Best Railroad Movies (topic rehashed)

[Anonymous]

jeaton-

That 50's movie was "The Greatest Show on Earth" with Jimmy Stewart and Charlton Heston(not Burt Lancaster). Great movie, even though the wreck scene was done with models.[8D]

[jeaton]

I just looked at this thread for the first time, and I don't think I saw "Murder on the Orient Express" on the list. Out in the 70's, Albert Finney played Inspector Poirot; Sean Connery and Tony Perkins were among the all star cast. If you're not familiar with Agatha Christie stories or her Poirot character-do not assume from the title that this is a "slasher". On the contrary, this story is in the genre of the classic murder mystery where the victim is only there so that there is a crime to be solved. I digress. The shots of the steam engine and the train really enhance the mood of excitment and drama.

There was also a 50's circus movie, I don't recall the title, with Burt Lancaster and Jimmy Stewart, among others. The circus trains (two sections) are powered by steam, and when the first section is stopped by robbers, the flagman is stopped from protecting the train which is running in dark territory. Guess what? I'm sure that the special effects guys did it with models, but as an 8 or 9 year old I was impressed.

[jeaton]

I just looked at this thread for the first time, and I don't think I saw "Murder on the Orient Express" on the list. Out in the 70's, Albert Finney played Inspector Poirot; Sean Connery and Tony Perkins were among the all star cast. If you're not familiar with Agatha Christie stories or her Poirot character-do not assume from the title that this is a "slasher". On the contrary, this story is in the genre of the classic murder mystery where the victim is only there so that there is a crime to be solved. I digress. The shots of the steam engine and the train really enhance the mood of excitment and drama.

There was also a 50's circus movie, I don't recall the title, with Burt Lancaster and Jimmy Stewart, among others. The circus trains (two sections) are powered by steam, and when the first section is stopped by robbers, the flagman is stopped from protecting the train which is running in dark territory. Guess what? I'm sure that the special effects guys did it with models, but as an 8 or 9 year old I was impressed.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57

I hadn't even thought about war movies but Enemy at the Gates has a handful of nice train scenes. It is an excellent movie to boot.

Mike

That movie is a VERY GOOD MOVIE if you like war movies. However, I really didn't care for the fate of the little boy. [:(] [V] Soft-hearted Jim here.

I talked about that movie when we were discussing the Russian locos that are down in Houston. This discussion was in the stupid question thread. We had it sometime around August/September is you want to find it.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by techguy57

I hadn't even thought about war movies but Enemy at the Gates has a handful of nice train scenes. It is an excellent movie to boot.

Mike

That movie is a VERY GOOD MOVIE if you like war movies. However, I really didn't care for the fate of the little boy. [:(] [V] Soft-hearted Jim here.

I talked about that movie when we were discussing the Russian locos that are down in Houston. This discussion was in the stupid question thread. We had it sometime around August/September is you want to find it.

[Anonymous]

[8D]Theres A movie called tough guys about the last two men to ever rob A train they spend 30 years in prison then steal the Gold Coast Flyer
which was actually the SP Daylight Special they try to take it to Mexico but run out of track Its back from the 80's but has some good footage Of the
SP Daylight # 4449

[Anonymous]

[8D]Theres A movie called tough guys about the last two men to ever rob A train they spend 30 years in prison then steal the Gold Coast Flyer
which was actually the SP Daylight Special they try to take it to Mexico but run out of track Its back from the 80's but has some good footage Of the
SP Daylight # 4449

[Anonymous]

Last night I was watching A movie called Boxcar Bertha Its A good movie
Barbara Hershey Is A very good actor In this plus theres A scene with her NAKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which I thought was cool Its based on the deppression
I give it 3 thumbs up [tup][tup][tup]

[Anonymous]

Last night I was watching A movie called Boxcar Bertha Its A good movie
Barbara Hershey Is A very good actor In this plus theres A scene with her NAKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which I thought was cool Its based on the deppression
I give it 3 thumbs up [tup][tup][tup]

[techguy57]

I hadn't even thought about war movies but Enemy at the Gates has a handful of nice train scenes. It is an excellent movie to boot.

Mike

[techguy57]

I hadn't even thought about war movies but Enemy at the Gates has a handful of nice train scenes. It is an excellent movie to boot.

Mike

[vsmith]

Its quite possible its just a screw up from the art department, they can be notorious for botched covers or posters. They sometimes just use whatevers at hand to meet the deadline, without ever really thinking "is this correct for the movie"? Example: a schlock monster flick a couple of years ago called "Octopus" had on its cover an image of a gigantic octopus with its tenticles wrapped around a ship thats broken on two. but if you look at it for than two seconds you realize the ship is the Titanic and the image is a blatently ripped off image from James cameron's Titanic where the ship has just broken in two, they just glued the image of the octopus over the Titanic, colored it green, and shipped it off to the printers!

[vsmith]

Its quite possible its just a screw up from the art department, they can be notorious for botched covers or posters. They sometimes just use whatevers at hand to meet the deadline, without ever really thinking "is this correct for the movie"? Example: a schlock monster flick a couple of years ago called "Octopus" had on its cover an image of a gigantic octopus with its tenticles wrapped around a ship thats broken on two. but if you look at it for than two seconds you realize the ship is the Titanic and the image is a blatently ripped off image from James cameron's Titanic where the ship has just broken in two, they just glued the image of the octopus over the Titanic, colored it green, and shipped it off to the printers!

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't really classify this as a "railroad movie" and am not sure how many trains scenes there actually are in it as I haven't seen it yet. Still, I would like to nominate it for the worst movie train scene of all time! I recently saw the video for the movie "Jakob the Liar" with Robin Williams in a store (I almost bought it out of curiousity, I'll have to rent it). Now, the movie takes place in the ghettos that Jews were shipped to in World War II. The cover for the box shows pictures of the main characters, barbed wire, fire and a train. Now, if the filmmakers were going to do this properly they'd find a European steam locomotive that operated at that time, but as we know Hollywood doesn't always do things accurately. Now, if someone told me about a WWII movie with bad train scenes I'd expect it to have an American or British steam engine. This is much worse! The train is a fairly modern EMD diesel!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure if it's a GP or SD (it's kind o hard to tell from the picture). What idiot could ever believe that is at all accurate?! I found a picture of it at www.001abc.com/MilitaryAndWar/jakobtheliar.html . I wonder if it has scenes of SS troops riding in a Ford Mustang? But like I say, I haven't actually seen it, so maybe that train isn't in it, but I'd suspect it is in an important part of the film to be put on the cover.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't really classify this as a "railroad movie" and am not sure how many trains scenes there actually are in it as I haven't seen it yet. Still, I would like to nominate it for the worst movie train scene of all time! I recently saw the video for the movie "Jakob the Liar" with Robin Williams in a store (I almost bought it out of curiousity, I'll have to rent it). Now, the movie takes place in the ghettos that Jews were shipped to in World War II. The cover for the box shows pictures of the main characters, barbed wire, fire and a train. Now, if the filmmakers were going to do this properly they'd find a European steam locomotive that operated at that time, but as we know Hollywood doesn't always do things accurately. Now, if someone told me about a WWII movie with bad train scenes I'd expect it to have an American or British steam engine. This is much worse! The train is a fairly modern EMD diesel!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure if it's a GP or SD (it's kind o hard to tell from the picture). What idiot could ever believe that is at all accurate?! I found a picture of it at www.001abc.com/MilitaryAndWar/jakobtheliar.html . I wonder if it has scenes of SS troops riding in a Ford Mustang? But like I say, I haven't actually seen it, so maybe that train isn't in it, but I'd suspect it is in an important part of the film to be put on the cover.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005


Sask Tinplater mentioned Buster Keaton and an American Flyer train that served food. There's another movie that borrowed that idea. Nothing But Trouble, staring Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Deme Moore, and John Candy has a great scene featuring a Lionel train that comes up out of a long oval dining table. A tank car was turned into a mustard dispenser, and a 1960's rocket launcher hurls little pickels at Taylor Negron. The scene only lasts a little over a minute, so a DVD copy may be the best way to enjoy this one.

Find Buster Keatons old short called "the Electric House" where he's in charge of a 'house of the future' full of al sorts of gadgets like an escalator stair. At the dining table he flips a lever and a gauge 1 tinplate train comes out with the dinner plates on the cars. Its a great idea until the track comes loose and the whole train, food and all, rolls across the table and into the lap of his guest. [:0]

Another movie with a great MODEL TRAIN sequence is in the movie " The Secret Policeman's Ball" which was a filmed live stage charity fundraiser.

There's a skit featuring "the Great MacConagle" (Rowan Atkinson I believe) in which our hero is doing an escape trick that involves a big lionel type loco with a rather large and pointy fork added to its front and our hero at the end of track, tied to a chair in his underwear trying to escape his bonds before the train with its rather nasty attachment reaches him. Well, he doesnt quite make it and the train goes full bore right into a rather sensitive area of his lap. [:0]

I fell out of my seat laughing when I first saw it. Definetly worth looking for.[:D]

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005


Sask Tinplater mentioned Buster Keaton and an American Flyer train that served food. There's another movie that borrowed that idea. Nothing But Trouble, staring Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Deme Moore, and John Candy has a great scene featuring a Lionel train that comes up out of a long oval dining table. A tank car was turned into a mustard dispenser, and a 1960's rocket launcher hurls little pickels at Taylor Negron. The scene only lasts a little over a minute, so a DVD copy may be the best way to enjoy this one.

Find Buster Keatons old short called "the Electric House" where he's in charge of a 'house of the future' full of al sorts of gadgets like an escalator stair. At the dining table he flips a lever and a gauge 1 tinplate train comes out with the dinner plates on the cars. Its a great idea until the track comes loose and the whole train, food and all, rolls across the table and into the lap of his guest. [:0]

Another movie with a great MODEL TRAIN sequence is in the movie " The Secret Policeman's Ball" which was a filmed live stage charity fundraiser.

There's a skit featuring "the Great MacConagle" (Rowan Atkinson I believe) in which our hero is doing an escape trick that involves a big lionel type loco with a rather large and pointy fork added to its front and our hero at the end of track, tied to a chair in his underwear trying to escape his bonds before the train with its rather nasty attachment reaches him. Well, he doesnt quite make it and the train goes full bore right into a rather sensitive area of his lap. [:0]

I fell out of my seat laughing when I first saw it. Definetly worth looking for.[:D]

[rixflix]

"BLACK ORPHEUS" IS SET IN RIO AT CARNIVAL TIME.TERRIFIC MUSIC/DANCING AND TERRIFIC VINTAGE OPEN TROLLEYS.THE HERO ORFEO IS A MOTORMAN!!!! CARBARN SCENES AND A CAR OF RIOTOUS REVELERS CROSSING A VIADUCT ARE
PARTICULARLY MEMORABLE.BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND TRAMS...YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE THERE!!! [tup]

Somebody on a forum was kvetching about another guy's using caps,claiming it was a violation of "netiquette". When I posted this I was at work where we use the Prophet21
operating system to sell tools and machinery. This system is all caps except for the
log-in password. I don't always remember to switch. Anyway, to the kvetcher: get a life please.
From now on I resolve to capitalize, spell, parse, punctuate, etc. the way I was taught in
school. It seems to me that when someone takes the time to do this it shows courtesy to
the reader, a willingness to really communicate, and thought behind the words. Thinking
about the composition of words also gives you the time to clarify your subject matter.
Besides, lower case writing looks a little shabby, even lazy.
The most important thing is to have fun with our hobby.

Blessed be Jean Shepard in all his works!!!
Captain Video aka Rixflix
Over and Out

[rixflix]

"BLACK ORPHEUS" IS SET IN RIO AT CARNIVAL TIME.TERRIFIC MUSIC/DANCING AND TERRIFIC VINTAGE OPEN TROLLEYS.THE HERO ORFEO IS A MOTORMAN!!!! CARBARN SCENES AND A CAR OF RIOTOUS REVELERS CROSSING A VIADUCT ARE
PARTICULARLY MEMORABLE.BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND TRAMS...YOU'LL WISH YOU WERE THERE!!! [tup]

Somebody on a forum was kvetching about another guy's using caps,claiming it was a violation of "netiquette". When I posted this I was at work where we use the Prophet21
operating system to sell tools and machinery. This system is all caps except for the
log-in password. I don't always remember to switch. Anyway, to the kvetcher: get a life please.
From now on I resolve to capitalize, spell, parse, punctuate, etc. the way I was taught in
school. It seems to me that when someone takes the time to do this it shows courtesy to
the reader, a willingness to really communicate, and thought behind the words. Thinking
about the composition of words also gives you the time to clarify your subject matter.
Besides, lower case writing looks a little shabby, even lazy.
The most important thing is to have fun with our hobby.

Blessed be Jean Shepard in all his works!!!
Captain Video aka Rixflix
Over and Out

[Big_Boy_4005]

Thanks for bringing this topic back.

Hey all you Silver Streak fans ( Wilder and Pryor), has anyone noticed that through the entire movie you only see one side of the train? It doesn't make the movie any less great though.

I also love Emperor of the North, I taped it off cable, and put it on when there's nothing else to watch. I've damn near worn that tape out.[:D]

Sask Tinplater mentioned Buster Keaton and an American Flyer train that served food. There's another movie that borrowed that idea. Nothing But Trouble, staring Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Deme Moore, and John Candy has a great scene featuring a Lionel train that comes up out of a long oval dining table. A tank car was turned into a mustard dispenser, and a 1960's rocket launcher hurls little pickels at Taylor Negron. The scene only lasts a little over a minute, so a DVD copy may be the best way to enjoy this one.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Switchback, with Danny Glover. This is a real good suspense film, and has a great mountain railroad sequence.

As for Under Siege 2, I agree that the wreck at the end is rather cheesy, but there's another piece of Hollywood that was rather unrealistic. Did anyone see Steven Segal slide open a window and climb out?

Beside being a train buff, I'm a movie buff too. Its a bonus when the two are combined.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Thanks for bringing this topic back.

Hey all you Silver Streak fans ( Wilder and Pryor), has anyone noticed that through the entire movie you only see one side of the train? It doesn't make the movie any less great though.

I also love Emperor of the North, I taped it off cable, and put it on when there's nothing else to watch. I've damn near worn that tape out.[:D]

Sask Tinplater mentioned Buster Keaton and an American Flyer train that served food. There's another movie that borrowed that idea. Nothing But Trouble, staring Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Deme Moore, and John Candy has a great scene featuring a Lionel train that comes up out of a long oval dining table. A tank car was turned into a mustard dispenser, and a 1960's rocket launcher hurls little pickels at Taylor Negron. The scene only lasts a little over a minute, so a DVD copy may be the best way to enjoy this one.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Switchback, with Danny Glover. This is a real good suspense film, and has a great mountain railroad sequence.

As for Under Siege 2, I agree that the wreck at the end is rather cheesy, but there's another piece of Hollywood that was rather unrealistic. Did anyone see Steven Segal slide open a window and climb out?

Beside being a train buff, I'm a movie buff too. Its a bonus when the two are combined.

[Anonymous]

Rixflex,
Is this the movie, with the original King Kong Movie Guru who was tracking down King Kong (The Original Movie) as the engineer?

Larry

[Anonymous]

Rixflex,
Is this the movie, with the original King Kong Movie Guru who was tracking down King Kong (The Original Movie) as the engineer?

Larry

[vsmith]

Just saw a great movie that not specifically train oriented had a great train related theme running thru it.

The movie is "The Triplets of Belleville" a French animated film about a clubfooted grandmother searching for her kidnapped Tour de France cyclist grandson. This movie is really awesome visually.

The trains come in with the family dog Bruno who barks thru the window at the trains passing by inches from the family house. Its thru Bruno's dreams that we see why he barks and his phobia/mania/attraction about trains. I swear some of these visuals will stay with you for days!!! especially the old Treverich type steam engine Bruno is riding on!

Outstanding film! It my Academy award choice for best animated film for 2003, it makes sushi out of Nemo.

Search this movie out, see it, watch it, get brain damage from it!

[vsmith]

Just saw a great movie that not specifically train oriented had a great train related theme running thru it.

The movie is "The Triplets of Belleville" a French animated film about a clubfooted grandmother searching for her kidnapped Tour de France cyclist grandson. This movie is really awesome visually.

The trains come in with the family dog Bruno who barks thru the window at the trains passing by inches from the family house. Its thru Bruno's dreams that we see why he barks and his phobia/mania/attraction about trains. I swear some of these visuals will stay with you for days!!! especially the old Treverich type steam engine Bruno is riding on!

Outstanding film! It my Academy award choice for best animated film for 2003, it makes sushi out of Nemo.

Search this movie out, see it, watch it, get brain damage from it!

[rixflix]

"the silver streak" (1934) features a new-fangled zephyr that must save the rr president's
son.ridiculously fast running train.best moment is when they part a freight train fouling a diamond a milli-second before the streak zooms through.[tup]

"this gun for hire" is a good noir film with alan ladd as a hired assassin. it has a terrific sp freight yard scene.[tup]




"sullivan's travels" has a movie producer hobo-ing around the country to see how people really live. he calls a station agent to ask "where does one go to hop a freight?"
There are some funny moments here. [tup]

[rixflix]

"the silver streak" (1934) features a new-fangled zephyr that must save the rr president's
son.ridiculously fast running train.best moment is when they part a freight train fouling a diamond a milli-second before the streak zooms through.[tup]

"this gun for hire" is a good noir film with alan ladd as a hired assassin. it has a terrific sp freight yard scene.[tup]




"sullivan's travels" has a movie producer hobo-ing around the country to see how people really live. he calls a station agent to ask "where does one go to hop a freight?"
There are some funny moments here. [tup]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SLIC
(was Micheal J fox authourized to pull the pin and why didn't he set the hand brakes on the cars)

It was a movie not going for rr accuracy - they were in a hurry - and what do you mean by authorization? Permission or actual off set Certification? If it has nothing to do specifically with the plot of the movie, why add it in, or at least thaqt seems to be how hollywood acnoledges trains.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SLIC
(was Micheal J fox authourized to pull the pin and why didn't he set the hand brakes on the cars)

It was a movie not going for rr accuracy - they were in a hurry - and what do you mean by authorization? Permission or actual off set Certification? If it has nothing to do specifically with the plot of the movie, why add it in, or at least thaqt seems to be how hollywood acnoledges trains.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

OK, now I know it looks like I am an ad man for Pentrex but I really am not. I just like to pass along info so people and can advantage of it if they so desire. [8D]

Now the latest bit of new is this. Pentrex is offering online gift certificates for us to buy and give to that special railfan (LIKE ME [:D] ) So if you know any railfans (LIKE ME [:D] ) that would appreciate videos for Christmas (LIKE ME [:D] ) you can get them ( ME [:D] ) a gift certificate. lol lol lol [:D]

You can find out more info at

http://www.pentrex.com

Have a great day. [:p] [:)] [;)]

HUM dont know Any railfans there bubba what to do with all those certificates
I guess sned them to some One who wants em you know any one there Jim