Let's make and share our list of: TRAINS IN MOVIES.

[M636C]

There was a 1930s movie called "Broadway Limited". I can't remember anything about the plot, except that the train was made up of the 1938 "Fleet of Modernism" cars and was hauled by the first streamlined K4s 3768. There were pacing shots on multiple track sections at night that must have used a lot of lights! For some reason, 3768 fails and the only replacement is a D16s 4-4-0, probably 1223 now at Strasburg. Somehow the 4-4-0 manages to get the train under way and runs it into Chicago (or Harrisburg, I can't recall). There were pacing shots with the 4-4-0 at night, as well as the pacific.

"The Lady Vanishes", a 1930s Hitchcock mystery, and a 1980s remake with the same title. The 1930s used a full size mock up of a French PLM pacific and some live coverage also in southern France. The remake was made in Austria using 2-10-0 No 50-685.

"Shanghai Express" with Marlene Dietrich, a 1930s movie set in a divided China in the hands of warlords (quite accurate for the time). The best scene is a departure of a passenger train through a chinese town, with marhket stalls up to the loading gauge. The locomotive was a Southern Pacific Mt-3 with chinese characters in the train number boards. Marlene manages to save her old boyfriend from the wicked Chinese while not letting on that she still likes him.

Peter

[egmurphy]

Since you asked:

North by Northwest - 1959 - Cary Grant & Eva Marie Saint - Cary Grant plays an advertising executive mistaken for a spy and chased across the country on a train. Most of the scenes take place on the train, iirc.

Thanks for reminding me of this flick.

Ed

[Anonymous]

HI AL
Not to mention
The Great Train Robbery and The Great Train Robbery
yes there was two movies of the same title
One with Sean connery and Donald Sutherland where the plan is to steal the gold that will pay the British soldiers in the crimea very nice period train,
and the other about the Ronnie Bigs train robbery of a mail train this one really did happen
regards john

[Anonymous]

"Tough Guys"--Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas rob the last run of the "Gold Coast Flyer"--actually SP 4449 pulling a passenger train over the ex-Eagle Mountain RR, to Mexico, where a model of the 4449 is "wrecked" crossing the border into Mexico.(Doyle McCormick even has a speaking role!)[:D]

"Bad Day at Black Rock"--SP F-units painted in the Black Widow scheme hauling a mostly "Daylight" consist.

"The Fugitive" Fictional Illinois Southern, filmed on the Great Smoky Mt. RR, with ex-N&W un servicable locos.(they were pushed by GSMR locos).

"Back to the Future 3"--Ventura County ex-SP S-6 destroys the DeLorean.

"Smokey and the Bandit 2"-- opening scene has a UP SD-40-2 pulling a UP business car.

"Bronco Billy"--Clint Eastwood and friends try to rob a UP passenger train--on horseback and by early '60's Olds convertible..[8D]

[Anonymous]

back to the future 3 has a good ole western train background

[philnrunt]

I'm so embarrassed- THEM! as I said is one of my favorite movies, and I thought Whitmore, but wrote Stewart. My apologies.
Ed- On the mountain where I go 4-wheeling, there is a bad spot with a huge rock named Black Rock, 'cause a few of us had a real bad day there.

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks Everyone! Super good info!

Funny that no one has mentioned "North by Northwest". I have never seen this movie, but a very good friend tells me that it has nice shots of a New York Central streamliner being hauled by E7s in the "lightning stripe" scheme. Could be the 20th Century Limited or Empire State Express.

Anyone know the details on this movie? Any good closeups of the train?

Cheers!

[egmurphy]

I got to the thread late and most of the ones I would have suggested are already listed....but I can't believe you guys left off one of the greatest flicks of all time ......

High Noon - okay, so it didn't have a lot of train action shots, but it is a great classic flick. Gary Cooper, the town sherriff, stands alone against a returning convicted killer and his gang. The badguy arrives in town on the noon train, Cooper's new bride (Grace Kelly) is, iirc, a Quaker and doesn't believe in violence, and gets on the train to leave.

Phil - can't believe you listed Bad Day at Black Rock. I'd forgotten all about the trains scenes, but for years I used the expression "Bad Day at Black Rock" whenever anything went wrong.

Ed

[skir4d]

It may have been mentioned but Jimmiy Stewart didn't star in Them! it was James Arness and James Whitmore, Arness as the government agent and Whitmore as the New Mexico State trooper.

"Murder on the Orient Express" From the seventies with Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, and a few other great stars wasn't to bad. At least to this North American the cars looked right as did the steam engine (at least it had buffers).

We got Von Ryans Express. Of course, if we go to TV we have Wild Wild West, which for me as a youth was pretty good.

Jack W

[AggroJones]

Under Seige 2--Some modern geeps and a few tunnel motors? (if I remember correctly)

The Mummy Returns-- An Indian heavy 2-8-2 and forign old-school passenger cars.

The Ghost and the Darkness--Some forign steamer and few raggity freight cars.

[philnrunt]

LightBender(Tony) I think what we have here is Hollywood renaming a Brit release.
I recorded that flick from TCM, and it definitely was titled Murder Most Foul. The moguls in H'wood must have thought without the word "Murder" in the title, no American would go to see it. I also have "Murder Ahoy" and" Murder at the Gallop"...hmmmm, seeing a pattern here. Dame Maggie was a fantastic actress, I love her to death....or should I say Murder!
orsonroy-pretty impressive list for winging it! The 'zilla movies alone would fill most peoples movie library. After the 30th or 40th one, I could'nt understand why 20,000 Tokyoites-Tokyoians?-Tokyoaks? would immediately load onto the 5:15 to Doomsville and become 'zilla kibble.Oh well.
Railroading Brit- A few months back, PBS did a 2 hour show on the Kwai Line and that brutal act alone, without the Bataan Death March, the forced sex camps, the biological experiments in China, the Rape of Nanking
or any other of the insanely criminal horrors the Japs (they deserve to be called Japanese only after sanity and civilization was restored post war), made them deserve anything that happened to them during the war.
They interviewed some Aussie and Brit survivors, and there is a huge amount of ill will still felt, as there should be.My dad was a combat Marine, fought quite a few battles and it never failed to amaze him how tenacious his enemy was. He told me once that it astounded the men in his squad when they read of Nazi surrenders. They thought every enemy fought to the death.
Sorry, got off the subject there. This is a good list, and I'll be on the lookout for them.
nslakediv- The movie where the trackworkers held the rail was a Movie of the Week, starred William Shatner, but I don't remember the name. TV guide had a great piece on how they did the wreck, using huge scale equip.

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by nslakediv

What about the one were British POW's build bridge for jap's then blow it up on opening day. Randy
[/quote}

That was "Bridge on the River Kwai" - story of the RR built in Burma by allied POWs - they were treated appallingly by the Japanese soldiers (to be expected (but certainly not justified) really - to the Japanese in that era surrendering lost you all honour, hence their behaviour towards POWs). There's been trouble recently because the Burmese government wouldn't allow relatives of those buried there to visit the graves.

I can think of a really bad one. A film I saw recently on TV. Was called "Murder on the Orient Express" and was clearly based on the A. Christie "Poirot" novel but it was truly dire. The original book was set in the 1930's, and the best film adaptation of this followed suit, but this made-for-TV film (must have been made during the '90's judging by the loco used - that paint scheme only came out then). Most obvious fault - after things like the actor playing Poirot being too young, using the wrong loco and cars, etc...was that every so often you'd hear a crossing bell ringing - we don't have those over here....!

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