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  • Railroads In The Movies, Part II

  • Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.
Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.

Moderator: Aa3rt

 #752275  by Aa3rt
 
I rented the "Darjeeling Limited" this summer (Something I very rarely do.) and concur that the movie was disappointing from a railway enthusiasts perspective. I tried to watch it, but it didn't hold my interest. Ended up fast-forwarding through many parts for the railway scenes, glad I didn't waste my money seeing this in the theatre!
 #755065  by 2nd trick op
 
I caught the memorable 1950 noir classic The Asphalt Jungle last week. The opening scene shows a 1949 Ford prowl car casing a fleet of streetcars parked during off-peak, and at least one other "car barn" scene occurs during the film. The "colorized" version of the movie shows the cars in yellow, so it can be assumed that the equipment is from the Los Angles Railway, rather than Pacific Electric.

Anyone have an idea where this might originally have been shot?
Last edited by 2nd trick op on Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
 #755300  by Gilbert B Norman
 
While the storyline from this 2007 "made for DVD" flick, Rails and Ties is more for Lifetime viewers (one exception" the Leading Male is the hero instead of the usual "lout"), the few rail scenes are of interest. The railroad "Stargazer Express" is of course fiction and the scenes depicting railroad operations absurd, it nevertheless featured a real train of an F-7 locomotive hauling lightweight passenger cars.

Production credit is given to the B&O Transportation (scenes shot at LAUPT got no credit - maybe ProLogis/Catellus - LAUPT's owner didn't want it), however the train was hardly in B&O livery (short clip of such at the linked IMDB page). I guess "photoshopping" has been perfected to such extent that a photo is no longer irrefutable as evidential matter.
 #755697  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Mr. Benton, Lifetime is a cable channel that features 'women's' programming,some of which includes made for TV movies in which invariably the 'tear jerking' storyline casts the woman trying to hold her family together as the heroine and whatever men are in the script as "louts'.

In the movie Rails and Ties, the man (played by "mature hunk' actor Kevin Bacon) is the hero, the woman (unknown actress) doesn't "go the distance' (dies of cancer) to be a heroine, but is no "louse' while she hangs around.
 #764947  by 2nd trick op
 
Well, a current issue of Classic Trains is devoted to the 100 top rail-themed movies of all time.

Some of the choices are predictable; The Train, a favorite of DPM's, took the top spot, with North by Northwest second. Even Picnic made the list at 99; guess there's something to that From Here to Eternity reprise theory. :wink:

But somehow, Human Desire was completely overlooked; go figure.
 #779305  by atsf sp
 
All the Kings Men with Penn has an ATSF B40-8W in Warbonnet. Too bad this movie takes place in the 30s.
 #804893  by 3rdrail
 
RE: the current Classic Trains published special edition, I was surprised that CT didn't include my personal favorite movie with a railway theme - "The Incident" in it's list of "best" train movies. Not RR, but CT features traction regularly in their magazine. I would have rated it #2 after "The Train" (but then again, they didn't ask my opinion.) :(
 #805351  by railfan365
 
One movie that I haven't seen mentioned in this discussion is "Kings' Row", starring Ronald Reagan among others. In a significant train scene, the character player by Mr. Reagan had hitched a ride in the cab of a freight train as a railroad emloyee, and was injured by stacked freight knocked over by an open boxcar door after geting off ( he didn't hear the shouts of the fireman and engineer who did see the hazard).

This movie is on youtube - and worth looking into. Or you could ask me "Where's the rest of it?"
 #816565  by John_Perkowski
 
I didn't search to see if it was mentioned before, but I really enjoy the opening scenes of Pal Joey starring Frank Sinatra. There are two reasons for this: First, in the very first scene, he's thrown onto the vestibule of an SP commute pool coach (I never did figure out the actual station, but it'd not surprise me if it was Glendale).

The next scene is the next morning (clearly implying the train ran overnight to its destination). An SP commuter pool train is arriving at the Oakland Mole (GS-4, baggage, and 1-2 coaches). Sinatra transits the Mole and heads to the SP docks, joining a ferry across the Bay.

I do not grow tired of seeing that opening.
 #818216  by RussNelson
 
I'd note that Transformers has a scene with a train at about 44m into the film. Bumblebee is trying to hide from Sam, and goes into a junkyard just before a backing train blocks the path for Sam. I had to look at it twice, but the power was a Trackmobile. Had the distinctive axles in the glimpse you get of it.

Which got me to wondering: in how many movies are moving railroad cars without a visible engine actually being moved by a Trackmobile? I speculate that a Trackmobile is cheaper to operate than a full-sized engine (of any type). Plus, it's more flexible. If the director decides that the Trackmobile really needs to be at the other end of the train, hey, no biggie.
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