New Haven Railroad in Film

[greenwichlirr]

Thought you guys would like these screen grabs I did from the ALICE'S RESTAURANT DVD.

There is only one angle to be seen in all of the NH footage (which totals to just a few seconds), so it backs up the fact that it was a "stolen shot"--looks like they set up the camera and ran with the one and only shot that they got. Notice how they flipped the negative to give an "alternate angle" for the one quick shot of the nuns getting off of the train!

My question: Is the current siding a post NH addition, or was it originally there but just abandoned over the years? You can't see a trace of it in the movie scene.

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[Jeff Smith]

Great screen captures. If CDOT ever gets off their butt, trains may actually run up that way again.

[Noel Weaver]

Great screen captures. If CDOT ever gets off their butt, trains may actually run up that way again.

Not just Connecticut but Massachusetts too. I would love to see passenger trains return to this line and I think it has a lot
more potential than some of the proposals that I have seen on here from time to time. There are a lot of resorts and
schools too and the roads especially in Connecticut are not good at all. It would take some money to happen but I think it
would be worthwhile.
Noel Weaver

[Jeff Smith]

With Wassaic/Chatham gone, that's all that's left! They have added service to PIttsfield as part of the next phase of the study. No idea if CDOT could afford it, certainly not now, though, although they own a good portion of the ROW above New Milford.

[jscola30]

Doesn anyone know of any historical/documentary DVDs of the Northeast Corridor during the New Haven/PRR days?

[Jeff Smith]

Check EBay and search this forum for "DVD". I believe I had posted something about a DVD I picked up that had NH activity.

[Otto Vondrak]

Try also...

http://www.nhrhta.org/htdocs/video.htm#

-otto-

[jaymac]

Two other NH movies, one wannabee and one really-be:
-The wannabee is Far From Heaven, 2002, with Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore. It's supposed to take place in 50ish Connecticut and there are platform shots of black passenger equipment in overhead territory. IMDB lists locations as a bunch in NJ and a few in NY state. The wannabee status is further cemented by the presence of McGinnis-style NH logos on the car sides near the vestibules and -- for the unitiated -- obviously applied printed-out "New Haven Railroad" identifiers centered below the windows.
-The really-be is Crash Dive, 1943, with Tyrone Power as a USN submarine officer. As you might imagine, New London gets some play as does the NYNH&H, including a magnificent but too-short shot of an I-5 doing what I-5s did more than well, getting out of sight too quickly.

[Ridgefielder]

Came across another one-- Boomerang! (1947) starring Dana Andrews and Jane Wyatt. Almost the entire film was shot on location in Stamford; in the opening scene, you see what can only be a 2-car New Canaan dink (with open platform MUTS, no less!) crossing the Atlantic Street overpass in the background.

[Tom Curtin]

My question: Is the current siding a post NH addition, or was it originally there but just abandoned over the years? You can't see a trace of it in the movie scene.

The current siding is quite new --- was added in the last few years to allow Berkshire Scenic trains using the Housatonic Railroad to change ends at Stockbridge

[Rick Abramson]

The motor in The Day the Earth Stood Still was actually an EF-3, not a Jet. The NH was also featured in the WWII submarine movie Crash Dive with Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter and Tyrone Power. It shows an I-5 in action on the Shore Line.
There is also an interior shot of an 8600 series coach in Thirteen Days.

[Tom Curtin]

Another comment about a real subtlety in Hitchcock's Strangers. Early in the film, as the train appraches Danbury/"Metcalf", you see, looking from a vestibule on the left (station) side of the train, what is absolutely and indubitably a consist of NH "American Flyer" cars approaching the station. Now . . . cut to the train stopped at the platform. In this and every subsequent scene in which Granger and Walker disembark, the coach shown is NOT any kind of equipment owned by the New Haven. I have puzzled over this for a long time.

[rghammill]

We were just flipping around channels yesterday and the 1977 version of Superman with Christopher Reeve was on. There's a scene at Grand Central with a NH lettered FL-9 (although obviously it was filmed post-NH).

[CannaScrews]

Not a film per se, but Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" episode (whose name I don't know, but you can check on the Web for sure) with the lead character getting off at "Willoby" (sic). The conductor was definitely sporting a New Haven cap badge, and, given the proximity to NYC (the 1950's early 1960's TV nexus), most likely an old New Haven MUT was involved.

Any additions????

[Jeff Smith]

Check my signature

Willoughby is a great TZ ep; somewhere in CT, you can hear the conductor calling out the stations. I want to say I heard Norwalk called out.