but Malone agrees
to pay only for the lobsters, not damages. She refuses his offer on
principle and the battle is on. The press has a field day with this
modern-day David and Goliath story. And the whole country turns to Cape
Anne, Maine, to watch as one woman stand up to “the meanest man in the
world”. It could happen to anyone but… IT HAPPENED TO JANE (This has just
been released here in Australia) (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 2008 |
Jericho |
(Season 2 Premier- 2/12/08) Citizens of Jericho, Kansas (about
halfway between Lawrence and Denver, Colorado), are cut off from the world
by a nuclear attack on Denver and on 22 other American cities. This
catastrophe brings out the best and the worst in people. Season 1 ends amid
a firefight with invaders from New Bern. CBS canceled the show. Fans
responded with the legendary Nuts campaign. CBS renewed the show. Robert
Hawkins (Lennie James) drives an Abrams M-1 tank that is out of ammunition.
He stops it across a railroad track to head off a train of reinforcements
from New Bern. A distant shot reveals a steam locomotive. A close-up shows
the front of Pennsylvania Railroad K-4 No. 5690. Sounding a diesel horn, the
K-4 hits the tank broadside, and the tender turns over. A "Making of ..."
video is posted at
www.YouTube.com. Search for "Jericho Train runs into a Tank." The
sequence was filmed with a 1:8 scale model of No. 5690 at L.A. Live
Steamers. It was not fired up. It was placed on a movable table; drivers
were turned mechanically. Then it was pushed along a track, filmed by a
camera on a trailing flatcar. These scenes were merged with those of a real
tank on a short stretch of track. The end of track is visible at YouTube but
not in the show. The only surviving K-4's are No. 3750 (disguised by the
Pennsy as the first K-4, No. 1737) at The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at
Strasburg and No. 1361, now in pieces at Railroaders' Memorial Museum In
Altoona after an unsuccessful restoration at Steamtown in Scranton. She had
been displayed at Horse Shoe Curve. (TV) (05/27/2008) |
| 1979 |
Jerk, The |
Miniature steam train |
| 2000 |
John Henry |
The animated tale features a new cartoon about John Henry, "a
steel-drivin' man," who beat a steam drill boring Big Bend Tunnel as the
Chesapeake & Ohio was laying rails westward toward the Ohio Valley. A mile and
a quarter long, that tunnel took 1,000 men 3 years to finish. (12/03/2004) |
| 1985 |
Journey of
Natty Gamm, The |
Steam locomotive |
| 1959 |
Journey to the Moon |
Steam locomotive |
| 1977 |
Julia |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1953 |
Kansas
Pacific | |
| 2003 |
Kontroll |
(Hungarian) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1941 |
Lady Eve, The |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1938 |
Lady Vanishes,
The |
European steam locomotive, cab view |
| 1979 |
Lady Vanishes,
The |
European steam locomotive, cab view |
| 1936 |
Last
Journey, The | |
| 1952 |
Last Train
From Bombay | |
| 1937 |
Last Train
From
Madrid, The |
|
| 1984 |
Lassiter |
European locomotive |
| 1962 |
Lawrence of
Arabia |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1970 |
Le Cercle Rouge |
(French) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1945 |
Leave Her To Heaven |
This movie has a Santa Fe flavor with an intriguing mix. An
exterior shot in New Mexico includes a mission-style station. The train is
lettered for the Santa Fe. The passenger car is intriguing. Tall windows at
the back and interior colors are hallmarks of the New York Central's
streamlined 20th CENTURY LIMITED. But the colors of the car are unique:
light blue with a dark blue or a black stripe. They seem to match the Santa
Fe's only streamlined steam locomotive: big, beefy Hudson No. 3460,
nicknamed "The Blue Goose." Recently, in "O" Gauge, MTH made a Premier
model, and Williams made a N&W J in that paint scheme. Both firms offered a
matching streamlined consist. The Santa Fe did not have a matching consist
for No. 3460. But some cars had a two-tone gray paint scheme that resembled
a New York Central scheme. Railfans point out that studio craftsmen built a
streamlined car or two on a Hollywood backlot to facilitate filming. Before
blue screen technology, movies of passing scenery were projected on screens
from the rear through the windows to simulate movement. Hollywood stars
favored the 20th CENTURY LIMITED for travel between Chicago and New York
City, so it's likely that a replica of a CENTURY observation car was
constructed, including distinctive tall windows flanking the rear door. The
Great Northern's MOUNTAIN series observation cars had those tall windows but
other details were different. (09/12/2008) |
| 2005 |
Legend of Zorro, The |
Filmed in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, the movie builds to exciting
action scenes on and around a train loaded with nitroglycerin in wine bottles
headed by a trim little 2-6-0. Zorro (Antonio Banderas), his magnificent wife,
Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), their son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso), and Zorro's
black horse, Tornado, keep the nitro from falling into the wrong hands. At the
last moment, Joaquin and Tornado save a crowd of people by diverting the train
onto a siding. It crashes through a bumper made of rails and blows up, but the
end credits attribute the wreck to miniatures made in New Zealand. Good thing,
because that Mogul has star potential. "Playing with Trains" on the Special
Edition DVD goes into detail about train scenes. (03/07/2006) |
| 1987 |
Living Daylights,
The |
Trolley system |
| 1954 |
Living It Up |
Santa Fe F diesel, Hudson Steam locomotive |
| 2005 |
Look Both Ways |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1926 |
Lost
Express, The | |
| 1932 |
Lost Special,
The | |
| 2005 |
Magic of
Ordinary Days, The |
Hallmark Hall of Fame: Filmed near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Opening scenes
feature Alberta Prairie Railway 2-8-0 No. 41 (Baldwin, 1920), a consist of
immaculate Canadian National coaches, and even the 1912 station at Big
Valley. Two magnificent chords from No. 41's melodious CN Prairie Whistle
cue the camera to pan along the housetops of "La Junta, Colorado," framing
the train's arrival with the train order signal on the station roof. Built
for the Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern, No. 41 ran on the Frisco and
gained fame as No. 77 with sister Frisco 2-8-0 No. 76 on the Mississippian Railway
between Fulton and Amory. For photographs, see Steam in the Sixties, by
Ron Ziel and George H. Foster, pp. 112-113. The Alberta Prairie Railway (www.absteamtrain.com)
runs excursions and dinner trains on a former CN branch and on a former
Canadian Pacific branch past Stettler to Coronation. Well worth a visit.
(TV) (02/04/2005) |
| 1942 |
Major And The Minor, The |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1935 |
Man of Iron |
|
| 1957 |
Man on The Tracks |
A train races through the night and then suddenly comes to
a halt; a man lies dead on the tracks. The man turns out to be an engine
driver who lost his job. Different characters who knew the man during
his life take part in the investigation of his death, each relating
their own interpretation of the man and his death. Was it suicide?
Sabotage ? Was he an eccentric? A regular Joe ? Just as the characters
examine the mystery surrounding the engineer’s death, this classic
anti-Stalinist film uses the story to examine the issues and problems of
the 1950’s Communist Ppland. In particular, what are the consequences
for a man who doesn’t fit in/ based on a true story by J.S. Stawinski,
the structure of MAN ON THE TRACKS, with its conflicting version of the
same story, is comparable to Citizen Kane and Rashomon Polish with
English Sub-Titles (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1984 |
Maria's
Lovers | Brief appearance by Reading T-1
No. 2102, the third of 30 4-8-4's rebuilt from ponderous I-10sa 2-8-0's
from the fall of 1945 through the spring of 1947 in the Reading Locomotive
Shops along North Sixth Street in Reading, PA, near George Field. (07/18/2005) |
| 1987 |
Matewan |
Starring James Earl Jones. The train featured in the film
is our steam locomotive, NKP Berkshire No. 765. It is the true story of
coal field violence in the 1930's, in the little town of Matewan, West
Virginia. When the coal company attempted to surreptitiously bring in
black miners to work during a strike, nasty violence erupted and several
people were killed. There are numerous scenes of the 765 and train in
this film. I had the honor of running the 765 during the filming. Rich
Melvin, NKP 765 Engineer
www.765.org. (05/04/2007) |
| 1929 |
Mickey's
Choo Choo | Enlivened by an energetic
soundtrack and animation that portrays personalities, Engineer Mickey
Mouse prepares his locomotive for a run, dances to music that Minnie
Mouse plays on her fiddle, and takes her along on a freight train. In
the final sequence, a boxcar breaks away at the top of a steep hill,
plummets downgrade, and smashes into a tree. As pieces fall back down, a
few of them form a handcar. Minnie and Mickey pump away as the cartoon
ends. In 1934, Lionel, in dire financial straits during the Great
Depression, transformed that image into a windup handcar that ran on a
27-inch circle of track. More than 250,000 were sold at $1 each, welcome
revenue. Newspapers searching for any positive financial news told the
story as "Mouse Saves Lion of a Corporation." (07/08/2008) |
| 1996 |
Mission
Impossible | Tom Cruise on the nose of
high-speed Paris to London commuter train dueling with Jean Reno in a
helicopter inside of the Chunnel. (06/17/2006) |
| 1970 |
Molly
Maguires, The | A secret society of Irish
miners oppose low wages and cruel treatment with threats, violence, and
murder at Pennsylvania anthracite mines in the late 1870's. The movie
portrays a true story of the "coal regions." Most exterior scenes were
filmed at Eckley, PA, using equipment from the Carroll Park & Western
("America's Only Four-Foot Gauge Passenger Railway") at Bloomsburg. The
two-truck Climax in an overhead shot of the station was the last one built
at Corry, PA. She is now at Roaring Camp Railroads, Felton, CA. Restored
to a 19th century appearance, the town and a replica "coal breaker"
looming in the background were donated to The Pennsylvania Historical &
Museum Commission, renamed "Eckley Miners' Village," and preserved as a
living history museum. Sadly, floods caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972
wiped out the Carroll Park & Western. Scratchbuilt as a tourist line, it
followed a "dog-bone" route with the station in the movie at the center.
(10/03/2005) |
| 1995 |
Money
Train | Subway heist in New York City with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson
(04/05/2005) |
| 1994 |
Mouvements
du desir | |
| 1974 |
Murder On
The Orient Express | Murder mystery aboard
a steam train |
| 1961 |
Murder She Said |
British steam train |
| 1940 |
My Little Chickadee |
This comedy classic stars Mae West and W. C. Fields as a pair
of fortune hunters who meet on a train. They hustle each other and everyone
else. The locomotive is Sierra Railroad 2-8-0 No. 18 (Baldwin, 1906),
renumbered 8. No. 18 was the Sierra's "star" locomotive from the 1930's until
her retirement in 1951. Then 4-6-0 No. 3 (Rogers, 1891) came on stage. (06/17/2006) |
| 1989 |
Mystery Train |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1990 |
Narrow
Margin | Remake of classic,
Oscar-nominated film noir (1952). The location moves north to Canada,
where Gene Hackman protects a murder witness on a "VIA Rail" streamliner
filmed on the British Columbia Railway. A lot of railroad scenes for
movies and TV have been filmed on that line. (08/15/2005) |
| 1952 |
Narrow
Margin, The | This Oscar-nominated film
noir (French, "dark film") features genre icons Charles McGraw as a
hard-boiled cop and Marie Windsor as a gangster's moll traveling by train
from Chicago to Los Angeles to testify before a grand jury. Watch for
shots of orders "hooped" to and from the train and a mailbag snatched "on
the fly" from a trackside mail crane. Nitpickers notice that the Central
Pacific has reached Chicago, and that a newly streamlined PRR K-4 (1938)
is heading the BROADWAY LIMITED west to Los Angeles. The rest of the film
features SP DAYLIGHT consists and GS-2 (single headlight) 4-8-4's. All
scenes on the train are filmed in realistic sets with a hand-held camera,
a new technique. Tight spaces confine action and suspense as McGraw
struggles to conceal Windsor from hired killers who search the train but
don't know what she looks like. The film conveys an increasing feeling of
claustrophobia, even for railfans. Director Richard Fleischer is the son
of Max Fleischer, who (with brother Dave), brought Betty Boop, Popeye and
Superman to the big screen in animated cartoons. (08/15/2005) |
| 1941 |
Nevada City |
Steam locomotive |
| 1957 |
Night
Passage | Features the D&RG railroad,
narrow gauge, between Durango and Silverton. Director James Nelson filmed around Silverton in September and October, 1956. He
portrayed the beauty of Fall in the high country so effectively that audiences
can almost feel a chill in the air. As a mixed train pulled by K-28 2-8-2 No.
476 (with a fake diamond stack) heads toward Silverton, James Stewart
(Grant McLaine) and child star Brandon De Wilde (duh-WIL-duh; Joey
Adams) are riding a flatcar. Joey discovers Grant's accordion in a sack,
pulls on it, and awakens Grant with a resounding chord. Grant plays and
sings the title song, "Follow the River," as the spectacular sheer drop
from the High Line hundreds of feet down to the Rio de Los Animas
unfolds below them. The train passes this location a second time as an
orchestra plays the song. Then a camera records the Walschaert valve
gear reverse yoke rocking back and forth as the train turns to the left.
A similar shot builds suspense as the train approaches a wooden water
tank that outlaws have toppled onto the tracks. Cab scenes portray the
Irish engineer shouting to his queasy fireman, "Quit yer moanin' and
hang onto yer hat!" After they smash through the tank, he brags, "They
won't stop Tommy O'Shannon with a tankful of water!" James Stewart's
costar, Audie Murphy, was the most decorated combat soldier of World War
II. During one battle he leaped atop a burning tank, loaded with fuel
and ammunition that could have exploded at any second, and used its
machine gun to hold off waves of German soldiers, saving his unit and
the entire American line from being overrun. His valor was
easily overlooked because he stood only 5' 5" and looked like a young
adult throughout his career. Sadly, he died in a plane crash near
Roanoke, Virginia, in 1971. This was to be the sixth Western starring
James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann. But Mann left because he
thought that audiences would not believe a key plot point: that youthful Audie Murphy (The Utica Kid) and James Stewart (Grant McLaine), were
brothers on opposite sides of the law. Born in 1908, Stewart was 16
years older and 10 inches taller than Murphy. This film received poor
reviews and box office. Stewart and Mann never made another movie
together. In one memorable scene, James Stewart rides
down Blair Street in Silverton while K-28 2-8-2 No. 476 (with a fake diamond
stack) passes in the background. In another, No. 476 smashes through a wooden
water tank that outlaws had pushed in front of a train
(05/05/2008) |
| 1959 |
Night
Train | A man, Jerzy, enters a train set
for the Baltic coast. He seems to be on the run from something. He has
to share sleeping-compartment with a woman who also seems to be on the
run. Eventually we get to know that the police are looking for an
escaped murderer. Is it really Jerzy they are looking for? Powerful,
psychological story of loneliness and an intriguing thriller in one. Two
strangers, Jerzy (Leon Niemczky) and Martha (Lucyna Winnicka) ,
accidently end up holding tickets for the same sleeping chamber on an
overnight express to the Baltic coast. While handsome, well dressed and
rather laconic, Jerzy seems ill at ease, while Marta is not talkative
and would prefer to be alone. Stasez (Zbigniew Cybulski) is a student
and Maria’s spurned lover, and won’t leave her to be. When the police
enter the train in search of a murderer on the lam, rumors fly and
everything seems to point toward one of the main characters as the
culprit. The killer is located down the corridor however, yet
Kawalerowicz keeps the tension strung taut to the end in one of his
finest works (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1988 |
Night Train to
Kathmandu, The | |
| 1946 |
Night Train to Memphis |
Pacific Steam locomotive |
| 1940 |
Night Train to Munich |
|
| 1985 |
North and South |
Steam 4-4-0 |
| 1959 |
North By
Northwest |
20th Century Limited |
| 1959 |
North West
Frontier |
|
| 1999 |
October Sky |
Steam locomotive |
| 1937 |
Oh, Mr.
Porter! | |
| 2000 |
Old No. 587: The Great Train
Robbery | On
the day of the big race, Alex and his friends line their homemade
soapbox racers up at the top of the steepest and longest hill in the
neighbourhood. After a slow start he crashes through and old wooden
fence. After the dust settles, Alex discovers a fully-functional steam
locomotive, “the 587”- destined for the scrap heap. He and his sister
Molly devise a plan to rescue the antique engine with the help of an old
engineer, Russel, his dog Sparky, and about every kid on the
neighbourhood . This begins their awesome adventure, “587: The Great
Train Robbery” Stars Ran Burns, Nick Abel, Ariadne Baker-Dunn and Dogger
as Sparky Colour (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1981 |
On The
Right Track | |
| 1958 |
Once Upon a Horse |
Steam locomotive, cab view, drive train through town |
| 1946 |
One Way To
Love | |
| 1934 |
Orient
Express | |
| 1979 |
Orphan
Train | (TV) |
| 1923 |
Our
Hospitality | This silent film starring
Buster Keaton is based on the infamous feud between the Hatfields and
the McCoys, Their names are changed to the Canfields and the McKays.
After John McKay is killed, his widow sends their one-year old baby,
Willie, to New York to be raised by her sister. Twenty years later,
Willie (portrayed by Buster Keaton) returns to Kentucky to claim his
family estate. He boards a train of "stagecoach" passenger cars like
those in the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore (www.borail.org). Pulling
the train is an accurate replica of Stephenson's ROCKET, winner of the
Rainhill Trials in England. This was the first locomotive built with a
horizontal firetube boiler, forced draft for the firebox caused by
directing exhaust steam up through the smokebox and the stack, and main
rods connecting the pistons and crossheads to the driving wheels. These
features became standards of locomotive construction. In contrast to the
sophisticated locomotive, the track and right-of-way are notably
innocent in regards to ballast, grading, bridges, smoothness of ride,
and most other practices of modern railway construction. On the train,
Willie meets a young lady (portrayed by Natalie Talmadge, Keaton's wife)
and they fall in love. However, she turns out to be Virginia Canfield.
Although bound to treat her beau with Southern hospitality while he is a
guest, her family seethes with hostility toward him. It soon finds
expression. (05/04/2008) |
| 1925 |
Overland
Limited, The | |
| 1951 |
Out of
Scale | This Walt Disney animated short
portrays Donald Duck operating a live-steam railroad. His 4-4-0
resembles Walt Disney's Lily Belle, named for his wife, built for his
own live-steam railroad that preceded Disneyland. It ran through a
tunnel underneath his wife's flower garden. Donald discovers that a
towering tree is out of scale: too big for his precisely constructed
railroad and village. He digs it up and moves it on a flatcar. When Chip
'n' Dale return from gathering nuts, they mistake a scale tree for
theirs. Then they see their tree moving, and the action begins. Chased
by Donald, they take refuge inside a house. Donald is surprised to see
that they are in scale-just the right size. The story could end there,
but Donald decides to "have some fun" with them. He uses fake snow to
simulate a blizzard. When Dale emerges in heavy winter clothing, Donald
shines a heat lamp on him. As the chipmunks retaliate, they roar away
on the train. Their tree flies off the flatcar, lands upright on the
track, and the train plows through it. When Donald returns ready for
battle, they point to the rectangular opening and say, "Giant Redwood,
see?" Donald accepts that and harmony prevails. Usually, Donald winds up
on the short end. One glaring anomaly takes place early in this cartoon.
When Donald stops his train at a wooden water tower, he flips back the
sand dome, lowers the spout, and takes on water. That, of course, is
impossible, because of steam pressure in the boiler. But it allows
Donald to remain seated on the tender. To be accurate, he would have to
pull the locomotive past the water tower, get off, open the hatch atop
the rear of the tender, lower the spout, and take on water there. Each
action would have to be animated. That anomaly may be a shortcut
intended to keep the story moving and cut production costs. Still, it's
hard to imagine how Walt Disney, a stickler for accuracy, could have let
that faux pas stand. The first part of this cartoon was published in
1950 as a Little Golden Book: Walt Disney's Donald Duck's TOY TRAIN, by
Western Publishing Company, Racine, Wisconsin. (07/08/2008) |
| 1954 |
Overland
Pacific | |
| 1936 |
Pain In The
Pullman, A |
Train travel with the Three Stooges |
| 1942 |
Palm Beach Story, The |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1974 |
Panic On
The 5:22 | (TV) |
| 1963 |
Papa's Delicate Condition |
steam locomotive |
| 1973 |
Paris
Express, The | |
| 1997 |
The Peacemaker
|
A hijacked Soviet train with nuclear warheads - one goes off - with George Clooney and Nichole Kidman
(04/05/2005) |
| 1951 |
Peking
Express | |
| 1963 |
Petticoat Junction |
Movie and TV stars No. 3, an 1891 Rogers 4-6-0, and wooden "Shorty"
Combine No. 5, built for the Sierra's Angels Branch in 1902 by Holman Car Company of San Francisco,
are seen "rollin' down the track" during opening and closing credits and during most episodes.
Bringing cast and crew 350 miles from a sound stage at General Service Studio in Hollywood to the Sierra at
Jamestown was too expensive, so producers leased a replica of Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0 No. 20
(1899, Schenectady) from Hoyt Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Constructed of wood, fiberglass and
steel from original erection drawings at a cost of $30,000 in 1949, that replica enabled director
Richard Sale to film scenes of No. 20 being hauled in pieces through the mountains to reach
"end of track" at Tomahawk and fulfill the terms of the railroad's charter in A Ticket
to Tomahawk. A mule team couldn't budge the real No. 20, now preserved in Colorado Railroad Museum
at Golden, by Coors Brewery.
To further reduce expenses, in 1966 Filmways replaced Nos. 3 and 5 with 7/16" scale models built
by Richard C. Datin, who also made models for the original STAR TREK series. He modified a brass model
of Colorado Midland No. 25, imported by Dick Wheeler's Model Engineering Works (MEW) of Monrovia, California.
TRIVIA: Bea Benaderet, who portrayed Kate Bradley, owner of the Shady Rest Hotel, also was the voice of
women characters in Warner Brothers cartoons and of Betty Rubble in The Flintstones.
The dog in Petticoat Junction was called "Dog." He was a stray rescued from an animal
shelter by trainer Frank Inn and named Higgins. After the show was canceled, he played Benji.
Photos and descriptions of all three trains are posted at www.petticoat-junction.com
(05/09/2005) |
| 1955 |
Picnic |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1925 |
Phantom
Express, The | |
| 1932 |
Phantom
Express, The | |
| 1959 |
Plan 9 From
Outer Space |
General Roberts' office is located in the Pentagon, but a map
on the wall bears a large herald of the Santa Fe Railroad at the lower left
corner. Later, when the General locates a spot on the map for Col. Edwards,
the words "Santa Fe" have been taped over. (09/26/2005) |
| 1936 |
Play Safe |
This Fleischer Studios (Max and brother Dave) color cartoon
begins with a young boy playing with a large electric 2-rail train in his
yard. He sees a real train stop nearby and sets out toward it. His St. Bernard
intervenes, but the boy latches the dog's collar to a leash tied around a tree
and runs over to the train. He climbs a boxcar and sits on the edge of its
roof. When the car begins to move he falls off and lands on the track.
Unconscious, he dreams of trains. That sequence incorporates the Fleischers'
technique of photographing cels in front of small models and scenery to
project realistic 3-D effects. As the dream ends the dog hears a whistle in
the distance. Frantically he struggles to get loose as a fast freight roars
toward the boy. In a graphic sequence the dog barely outruns the train and
moves the boy to safety just in time. Fleischer cartoons reveal an
appreciation for machinery, and these trains move and sound like the real
thing. (12/02/2005) |
| 2004 |
Polar
Express, The |
Pere Marquette N-1 2-8-4 No. 1225, owned by the Steam
Railroading Institute, Owosso (Oh-WAH-so), Michigan, was digitally recorded by
Sony Pictures ImageWorks and Skywalker Sound on the Tuscola & Saginaw Bay's
St. Charles Branch, once a part of the New York Central's Lansing-Saginaw
route. To match illustrations in Chris Van Allsburg's children's book, No.
1225 was given an oversize "cowcatcher" pilot and a Delaware & Hudson-style
recessed headlight. Her tender is lettered THE POLAR EXPRESS. Passenger cars
have maroon window bands and gray sides, like the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western. THE POLAR EXPRESS is painted below the windows, like THE IVES LINES
on the rare Lionel-Ives 1694, 1695, 1696 and 1697 set made in 1932 and
reproduced by Williams in the 1970's. Two oddities: (1) No. 1225 was built by
Lima in 1941, but a know-it-all boy in the movie calls her a Baldwin S-3 2-8-4
built in 1931. A KEEPSAKE MEMORY BOOK that complements the movie by providing
facts about snow, caribou/reindeer, and the aurora borealis offers a brief
history of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, but not a word about Lima. (2) The
interior of the last car resembles a Budd streamlined observation car, but the
exterior matches the heavyweight consist. The observation platform and railing
are rounded outward. For further details, see "Hollywood's Steam Locomotive"
by David Lustig in the January, 2005, issue of TRAINS, pp. 42-49. Buildings at
North Pole City resemble those of Pullman, Illinois, a company town
constructed for Pullman employees. The most prominent is the clock tower
above the doorway where Santa appears.A big vertical lever in the cab is
pulled back to open the throttle. A brake handle is moved toward the
engineer to apply brakes. Shots inside the cab portray both working in
opposite ways. When the boy blows the whistle, he says, "I've wanted to do
that my whole life!". In Back to The Future III, also directed by Robert
Zemeckis, Doc Brown says the same thing when he blows the whistle of Sierra
Railroad 4-6-0 No. 3. (11/02/2007) |
| 1975 |
Posse |
Steam locomotive, cab view |
| 1971 |
Powder Keg |
|
| 1938 |
Prison
Train | |
| 1966 |
Professionals,
The | Has several scenes with a steam
locomotive (ex-Great Western Railway 2-8-0 No. 51-see Cat Ballou for additional info)
including a train/horse chase. (10/09/2006) |
| 1955 |
Rage At Dawn |
There is long scene of two attacks of a train.
Locomotive is the 4-6-0 Sierra Railroad #3. (09/12/2008) |
| 1956 |
Railroad Man |
(Italian) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1954 |
Rails Into
Laramie | |
| 1970 |
Railway
Children, The | |
| 2000 |
Railway
Children, The | (TV) |
| 1992 |
Railway
Station Man, The | |
| 1957 |
Raintree County |
Wealthy New Orleans belle Susanna Drake (Elizabeth Taylor)
draws idealistic John Wyckliff Shawnessy (Montgomery Cliff) away from
his high school sweetheart, Nell Gaither (Eve Marie Saint), into a
loveless marriage. During the Civil War, John enlists in the Union Army
and fights in Tennessee and Georgia. The B&O Railroad Museum, listed in
the opening credits, sent the elegant 4-4-0 William Mason, built in
Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1856, and contemporary passenger cars to
Danville, Kentucky, to be draped in black bunting and portray the
Lincoln funeral train. (05/14/2008) |
| 1947 |
Rallare |
(Swedish) |
| 1998 |
Rat Pack, The |
An HBO original movie starring Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra
in the 1950's. Great scenes of what Sinatra's layout and train room might
have been like at one point in time and how serious he was about his toy
trains. Well worth seeing for the trains alone, but it is also a good
movie with a great cast. In 1995, Frank Sinatra sold his Rancho Mirage,
California, compound to Canadian businessman Jim Pattison, who kept the
estate just as "Mr. S." left it, including a full-size depot that holds a
collection of Lionel trains. A VHS and DVD are available as the first of
CELEBRITY LAYOUTS series at www.tmbooks-video.com. (TV) (02/04/2005) |
| 1948 |
Red River |
Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0 No. 22 stars with John Wayne and
Montgomery Clift. (12/03/2004) |
| 1997 |
Riding The Rails |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1967 |
Robbery |
|
| 1985 |
Romance On
The Orient Express | (TV) |
| 1932 |
Rome
Express | |
| 1949 |
Rome
Express | |
| 1923 |
Roue, La |
(Silent) |
| 1957 |
Roue, La |
|
| 1973 |
Runaway,
The | (TV) |
| 1985 |
Runaway
Train |
Alaska Railroad locomotives:
dispatcher scenes & wrecks |
| 1985 |
Rustler's Rhapsody |
European steam locomotive |
| 1997 |
Santa Fe |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1988 |
Saturday the 14th
Strikes Back |
Steam locomotives collide |
| 1947 |
Sea of Grass, The |
This is the first appearance of Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0 No.
11, the RENO, as a MGM "prop." Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy star as
Lutie Cameron, "a fiery, fascinating gal from St. Louis," and the man she
marries, Col. James B. "Jim" Brewton, a ruthless cattle baron. The adjacent
depot is named Salt Pork, New Mexico - a far cry from the lyrical locales
served by No. 11 on the V&T: Virginia City, Minden, the Washoe Canyon, and a
connection with the Central Pacific (later Southern Pacific) at Reno. See
STEAMCARS TO THE COMSTOCK, by Lucius Beebe and Chalres Clegg. By the
mid-1930's, locomotives and cars suitable for Hollywood westerns were few
and far between. Action scenes were usually filmed on location. Locomotives
and cars were "aged" to fit the period. Sierra 2-8-0 No. 18 was used
frequently. With a diamond stack, a box headlight, a woodpile that covered
the fuel oil tank in her tender, and some colorful trim, she could pass for
a 19th-century locomotive. After filming was completed, No. 18 returned to
freight service. The Sierra also had wooden passenger cars and terrain that
accommodated movies set in various locations. But audiences noticed the same
locomotives and cars again and again. In 1937, Paramount Pictures purchased
V&T 4-4-0 No. 22. After filming No. 22 in "High, Wide, and Handsome,"
Paramount purchased three V&T Kimball cars - combination No. 1 and coaches 3
and 4 - for a passenger train. In 1938, Paramount also purchased V&T 4-4-0
No. 18 and several other V&T cars to film Cecil B. DeMille's epic UNION
PACIFIC on a branch in Utah. This equipment could portray just about any
train. RKO, United Artists, and several others rented it frequently. Rental
fees piled up for MGM during the 1940's. Locomotives and cars were small and
light enough to use a Pacific Electric route through Culver City to the MGM
lot. They came frequently and stayed longer and longer. In 1945, to have a
train of its own, MGM purchased V&T 4-4-0 No. 11, the RENO, followed by
rolling stock from the V&T, the D&RG, the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt
Lake, and Pacific Electric. (09/12/2008) |
| 1962 |
Second Track, The |
(German) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1990 |
Secret Life
of Ian Fleming, The |
European steam locomotive |
| 1936 |
Seven
Sinners | |
| 1943 |
Shadow Of A Doubt |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1932 |
Shanghai
Express | |
| 1975 |
Shinkansen
daibakuha/The Bullet Train | |
| 1972 |
Short Walk
To Daylight | (TV) |
| 1976 |
Silent Movie |
Trolley |
| 1935 |
Silent
Passenger, The | |
| 1976 |
Silver
Streak |
Los Angeles to Chicago murder comedy |
| 1934 |
Silver
Streak, The | |
| 1933 |
Sleeping
Car | |
| 1948 |
Sleeping
Car To Trieste | |
| 2008 |
Slumdog Millionaire |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1949 |
So Dear To My Heart |
Walt Disney Productions leased Virginia & Truckee 4-4-0 No. 22
and several V&T cars from Paramount Pictures. They were filmed on the
Porterville Branch of the Southern Pacific. A station was constructed, based
on a station at Pottsville, New York. That station was acquired by the late
Ward Kimball, one of the "nine old men" of Disney animators, for the Grizzly
Flats Railroad, "Scenic Wonder of the West," in his back yard. Fortunately,
this collection of historic locomotives, cars and structures was donated to
the Orange Empire Trolley Museum in 1990. (12/03/2004) |
| 1959 |
Some Like It Hot |
Steam locomotive, drive wheels |
| 1994 |
Speed |
Sandra Bullock handcuffed to handrail inside subway car while Keano Reeves
and Dennis Hopper fight it out on top of the car as it races out of control through the
L.A. subway. Crash scene at end is spectacular. (06/17/2006) |
| 1928 |
Spione |
(Silent) |
| 2003 |
Station
Agent, The | Winner of the Sundance Film
Festival awards. Stars Patricia Clarkson (TV’s six Feet Under, Far from
Heaven), Peter Dink age (Elf), and Bobby Cannavale (TV’s 24, Third
Watch) in a comedy about friendship. Fin McBride (Dinklage) works in a
Lionel hobby shop and inherits an abandoned train station. Lionel
trains, small store layout and chasing a real train with movie camera in
hand. (WE) (12/31/2007) |
| 1973 |
Sting, The |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1951 |
Strangers On A Train |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1935 |
Streamline
Express | |
| 1951 |
Street Car Name Desire |
Charles St. Trolley |
| 1985 |
Subway |
|
| 1941 |
Sullivan's Travels |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1955 |
Summertime |
Italian or French steam locomotive |
| 1990 |
Svampe |
|
| 1974 |
Taking of
Pelham One Two Three, The |
Somewhere underground, in
New York’s subway system, just outside the Pelham Station, a gang of men
hijack a train, threatening to kill one hostage per minute unless their
demands are met. Forced to stall the unknown assailants until a ransom
is delivered or a rescue is made, transit chief Lt. Garber (Walter
Matthau) must ad-lib, bully, con and shrewdly outmaneuver one of the
craftiest and cruelest villains (Robert Shaw) in a battle of wits that
will either end heroically or tragedy. From the minute you board this
train until its exhilarating climax, you will be taken by “plenty of
surprises and lots of nail-biting action” (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1998 |
Taking of
Pelham One Two Three, The |
Hijacking a New York
subway train. (01/10/2010) |
| 2009 |
Taking of
Pelham One Two Three, The |
New York City is about to
be taken for a ride. It’s just an ordinary day for subway dispatcher
Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), until a vicious gang of criminals led
by the mysterious Ryder (John Travolta) hijacks one of the city’s trains
cars. The ransom: tem million dollars. The deadline: one hour. Now
Walter is thrust into a race against time to save the lives of all the
innocent hostages on board… and stop Ryder from getting away. From
director Tony Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgeland (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1951 |
Tall
Target, The | |
| 1946 |
Terror By
Night | |
| 1953 |
Terror On A
Train/Time Bomb | |
| 1980 |
Terror
Train | |
| 1980 |
The Big Brawl |
train yard |
| 1927 |
The General |
Union Army spies steal a locomotive |
| 1953 |
Therese Raquin |
(French) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1949 |
Third Man, The |
Steam locomotive |
| 1966 |
This Property
Is Condemned |
In 1962, T. W. M. Long, President of the Reader Railroad in Arkansas,
inaugurated a thrice-weekly mixed train that ran 23 miles and crossed 126 bridges
between Reader and Waterloo, using two immaculate 2-6-2's ("Prairies"). Author Ron Ziel saluted this line in
two books: The Twilight of Steam Locomotives and Steam in the Sixties.
In 1964, the Reader acquired a 1942 War Department "G.I." 2-8-0 from the nearby Warren & Saline River
and accomplished two incredible feats. First, work was completed just in time for No. 1702 to star in
this movie. Second, No. 1702 actually looked good, a task akin to transforming a draft horse into the
image of Man O' War, a renowned racehorse. No. 1702 sported a pilot acquired in Mexico from a
Florida East Coast 4-8-2, a Texas & Pacific headlight, a Kansas City Southern turbogenerator,
and a Cotton Belt whistle. Mrs. Margaret Morgan, wife of Editor David P. Morgan of Trains Magazine,
christened No. 1702 with French champagne while her husband and President Long watched
approvingly. The Reader was known as "The Possum Trot Line."
Fortunately, No. 1702 heads passenger trains today on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, Bryson
City, North Carolina (www.gsmr.com). Along the Tuckaseegee River, passengers see the site of a
train wreck portrayed in The Fugitive (1993), starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. (09/06/2007) |
| 2009 |
Thomas and
Friends: Hero Of The Rails | Thomas the
Tank Engine discovers a forlorn steam locomotive abandoned at the end of
a little-used siding. He persuades some shop men to rebuild the
locomotive there. When the locomotive is discovered, he fears he is
about to be scrapped. He speeds away and loses parts. Fortunately, Sir
Toppam Hatt decides to rebuild him. He emerges from the shop as a
splendid Chinese 2-8-2, like Susquehanna No. 142 running out of
Phillipsburg, NJ (www.nyswths.org). He even has a feedwater heater tank
atop his smokebox. This "really useful engine" proves to be a hero of
the rails, a variation of his name, HIRO. After working with other
engines on the Island of Sodor, he is shipped back to his homeland for
service there, as he had requested. Much better than the first Thomas
movie (Thomas and the Magic Railroad), this feature (mostly CGI)
includes scenes inside a bustling steam railway shop. Spencer, a fast
streamlined 4-6-2, resembles the TORNADO, a replica of a London & North
Eastern Railway Peppercorn Class A1. None was preserved. Built in
Darlington, England, by the A1 Locomotive Trust from 1994 to 2008, No.
60163 is regarded as the 50th A1. The TORNADO is the first steam
locomotive built in the UK since the 2-10-0 EVENING STAR in 1960. The
TORNADO is designed for excursion service on main lines until her
10-year inspection in 2018. Painted like Spencer for her test runs in
the summer of 2008, she was repainted in LNER Apple Green for her first
excursion, THE PEPPERCORN PIONEER, a round trip between York and
Newcastle, on January 31, 2009 (PS). (01/25/2010) |
| 2000 |
Thomas and
The Magic Railroad | Strasburg's
ex-Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 No. 475 and two coaches (all lettered INDIAN
VALLEY) filmed at Cherry Hill and the fill entering yard at Strasburg.
This train ran to Pennsylvania Railroad station in Harrisburg, PA, where
scenes were filmed on Sunday between commuter runs. Unlike HELLO DOLLY,
original paint schemes preserved. One coach still lettered INDIAN VALLEY
runs in regular passenger trains. (11/20/2004) |
| 1952 |
Three For
Bedroom C | |
| 1957 |
3:10 To
Yuma | Struggling rancher Dan Evans sneaks
captured outlaw Ben Wade past his gang and then nervously waits to
deliver him to the prison train in his taut, HIGH NOON style (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 2007 |
3:10 To
Yuma | Infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell
Crowe) and his gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern
Railroad. But when Wade is finally captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans
(Christian Bale) volunteers to deliver him alive to the “3:10 to Yuma” –
a train that will take the killer to trial. But with Wade’s outfit on
their trail – and dangers at every turn- the mission soon becomes a
violent, impossible journey toward each man’s destiny (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1950 |
Ticket To A
Tomahawk, A | This is the first film featuring
the 45-mile D&RGW narrow-gauge Silverton Branch and Rio Grande Southern 4-6-0
No. 20, now displayed in Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden
(As of October 2006, the engine will be restored to running condition by the
Strasburg Rail Road during the next year or so. An anonymous donor has
provided $400,000 plus another $100,000 to keep her running. The Colorado
Railroad Museum is willing to contribute additional funds for the restoration
if necessary. The full story is published in the current Railfan & Railroad).
Director Richard
Sale took full advantage of breathtaking scenery high in the San Juan
Mountains during filming in August and September, 1949. A flood of expert
publicity at the film's release in May, 1950, soon had the normally empty
combine on the mixed train between Durango and Silverton filled with
passengers eager to ride the line they had seen in the movie. Rio Grande
officials responded by promoting the line as a tourist attraction. They
adopted the yellow paint scheme that 20th Century Fox had applied to Combine
212 for the movie as "Rio Grande Gold." By 1957 it had replaced Pullman green
as standard color for all D&RGW narrow-gauge passenger equipment. (10/10/2006) |
| 1955 |
Timberjack |
Retired in the late 1940's, Willamette No. 7 was fired up
for filming by Republic Studios in 1954. The Trucolor process required No. 7
to be painted pink. The stack seems phony, but it is a Radley and Hunter stack
designed to contain coal cinders. Displayed in a park at Bonner, Montana, by
the mill she served (operated by Anaconda Copper Mining Company - Lumber
Department), No. 7 still has that stack. Other Willamette locomotives were oil
burners, so they had straight stacks. The only other geared locomotive in a
Hollywood movie is a Heisler that careens around tight curves during a wild
train chase in Go West (1940), starring the Marx Brothers. It resembles Sierra
2-8-0 No. 18 (renumbered 32), but a close look reveals an inclined cylinder in
front of the cab on each side. Both cylinders turn a shaft centered under the
locomotive, geared to each truck. These scenes affirm Heislers' reputation as
the fastest geared locomotives. From 1922 through 1929, the Willamette Iron
and Steel Works of Portland, Oregon, built 33 geared locomotives. Based on
Lima Shays, they included features for local loggers: electric headlights, air
brakes, all-steel cabs, girder underframes, cast steel trucks, and firebrick
arches . All were options on Lima Shays. For further information, consult The
Willamette Locomotive, by Steve Hauff and Jim Getz. Lima responded with
Pacific Coast Shays in 1927, as that firm's "Super Power" era was beginning. (06/17/2006) |
| 1953 |
Titfield Thunderbolt,
The |
European steam locomotive, cab view, shortline |
| 1986 |
Tough Guys |
Southern Pacific DAYLIGHT
GS-4 has a starring role in her glorious California colors. Engineer Doyle
McCormack delivers one line in her cab: "No one robs trains any more." (11/19/2004) |
| 1976 |
Tracks |
‘Tracks’ is based on the true-story of middle class white
suburban teenagers who unknowingly committed a senseless act of
violence. Peter Madigan and his friends spent countless summer nights on
the train tracks in Fairlawn, New Jersey when one evening, they
mindlessly threw a switch and derailed an oncoming train resulting in
the death of its conductor. This case made history in the New Jersey
judicial System and these teenagers (who at the time, were between the
ages of 14 and 16) were the first in the state t be tried and convicted
as adults. ‘Tracks’ chronicles their descent with a striking visual
portrayal of a boy who was convicted of murder and sentenced to a
maximum security prison with adult hardcore criminals and what he must
do to survive (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1964 |
Train, The |
Steam
shops, wrecks and derailments |
| 1984 |
Train
d'enfer | (French) |
| 1982 |
Train
Killer, The/Viadukt | (Hungarian) |
| 2008 |
Train
Master | Jeremiah (Michael Biesanz) works for the Western Railroad
in the Pacific Northwest. He lives, breaths, and eats railroad. After Brett Banner (Jonathan Hall),
the heir to New York Eastern, purchases the Western Railroad, he fires Jeremiah. But, when Brett's
nine-year-old son, Justin, Jeremiah's grandchildren, Thomas and Sarah, and two other children end
up on an old runaway train engine together, the two men must join forces to save the
kids (RW). (12/16/2009) |
| 1949 |
Train
Of Events | |
| 1978 |
Train
Ride To Hollywood | |
| 1973 |
Train
Robbers | |
| 1948 |
Train
To Alcatraz | |
| 1950 |
Train
To Tombstone | |
| 2005 |
Train Man |
(Japanese) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1966 |
Trans-Europ-Express |
(French) |
| 1926 |
Transcontinental
Limited | (Silent) |
| 2008 |
Transsiberian |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1994 |
True
Lies | Action sequences featuring Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis were filmed on Old Seven Mile Bridge
built of reinforced concrete for Henry M. Flagler's Florida East Coast
Railway that connected the city of Key West with the mainland. Some
scenes were filmed on an 80' model of that bridge. In 1935, a category 5
hurricane tore up 70 miles of track and destroyed a passenger train sent
to rescue laborers building an adjacent highway. The concrete bridges
remained. The Key West Extension of the FEC was acquired by the state of
Florida and rebuilt as a highway. Railroad bridges were widened to
accommodate 4 lanes. Today, new bridges have been built next to the
original bridges. Jamie Lee Curtis did her own stunts. She hung from a
helicopter on her birthday as Director James Cameron filmed her with a
handheld camera. (08/17/2009) |
| 1934 |
Twentieth
Century | |
| 1947 |
Tycoon |
|
| 1964 |
Umbrellas Of Cherbourg |
(French) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1995 |
Under Siege
2: Dark Territory |
A train is taken hostage traveling from Denver through the Rocky Mountains
to Los Angeles. Lots of action in, on and around the passenger and baggage cars. Lots of
running shots through western scenery. Head-on crash with freight train at end. Good
review of models used to create the crash scene in OGR magazine. With Steven Segal
and Katherine Heigl. (06/17/2006) |
| 1932 |
Union
Station | |
| 1939 |
Union Pacific |
Encouraged by the success of his epic Western The Plainsman,
Cecil B. DeMille decided to do another. President William Jeffers of the Union
Pacific offered full cooperation and opened all the old files in the road's
Omaha headquarters. Paramount Pictures bought from the Virginia & Truckee
4-4-0 No. 18 and period rolling stock. Brass-banded 4-4-0 No. 11 (the Reno)
was leased from the V&T; little 2-4-0 No. 21 from the Pacific Coast Chapter of
the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. No. 11 was tipped on her side
by a UP crane for a wreck sequence. A cradle of ties failed to prevent damage
to her cab, boiler jacket, running board, and piping. The Southern Pacific
Shop in Los Angeles repaired her and shipped her back to the V & T. Nos. 11
and 22 were renumbered and re-lettered to play different locomotives. No. 21
remained the General McPherson and sped the U. S. Cavalry to the rescue. An
immense set near the depot at Iron Springs, Utah, brought "Cheyenne, Wyoming,"
to life, based on photographs by Andrew J. Russell. The Golden Spike ceremony
was staged on a stretch of track laid by the SP Burbank-Chatsworth Branch
about 20 miles northwest of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley. Stanford
University provided the real Golden Spike for close-ups. Nos. 22 and 18 ran to
that location as the CP Jupiter and the UP No. 119, respectively. Molly
Monahan, portrayed by Barbara Stanwyck, was in charge of the U. S. Mail in V &
T baggage car No. 1. (06/17/2006) |
| 1950 |
Union Station |
|
| 1979 |
Villain,
The |
Steam locomotive |
| 1959 |
Vlak bez
voznob reda/Train Without A Timetable |
(Serbo-Croatian) |
| 1976 |
Vlak u
snijegu/Train In The Snow |
(Serbo-Croatian) |
| 1965 |
Von Ryan's
Express | Frank Sinatra (Von Ryan) and
Trevor Howard (Major Eric Fincham) commandeer a German train and led
British POW's to safety in Switzerland. Action scenes near the end of
the movie were filmed in El Chorro, near Malaga, Spain, where the track
weaves through a gorge through about eight kilometers of tunnels. A
persuing locomotive has a stack in the center - a startling feature of a
Crosti boiler, used in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Great Britain and
Ireland (PS). (04/17/2010) |
| 1988 |
War and Remembrance |
Electric train |
| 1988 |
Warm Nights On
A Slow Moving Train | |
| 1951 |
Warpath |
American steam locomotive |
| 1979 |
Warriors, The |
|
| 2008 |
Wendy And Lucy |
(RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1988 |
Where the
...... That Gold?!!? |
American steam locomotive |
| 1948 |
Whispering
Smith |
Film legend Alan Ladd heads up a superior cast in this
reverting, heart pounding tale of crime and punishment. Luke “Whispering “
Smith (Ladd) is a by-the-book, no-nonsense railroad detective who learns his
friend, Murray Sinclair (Robert Preston), has been fired from his railway
job. Seeking vengeance, Sinclair begins helping outlaw Barney Rebstock
(Donald Crisp) wreck trains. Now smith must find and bring his old friend to
justice…at any cost, in this suspenseful adventure filled with
pistol-packing action (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1954 |
White Christmas |
Railfans delight in interior scenes aboard a postwar
streamliner and two grand runbys of Santa Fe "Warbonnet" E-units and
Southern Pacific "Black Widow" F-units. They also chuckle when all four
stars - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney -
apparently ride that train all the way to Vermont. Railfans also wax
nostalgic at station scenes when Bing Crosby and a conductor stand by a
passenger train and arrange special trains to bring Army buddies to Vermont
("I'll take it up with the traffic manager," says the conductor.). Crowds
overflow the station as they arrive. (12/02/2007) |
| 1988 |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
The plot deals with shadowy attempts to take over "The Red
Cars." That actually happened. After World War II, National City Lines
purchased trolley lines and replaced them with buses built by General Motors,
riding on Firestone Tires, fueled by Standard Oil. NCL's prime conquest was
Pacific Electric, an 1100-mile freight and passenger network serving greater
Los Angeles. Near the end of the movie, as Cloverleaf Industries is named,
traction fans grasp the connection and wince. Although the villain is foiled
and Cloverleaf Industries dismissed as "goofy," NCL prevailed and Los Angeles
has been afflicted by smog and traffic jams ever since. (10/02/2005) |
| 1999 |
Wild Wild
West | William Mason, an elegant 4-4-0
built in 1856, was trucked from B&O Museum, Baltimore, to Strasburg Rail
Road and restored as the WANDERER. (09/19/2004) |
| 1983 |
Winds of Jarrah,
The | |
| 1946 |
Without
Reservations | |
| 2004 |
World
Without Thieves, A | (Mandarin) (RW). (04/17/2010) |
| 1912 |
Wreckers, The |
|
| 1929 |
Wreckers, The |
A demented crook organizes a series of deliberate train crashes
to discredit the railways in favour of a rival bus company. Filmed in 1928
on the soon-to-be-abandoned Basingstoke to Alton branch and making extensive
use of many other Southern railway locations, the Wrecker contains the most
spectacular stages steam locomotive crash in the history of British Film,
recorded by no fewer than 22 cameras. This newly restored-version features
an all-new score composed by world-renowned silent film composer Neil Brand (RW). (01/10/2010) |
| 1942 |
Yankee Doodle Dandy |
steam locomotive |
| 2005 |
XXX:State of the Union |
Near the end, the President rides a bullet train accessible 3
stories below the Capitol during an assassination attempt. Exciting high-speed
exterior and interior chase scenes take place as XXX (Ice Cube) rescues the
President. Sadly, the train and the villain are blown up atop a tall, graceful
concrete arch bridge reminiscent of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western's majestic
Tunkhannock Viaduct and Martin's Creek Viaduct near Scranton, PA, and of
Pennsylvania Railroad Schuylkill ("SKOO-kill") Division bridges near
Klapperthal Curve south of Reading, PA, now part of Thun Trail for hiking and
biking. (05/15/2005) |
|
