Railroad Forums 

  • Alcos in Movies

  • Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.
Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.

Moderator: Alcoman

 #430929  by Luther Brefo
 
I was just watching "Bird on the wire" and there is a scene in the middle of the movie where BCR 704 hits a police vehicle at a crossing.

This engine:
Image

I instantly recognized it due to the paint scheme on the locomotive, the light arrangement, and of course the famous Alco features.

Where else have you see Alcos in movies?

And as an aside, what happened to the 704?

 #430967  by uhaul
 
I think "Atomic Train" uses MLW units. Wrong place to post this?

 #431024  by N. Todd
 
704 was traded in to GE and sent to Naporano in 1994. Too bad nobody went for it.

-NYLE 1013 broke down in Planes, Trains and Automobiles
-A railroad in California has a low-nosed RS11/3x which it advertises for film use. I've seen it on CSI and a Fox special.
A BC Rail M420W was used in NBC's Final Run. Just like atomic train- totally ridiculous.

 #432277  by MEC407
 
Yes, two or three BC Rail M420Ws were used in Atomic Train.

 #433667  by N. Todd
 
MEC407 wrote:Yes, two or three BC Rail M420Ws were used in Atomic Train.
Four.
I'm sure John M. can give you the details :-)

 #433681  by MEC407
 
It's been a while since I've watched it. :wink:

 #433795  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
I saw the end of BTTF 3 today. The Delorean gets destroyed by an Alco, at the end. Looked like a pair of Alcos, actually.

 #434416  by wess
 
I think Stockton Terminal and Eastern had a spot in Blue Thunder where the hero lands an attack helicopter on the tracks near the end of the movie

 #435375  by Nova55
 
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:I saw the end of BTTF 3 today. The Delorean gets destroyed by an Alco, at the end. Looked like a pair of Alcos, actually.
Indeed they were...a pair of ex Espee S6s...I dont recall the RR that owned them at the time though..

 #435384  by Matt K Dettman
 
Nova55 wrote:
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:I saw the end of BTTF 3 today. The Delorean gets destroyed by an Alco, at the end. Looked like a pair of Alcos, actually.
Indeed they were...a pair of ex Espee S6s...I dont recall the RR that owned them at the time though..
Ventura County RR owned them at the time. I think they had just repainted them

 #435528  by scharnhorst
 
The X-Files is filmed in British Columbia and some of there shows were filmed in BC Rail Yards but they say there in Washington D.C. I do not rember the names of the epasodes in which a BC Rail Locomotive pops up from time to time.
 #437511  by jr
 
Planes Trains and Automobiles was filmed, in part, on the New York & Lake Erie in the mid-80s. My vague recollection is that they repainted a C-425 (1013, I think?) for this movie. I don't know how much footage of the loco is actually in the final product.

JR
 #437838  by N. Todd
 
jr wrote:Planes Trains and Automobiles was filmed, in part, on the New York & Lake Erie in the mid-80s. My vague recollection is that they repainted a C-425 (1013, I think?) for this movie. I don't know how much footage of the loco is actually in the final product.

JR
Yeah, it had some ugly orange name on it. It ran long-hood forward. It had an engine failure and was spewing black smoke. I believe the people had to "walk back home"

 #437889  by Alcoman
 
It never ceases to amaze me how these movies get created without concern in regards to realistic operation. Most Alcofans know that an Alco that spews alot of black smoke is having turbo or injector problems...Not engine failure.

Atomic Train was just as guilty too! Hydraulic brakes...yea right! Thats just for starters....

 #437919  by nessman
 
Planes Trains and Automobiles used NYLE 1013 and carried a fictional "Contrack" livery. There's some locomotive footage, including the train pulling up and stopping at a station while they get their tickets - you can hear the Alco purring in the background. Prior to the train scenes, the John Candy character says he has a friend at the railroad who can help them out, Bert Dingman - a direct reference to "the" Robert Dingman of the NYLE.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/nyle1013.jpg

Atomic Train's "star" was BCR 642, now MWHA 642 in service on the D-L.