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I tried to find an old post, on the board, with regard to movies with railroad scenes. Couldn't find original thread. In the past two weeks, I saw a couple of interesting movies involving railroads which I don't think were mentioned in that old post.
"Emperor of the North" (1973) with Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. I thought I saw the Northern Pacific RR logo on one of the cars. I also saw a car with "Cottage Grove" on the side. It was filmed near Cottage Grove, Oregon and (not sure) I think they may have used equipment from the Oregon Pacific and Eastern RR line. The engine had a "19" on the side. I watched it on TCM.
"Breakheart Pass" (1975) with Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, and Richard Crenna. Filmed during winter with lots of snow and great cinematograpy. There was a great scene of a couple of passenger cars and caboose derailing and falling over a cliff. I would have sworn it was filmed up in the Sierras. One shot looked a lot like the Truckee River. It turns out it was filmed in Lewiston, Idaho (along the Northern Pacific line?). One great scene had Charles Bronson and the former boxer, Archie Moore, dangling from the side of a car while the train crossed a high trestle above the snow. I think the late Yakima Canutt helped out in some of the stunts. I saw it on the Encore Western channel.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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I've always liked "Silver Streak," with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I think my favorite is 'Murder on the Orient Express'. I particularly like the scene with everyone hustling to get the train ready to depart and then when all is ready there are great shots as it gathers speed and leaves the station.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I'm sorry Mr Kisor, but I must disagree. Silver Streak II is a complete absurdity. Anyone who has done any time in the industry (eleven years in my case) does not appreciate the array of rules violations, such as. walking atop cars, swinging from overhead signals like a monkey, and uncoupling cars "on the fly' - all of which the movie depicts. Further, those persons who crash through car windows making their "great escape' are not aware that such are equipped with glass to avoid such. In the crash scene at the end, it is interesting how we move from the approach to C&NW station to Toronto - by osmosis I guess.
Of further interest, the Illinois State Police never had a livery for squad cars such as depicted.
The movie is an utter abomination, and I have not recommended viewing such to anyone. The wisest move Amtrak ever made was to have no part in the production of such (I must acknowledge I am astounded Canadian Pacific was willing to step up with even uncredited production assistance).
But then, I'm a former railroad accountant and labor relations officer who is well versed in the potential liability of anything that happens on railroad property. You are an author of railroad subjects, and I guess to the laity that kind of stuff "sells'.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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With due respect, Mr GBN, I doubt you'd find ANY rail movie that encounters any sort of reality. I have certainly yet to see such. The trouble is, the truth is boring. "***" sells, whether in the form of smashing through windows, or moving from one location to another due to convenience on the part of the film company.
A couple of astonishingly bad movies were, I think, called the A Train (runaway NYC subway) and some disaster movie in the Denver/Rockies area where even non-rail buffs would find the continuity rather non-continuous. So bad I can't even remember the title.
There was also a Die Hard-style movie where a nuclear train was moving through Austria or Germany where the signallers/dispatchers seemed to have GPS 1m resolution tracking on the train, which is about as far from reality as one can get, especially through long tunnels. Thinking about it, wasn't there a fairly recent James Bond movie with a helicopter flying through a tunnel? Realistic? With the flower fairies perhaps.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Another good RR flick is Narrow Margin (1990) with Gene Hackman, which was recently shown on TCM. Most of the action takes place on what appears to be the predecessor to The Canadian, traveling to Vancouver by way of Banff.
Posts: 133 | From: Canaan, CT | Registered: Dec 2004
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Yukon Richard, Emperor of the North was not the only train movie filmed at Cottage Grove. Buster Keaton's "The General" did it there first.
Geoff, regarding the helicopter in a tunnel, I don't recall seeing a James Bond movie with that. You may be thinking of the first Tom Cruz "Mission: Impossible" movie which did have that, and is the reason why I never bothered with the sequels. Better to call it "Mission: Ridiculous."
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I'd recommend Runaway Train (1985) starring Jon Voight and Eric Roberts as two escaped Alaska prison convicts who stowaway on a 4-engine train headed south, unaware that the engineer has died of a heart attack, and the only one else on board is Sara (Rebecca De Mornay), a female maintenance worker. The train is out of control and rushing down the tracks towards a collision with destiny.
It was filmed during winter and I get cold just watching it. An intelligent thriller.
-------------------- Ham Radio Orange County, California Posts: 46 | From: Orange County, CA | Registered: Dec 2007
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Then there was Disney's 'Great Locomotive Chase' filmed in the early 1960's on the now long-abandoned Tallulah Falls Railway in North Georgia.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Has anyone heard of "The Crash at Crush" back in the 1890s? Admittedly, this isn't a railroad movie but, if it'd happened about 30-40 years later, it most likely would've been filmed.
If you haven't heard of it, do a Google search for it and I'm sure you'll agree that this stunt would've been filmed had it occurred a few decades later.
Posts: 100 | From: Kernersville, NC | Registered: Oct 2007
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The helicopter in the tunnel was the Mission Impossible movie, which so far as I am concerned was much worse than the TV series by the same name. I endured it on a trans-Pacific flight with my family, who was ready to throw me off the plane for pointing out the absurdities in it, of which the helicopter in the tunnel was only one of the most glaring of many.
The equally bad one set in the Rockies was one of the Steven Seagal insanities. Amongst other things, a mainline switch is thrown from the train which is obviously not normal mainline railroading and was done when the train would have been on the circuit. The cars making up the train used in the movie were special built for the movie by Colorado Railcar, a fact that used to be on their web site.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Mr. Norman, to each his own. But we have forgotten one thing: *** sells. That's why, when Cary Grant put the moves on Eva Marie Saint, the train plunged into a tunnel. Never anything like it since.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Now why did the word " s e x " end up in asterisks in the previous message? Is it in the doghouse?
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Having seen both "Under Siege II" (Steven Seagal) and "Broken Arrow" (John Travolta and Christian Slater), I am now convinced there is a secret rail route west of Denver that Amtrak should take advantage of. Station stops are not required. Like Mr. Seagal, you simply drive your pickup off the road over the train and jump out onto the roof of the train and climb in.
Though "Broken Arrow" did not involve a passenger train, it did show that you can get from Utah to Denver with a nuclear weapon on a train no one knows is there.
Nr. Norman might call this absurd, but we have at least 2 movies to prove this route exists.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Ahh! Mr. Norman, have you forgotten how to have fun? Silver Streak was a hoot. So were the MI movies. Who cares if they were inaccurate? They weren't meant to be documentataries. Yes, all of it very far fetched, but a whole lot of fun!
Unless its a documentary, there is no need to take anything from Hollywood with any level of seriousness. Take it for what it is, entertainment.
-------------------- Chuck
“Adventure is just bad planning.” - Roald Amundsen Posts: 80 | From: Wisconsin | Registered: Feb 2007
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My vote is Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, 1951. There are some other old "noir" classics featuring trains I like, and in the foreign film arena, a Chinese 2003 piece called "Zhou Yu's Train," but it's in Mandarin w/English subtitles. There was another little sleeper film about a disabled railfan kid who "inherits" an old train station and lots of interesting things happen to him. I forget the name (someone here must remember that film?) Maybe it was the "Stationmaster?"
Also "Closely Watched Trains" which is a great B/W Czech film set in WW Two...
Don't fall for "Trainspotting" which is actually about Scottish heroin addicts.
I'm kind of with Mr. Norman on Silver Streak...I have OD'ed on that movie. By the way, the Galesburg, IL sports teams adopted that name a while back...the "Silver Streaks..." It fits, in that great little RR town!
Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Runaway Train----I had forgotten about that one. Excellent movie. Huge drama, great filming, great tension. And I felt the same way: freezing cold while watching it!
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mr. Toy: [QB] Yukon Richard, Emperor of the North was not the only train movie filmed at Cottage Grove. Buster Keaton's "The General" did it there first.
************************** I did not know "The General" was filmed in Cottage Grove, Mr. Toy,..interesting. Another movie filmed on main street in Cottage Grove was "Animal House", which was also filmed in Eugene. With the exception of one scene, I really didn't like "Animal House".
Cottage Grove is one of my favorite places to stop while on the road. Last time I stayed at the "Village Green" resort..nice place.
Richard
Posts: 1909 | From: Santa Rosa | Registered: Jan 2004
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Setting reality aside, I guess you could include The Railway Children and the Titfield Thunderbolt as "feelgood" movies, or something to while away a wet Sunday afternoon.
Silver Streak seems to have been shown several times recently on UK Sky Satellite.
Henry, I fell in the same trap as you by mentioning the "s-e-x sells" comment but did not notice that it had been dogged by the swear filter!
Geoff M.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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And let us not forget Thomas the Tank Engine. Every one of my grandchildren has been mesmerized by those videos, and I confess that when they dragooned me into watching one, I enjoyed it mightily.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Lest we note, Titfield Thunderbolt was produced during the same era that Dr Beeching came on the scene and decided the only good passenger train in the UK was a "main line" i.e. London-Glasgow or London-Edinburgh.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Gilbert B Norman: Lest we note, Titfield Thunderbolt was produced during the same era that Dr Beeching came on the scene and decided the only good passenger train in the UK was a "main line" i.e. London-Glasgow or London-Edinburgh.
To be fair to you, Mr. Norman, that is a common misconception. Dr Beeching's report, which actually came AFTER many closures before his time, actually consisted of a number of proposals to improve the railway including modernising major lines and developing new freight routes. Mostly only the parts of the report suggesting closure of minor, little used lines were acted upon by the government of the time - and this is the part that everybody remembers.
It is, of course, impossible to determine whether - had all his suggestions been implemented - his report would have had the desired effect of rejuvinating the railways. Only implementing parts of the report that suited the government is where the problem lay. What is known is that the poor bloke is much maligned. I'm not justifying any of his recommendations, but it is unfair to blame the closures solely on him when his report also contained much more positive actions - many of which did eventually happen.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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There is a scene in the movie "Cheaper By The Dozen" with Steve Martin that always cracked me up. Dad and son board a Superliner Coach in what is suppose to be Chicago, but is obviously LA Union Station. How do you know? Well, LAUS is pretty unmistakable for one. For two, the care number was an 11**, which would indicate to me it was a Southbound Coast Starlight which probably had recently terminated that evening there in LAUS. The funny part comes as the train is supposedly is off and away and we see that the superliner is now what appears to be a Chicago Metra train. Anybody could notice this, but only a true foamer like myself gets irritated by it. Something else interesting: A train utilizing a Superliner set with no one on the platform and no one else apparently on board as the train is ready to depart?!?!?! Details Hollywood! Details!!!
Posts: 387 | From: Bakersfield, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Sometimes I would think that these production companies ought to come to a Forum such as ours, post a message (once the Moderator was satisfied such was from a legitimate source), and ask for volunteers to be Technical Advisors. anyone interested would submit an E-Resume outlining qualifications, such as railroad industry employment, obverving as a railfan trains within the scope of the storyline, etc. From there, they could select a panel of Advisors, send them an advance DVD (copy protected and that will self-destruct within X # of days) and get their "nit pickings" back (oh would I ever had my FUN had I been selected for such to review 'Silver Streak").
Neat idea, even if the only compensation was production credit?
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I am happy to be a technical advisor. All the production company will have to do is install me in a nice room in the Beverly Hills Hilton and allow me to work at poolside from a laptop computer.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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As a former trackworker, I got a good laugh out of a made-for-TV movie called "Disaster on the Shore Line Express" which was supposed to be on Amtrak's NEC (pre-electrification Boston end), but was shot on the San Diego line.
Best scene was when two trains are somehow on the same track and headed for a collision (don't ask how -- the villian somehow gums up the control computer), and a bunch of trackworkers do a "cut and throw" and then hold the rail in place with lining bars as the train roars past, crossing from one main to the other (!!). They must have been *really* strong trackworkers.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Hi, everyone, I'm new to this forum. No one has mentioned the opening scene in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Was that the Piedmont Limited behind Vivien Leigh?
Posts: 2 | From: New Orleans | Registered: Jan 2008
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Has anyone heard Hollywood is making a new train movie. Unstoppable. It is based on that run away train in Ohio about 8 or 10 years ago
Posts: 465 | From: elgin (s-line) | Registered: Dec 2008
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-------------------- The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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What with all of its "politically incorrect" dialogue relating to Native Americans?
The best I learned from that flick was the term "hell on wheels' that I believe you are aware I've used here and elsewhere with regards to Talgo's business plan to peddle their trains amongst local US rail passenger agencies.
But regarding the history of the Transcontinental, what did I learn?
Where was any mention of the one "good guy" Theodore Judah amongst that pack of brigands? Jim Beckwurth was mentioned without being named all throughout the Native American related dialog.
Posts: 9975 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Henry Kisor: I've always liked "Silver Streak," with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
The purists will howl as there were many safety violations on display in that movie (of course getting speared in the head with a blowgun is somewhat of a safety violation in itself) BUT I kind of have a soft spot for that movie. I liked both of the actors in most anything else they did and I really, really liked F unit diesels and dome cars.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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There is also Murder on the Orient Express in several versions.Also On the PBS series there are several Agatha Christie's with a number of train scenes.As I recall the one with Peter Ustinov as Poirot was the best.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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How about Von Ryan's Express? I don't remember too much about the plot because I was too busy watching the train scenes. It was shot with the extensive cooperation of the Italian Railways, so the railroading at the nuts and bolts level, that is engine operation, coupling / uncoupling, and such are all correct.
Buster Keaton's The General: I have heard that they wanted to use the real thing. At that time, and for many years thereafter, the General was sitting in Chattanooga Union Station. When the railroad understood the nature of the movie, that said a resounding NO. At that time most of the manangement of the NC&StL was at most one generation removed from Confederate veterans and had either first hand knowledge or telling of it by those that did have first hand knowledge of the massive burn rape and pillage of the South performed by the Union forces, and ridicule was not tolerated.
Posts: 2808 | From: Olive Branch MS | Registered: Nov 2002
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Safety violations aside, one thing Silver Streak seemed to capture is the laid back ambiance of train travel, as well as the realism of really being in the middle of nowhere when you are outside of a transcontinental train. And unlike "Broken Arrow" or "Under Siege II", it took place on a real train route (Southwest Chief). I wouldn't call it a good movie, but an entertaining one. And it had a good cast, especially one of my personal favorites, Patrick McGoohan, as the villain.
Is there anyone else on this forum who was a fan of McGoohan's awesome TV series, "The Prisoner"?.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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I am a big fan of Murder on the Orient Express, even though I find Albert Finney a bit tiresome as Poirot (though Poirot himself is perhaps a bit tiresome). But the film is otherwise fine, and the train is the real star!!!
I do not know any other versions; I heard a new version with David Suchet is coming out this year in the UK and likely will be on Mystery! one of these days. Are there others?
And indeed, Train Lady, many Agatha Christies have trains. There is a David Suchet version of Murder on the Blue Train. And, even better than Suchet as Poirot is, IMO, Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, in the wonderful wonderful 4.50 From Paddington (US title of book was What Mrs McGillicuddy saw)--strongly recommended to all you train fans! I think there may now be another version but no one will ever outdo Joan Hickson and I cannot think why a new Marple series was even made!!!
Two of my favorite train scenes in film: Steve Martin, with Michael Caine overheaaring, on the train in the south of France in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels . . . and Dame Edith Evans getting her initials wiped out on the window when the train goes through the tunnel in the original Hitchcock version (1938? 1939?) of The Lady Vanishes (remake stinko)
And my favorite train station scene is in Witness, still very famous at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Absolutely exccellent film IMO, too.
I liked Von Ryan's Express a whole too. I have a film called The Train, with Burt Lancaster, to watch . . . probably saw it before but don't remember. . . .somehow I think it might be on similar lines. . . .
Also, must mention that even though it was a film about very irritating characters, Darjeeling Ltd, just a couple of years ago, had a fantastic train featured prominently. Once they got off the train, I stopped watching soon after. . . .
Oh, and how could I forget: North by Northwest. On "my" train. There is a scene of Amtrak up the Hudson in Tootsie too, very brief, I believe (memory fading)
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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yes Sojourner. I agree with you . Joan Hickson was super and I don't think anyone can even come close to her ability to convince she was Miss Marple. I did see a rerun of Paddington and to be honest was so underhelmed I don't remember who the actress was.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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I think the woman who played Miss Marple in this new series left in the middle and another came on! But I wasn't too impressed with them--just seemed very unnecessary when we have the "definitve" versions. Only interest I have in seeing them is that a few "Marples" are actually Agatha Christie books that did not feature Miss Marple, turned into Marples. I'm esp interested in seeing Towards Zero, since I do like that book and never saw any sort of adaptation.
Of course, so many Christie adaptations lose the flavor of the books terribly. The worst I can think of was a version of Ordeal by Innocence, another favorite book of mine. This version, starring Donald Sutherland and other names (Sarah Miles I think) was for me unwatchable because of its soundtrack. Oddly enough, by David Brubeck, but while I like Take Five & other Brubeck as well, here it was the most intrusive, loud, horrible soundtrack ever, and seemed completely inappropriate for the English coastal setting. I simply could not watch this, or rather, listen to it.
The Suchet Poirots are very mixed by me, some good, some very irritating, with inexplicable changes to plot and flavor. Plus, they insist on resetting them in the 1930s even though some of the books were in the 1960s. Sometimes they are so Art Deco they border on silly (esp the triangle face hahaha). But there are some that I think were very good, esp ABC Murders (which of course also has a major RR tie-in!!! how could I forget?) and Sad Cypress. But they totally wrecked Cat Among the Pigeons, for instance, and Hickory Dickory Death, which keeps showing mice, it's soooooo annoying.
Sorry to get so offtrack!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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