I watched an old movie on TCM last night. (A Bad Day at Black Rock 1955). This was MGM's first movie in CinemaScope and the 1st 5 minutes showed some stunning camera shots of a Southern Pacific 'streamliner'. (EMD -F-unit and what looked like fluted stainless coaches) -The storyline was from 1945 and was set near Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevadas.
Has anyone seen this movie? Did such a consist exist in 1945?
Anyway the rest of the movie was pretty good to.- even without the train. The cast included Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, Walter Brennan, James Colbern and Anne Francis.
Rich
Great movie!
Like "Harvey Girls" the train forms a significant part of the opening titles.
My recollection is that the train had a baggage car, two twin articulated coach sets and a dining car (I'm not sure about the baggage) all in Daylight red and orange. The locomotives were, I think an F7 A+B unit.
The cars all existed in 1945, having been introduced for the "Coast Daylight" in 1937. I don't think there were any SP cab units in the "Black Widow" scheme in 1945. In 1945, such a train would have been steam hauled on the SP, I think.
M636C
A classic. I think the consist was cobbled together by S.P. from available equipment, with a dual service Black Widow FP7 as power. I'm sure others can provide a lot more info.
Tom
https://cinetrains.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/the-black-widow-of-black-rock-southern-pacific-in-bad-day-at-black-rock/
As I remember the movie, Black Rock was a flagstop on a thru train. They took some artistic license, as The Mt Whitney area (Lone Pine) was the end of the standard gauge line, and continued as the narrow gauge Owens Valley line until 1960.
While the train scene was filmed in the Lone Pine, CA area, if I remember correctly, Black Rock was supposed to be in Arizona.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
I read that Southern Pacific charged MGM for 264 coach tickets as a fee to run the train out to the movie location.
I enjoyed seeing the movie recently and the SP train. At least the 'continuity' person managed to keep the same set of equipment in use for the movie instead of the often seen cutting in of a set of F units to begin the trip and a steamer or Alco PA midway through the scene.
Karl Scribner
Sunfield Twp. Michigan
Kentucky Southern Railway
I always try to catch Bad Day when TCM runs it. SP stops in town at beginning of movie and stops again at the end. What a classic. That telegraph operator should have had his license revoked.
I do remember seeing this movie years ago with my parents. Do remember a train,but haven't seen it since and I don't even remember the plot. We always saw movies involving a train.
I think the opening and closing scenes were shot at the same time, with the deserted depot for the arrival and then with all the State Police vehicles parked around for the ending. That is appropriate since the train was supposed to run at the same time each day. The only problem would be getting all the shots in....
The worst example of continuity I have ever seen was the 1940s black and white version of "Goodbye Mr Chips". The opening scene was a train entering the station near the school at the beginning of term, with all the students arriving. The filmmakers decided to have a pan view of the train arriving, but for some reason had to carry out the pan in two halves. They then decided to use two regular service trains for the scene. The first train had a conventional steam locomotive, but the second had one of Oliver Bullied's streamlined light pacifics. So in mid pan, the locomotive changed from a dark green conventional loco to a light green streamlined loco with three yellow stripes down the side. Even in black and white that is a visual shock.
The plot of "A Bad Day at Black Rock" is interesting. Despite the date of 1945, it is in spirit a Western with good triumphing over evil, and the honest hero winning over the locals who had been led astray by the villain. The missing Japanese farmer and his son killed in action reflect indirectly on the poor treatment of ethnic Japanese Americans during the War, which while well known now would not have been a topic in movies of the period.
I'll watch it it any time it is run...
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