Best Railroad Movies (topic rehashed)

[sr6498]

Fool's Parade Starring Southern Railway 4501, co-starring Jimmy Stewart, young Kurt Russell, Bill Purdie, Walter Dove, and Paul Merriman.

[sr6498]

Fool's Parade Starring Southern Railway 4501, co-starring Jimmy Stewart, young Kurt Russell, Bill Purdie, Walter Dove, and Paul Merriman.

[Tulyar15]

QUOTE:

Someone tell us about The Ghost Train I have never seen it?

The Ghost Train was a play and movie written in the 1930's by Arnold Ridley, a British playwright and actor. He's best remembered for playing the part of Pte. Godfrey in the BBC TV comedy "Dad's Army".

The basic plot is this: A train is delayed by the actions of an idiot passenger and as a result a number of people (including the person who caused the delay!) miss their connection for the branch line to Fal Vale at Fal Junction. The station master urges them not to stay on the station at Fal Junction claiming that it's haunted. But because its miles from anywhere and its raining the stranded passengers refuse to move despite the station master's dire warnings about what happens to anyone who spends a night on Fal Junction. It transpires that these stories are being put about by a gang of gun runners who dont want people to find out that they're using the station as their hideout, while the guy who delayed the train turns out to be an undercover cop whose been on their trail for a while and at last manages to catch them.

In the play the gun runners were originally communists (Ridley, like another Arnie, was a true blue conservative!) but in the movie as the Russians had entered WW2 on our side by then the baddies are Nazi 5th columnists. T

The railway scenes are mostly stock footage of Great Western trains on the sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, whilst the swing bridge over which the baddies try to make their escape is Barmouth Bridge in Wales.

[Tulyar15]

QUOTE:

Someone tell us about The Ghost Train I have never seen it?

The Ghost Train was a play and movie written in the 1930's by Arnold Ridley, a British playwright and actor. He's best remembered for playing the part of Pte. Godfrey in the BBC TV comedy "Dad's Army".

The basic plot is this: A train is delayed by the actions of an idiot passenger and as a result a number of people (including the person who caused the delay!) miss their connection for the branch line to Fal Vale at Fal Junction. The station master urges them not to stay on the station at Fal Junction claiming that it's haunted. But because its miles from anywhere and its raining the stranded passengers refuse to move despite the station master's dire warnings about what happens to anyone who spends a night on Fal Junction. It transpires that these stories are being put about by a gang of gun runners who dont want people to find out that they're using the station as their hideout, while the guy who delayed the train turns out to be an undercover cop whose been on their trail for a while and at last manages to catch them.

In the play the gun runners were originally communists (Ridley, like another Arnie, was a true blue conservative!) but in the movie as the Russians had entered WW2 on our side by then the baddies are Nazi 5th columnists. T

The railway scenes are mostly stock footage of Great Western trains on the sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, whilst the swing bridge over which the baddies try to make their escape is Barmouth Bridge in Wales.

[bowlerp]

OK, one last item: I have not seen this one mentioned, but may have missed it on this huge thread.

Not a railroad movie per se, but Narrow Margin from 1990 starring Gene Hackman and Anne Archer was a very successful thriller in national theater release at the time. Most of its action features scenes from the VIA Canadian and the sequences are lengthy. This is a first rate film worth watchingand the train is a bonus.

My favorites are the B/W films from the silent era because they tend to show steam railroading at its peak in the 1920s. Most of the plots are like "railroad romances", but the railroading is authentic, if over dramatized. Danger Lights in the talkie era was probably the last and finest of this genre. Many of these films are avalable from websites or eBay. Just do a little Google searching and you'll turn them up. The word "Express" often appears in their titles, "Phantom Express" or "The Lost Express" are but 2 examples of these.

[bowlerp]

OK, one last item: I have not seen this one mentioned, but may have missed it on this huge thread.

Not a railroad movie per se, but Narrow Margin from 1990 starring Gene Hackman and Anne Archer was a very successful thriller in national theater release at the time. Most of its action features scenes from the VIA Canadian and the sequences are lengthy. This is a first rate film worth watchingand the train is a bonus.

My favorites are the B/W films from the silent era because they tend to show steam railroading at its peak in the 1920s. Most of the plots are like "railroad romances", but the railroading is authentic, if over dramatized. Danger Lights in the talkie era was probably the last and finest of this genre. Many of these films are avalable from websites or eBay. Just do a little Google searching and you'll turn them up. The word "Express" often appears in their titles, "Phantom Express" or "The Lost Express" are but 2 examples of these.

[redflasher1]

THE FIVE MAN ARMY

Set during the Mexican Revolution, a man known only as "The Dutchman" (Peter Graves) has a plan for a robbery and brings together four of his old buddies. Each man brings with him a specialized talent: Mesito, a Bluto-like strongman, Captain Augustus, an expert with dynamite, Samurai, a deadly killer with a sword and Luis, an acrobatic fighter. Each of the men is promised a reward of $1,000 if the plan succeeds. Their mission is to rob a train carrying half a million dollars in gold dust owned by an evil Mexican General and give the gold to the Mexican revolutionaries. Unfortunately, the train is guarded by hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and it must pass through a steady stream of military checkpoints. A great early Euro-western, one of the first films written and co-directed by Italy’s Dario Argento.

[redflasher1]

THE FIVE MAN ARMY

Set during the Mexican Revolution, a man known only as "The Dutchman" (Peter Graves) has a plan for a robbery and brings together four of his old buddies. Each man brings with him a specialized talent: Mesito, a Bluto-like strongman, Captain Augustus, an expert with dynamite, Samurai, a deadly killer with a sword and Luis, an acrobatic fighter. Each of the men is promised a reward of $1,000 if the plan succeeds. Their mission is to rob a train carrying half a million dollars in gold dust owned by an evil Mexican General and give the gold to the Mexican revolutionaries. Unfortunately, the train is guarded by hundreds of heavily armed soldiers and it must pass through a steady stream of military checkpoints. A great early Euro-western, one of the first films written and co-directed by Italy’s Dario Argento.

[nanaimo73]

Best Picture Oscars went to Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and In the Heat of the Night. I'll watch all three, and The Natural, whenever they come on.
The trains are just a bonus.

[nanaimo73]

Best Picture Oscars went to Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and In the Heat of the Night. I'll watch all three, and The Natural, whenever they come on.
The trains are just a bonus.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15

QUOTE:

Someone tell us about The Ghost Train I have never seen it?

The Ghost Train was a play and movie written in the 1930's by Arnold Ridley, a British playwright and actor. He's best remembered for playing the part of Pte. Godfrey in the BBC TV comedy "Dad's Army".

The basic plot is this: A train is delayed by the actions of an idiot passenger and as a result a number of people (including the person who caused the delay!) miss their connection for the branch line to Fal Vale at Fal Junction. The station master urges them not to stay on the station at Fal Junction claiming that it's haunted. But because its miles from anywhere and its raining the stranded passengers refuse to move despite the station master's dire warnings about what happens to anyone who spends a night on Fal Junction. It transpires that these stories are being put about by a gang of gun runners who dont want people to find out that they're using the station as their hideout, while the guy who delayed the train turns out to be an undercover cop whose been on their trail for a while and at last manages to catch them.

In the play the gun runners were originally communists (Ridley, like another Arnie, was a true blue conservative!) but in the movie as the Russians had entered WW2 on our side by then the baddies are Nazi 5th columnists. T

The railway scenes are mostly stock footage of Great Western trains on the sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, whilst the swing bridge over which the baddies try to make their escape is Barmouth Bridge in Wales.

Thanks for the info. [:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15

QUOTE:

Someone tell us about The Ghost Train I have never seen it?

The Ghost Train was a play and movie written in the 1930's by Arnold Ridley, a British playwright and actor. He's best remembered for playing the part of Pte. Godfrey in the BBC TV comedy "Dad's Army".

The basic plot is this: A train is delayed by the actions of an idiot passenger and as a result a number of people (including the person who caused the delay!) miss their connection for the branch line to Fal Vale at Fal Junction. The station master urges them not to stay on the station at Fal Junction claiming that it's haunted. But because its miles from anywhere and its raining the stranded passengers refuse to move despite the station master's dire warnings about what happens to anyone who spends a night on Fal Junction. It transpires that these stories are being put about by a gang of gun runners who dont want people to find out that they're using the station as their hideout, while the guy who delayed the train turns out to be an undercover cop whose been on their trail for a while and at last manages to catch them.

In the play the gun runners were originally communists (Ridley, like another Arnie, was a true blue conservative!) but in the movie as the Russians had entered WW2 on our side by then the baddies are Nazi 5th columnists. T

The railway scenes are mostly stock footage of Great Western trains on the sea wall at Dawlish in Devon, whilst the swing bridge over which the baddies try to make their escape is Barmouth Bridge in Wales.

Thanks for the info. [:)]

[Anonymous]

Didn't see anyone mention "Timberjack." Saw it on TV a long time ago. Typical outdoor/Western drama of good guys vs. bad guys, set in a lumber camp with lots of log train action, powered by Shays if I recall correctly. Other non-RR movies with trains are Radio Flyer (SP runby at Novato, CA), Starman (alien dude and gal pal hop Santa Fe freight), Red Dawn (fighting with commie invaders in ATSF yard, in NM??), Dr. Zhivago (steam trains in the snow), and Living it Up (I think that's the title, Martin and Lewis and Santa Fe Fs in the desert).

[Anonymous]

Didn't see anyone mention "Timberjack." Saw it on TV a long time ago. Typical outdoor/Western drama of good guys vs. bad guys, set in a lumber camp with lots of log train action, powered by Shays if I recall correctly. Other non-RR movies with trains are Radio Flyer (SP runby at Novato, CA), Starman (alien dude and gal pal hop Santa Fe freight), Red Dawn (fighting with commie invaders in ATSF yard, in NM??), Dr. Zhivago (steam trains in the snow), and Living it Up (I think that's the title, Martin and Lewis and Santa Fe Fs in the desert).

[traintownofcowee]

Definatly Tough Guys!
If there's a movie with Southern Pacific #4449 in it, it has to be a favorite!
But, iv'e seen it and it's a movie which I highly recommend every railfan to watch!

C U ALL L8TER!
[:)][8D][:D][:P][;)][{(-_-)}][(-D][swg][:)]

[traintownofcowee]

Definatly Tough Guys!
If there's a movie with Southern Pacific #4449 in it, it has to be a favorite!
But, iv'e seen it and it's a movie which I highly recommend every railfan to watch!

C U ALL L8TER!
[:)][8D][:D][:P][;)][{(-_-)}][(-D][swg][:)]

[Underw8]

In my opinion, the VERY best of the train movies was "Emperor of the North." With Lee Marvin, Keith Carradine, Ernest Borgnine and Vic Tayback, it isn't exactly an all-star cast, but still... it is not exactly actors nobody heard of.
I do not know the old man who played the engineer, but he did a pretty good job, too! The biggest "inauthenticity" I noticed is that two times they filmed at the same site at trackside. The average person may not even notice this, but as an ex-railroad worker, I did. LOL I suppose it is just the 'railroader' in me!
Borgnine plays a conductor with a villainous attitude towards 'freeloaders' on his local freight.
It is filmed on the West Coast. I am presuming the trackage used was maybe off the SP&S?
Naturally, they hadda motify the name of the railroad, to prevent lawsuits... but still, it is a da*n good movie! (fill in ur choice of consonants.)
TRUST ME... Emperor of the North is a movie that may someday make it into the hall of fame for movies.
Yer Hillbilly friend in TN...
Underw8
PROUD father of an American Soldier

[Underw8]

In my opinion, the VERY best of the train movies was "Emperor of the North." With Lee Marvin, Keith Carradine, Ernest Borgnine and Vic Tayback, it isn't exactly an all-star cast, but still... it is not exactly actors nobody heard of.
I do not know the old man who played the engineer, but he did a pretty good job, too! The biggest "inauthenticity" I noticed is that two times they filmed at the same site at trackside. The average person may not even notice this, but as an ex-railroad worker, I did. LOL I suppose it is just the 'railroader' in me!
Borgnine plays a conductor with a villainous attitude towards 'freeloaders' on his local freight.
It is filmed on the West Coast. I am presuming the trackage used was maybe off the SP&S?
Naturally, they hadda motify the name of the railroad, to prevent lawsuits... but still, it is a da*n good movie! (fill in ur choice of consonants.)
TRUST ME... Emperor of the North is a movie that may someday make it into the hall of fame for movies.
Yer Hillbilly friend in TN...
Underw8
PROUD father of an American Soldier

[wjstix]

"Emperor of the North" was shot on a Pacific Northwest shortline, I think it was called the Oregon California and Eastern ?? I think the equipment in the movie was lettered for that railroad. If I remember, that railroad still exists, or existed up until very recently.

"Danger Lights" from 1930 would be my pick. One of the first sound movies filmed on location (Milwaukee Road "Trans-Missouri" division I think). Great cast and story. Unfortunately, one of the railfan video companies got a hold of it and butchered it up to cut out all the non-train parts, so if you watch that, the story makes no sense. It actually is a very good movie if you can ever see the whole thing.

[wjstix]

"Emperor of the North" was shot on a Pacific Northwest shortline, I think it was called the Oregon California and Eastern ?? I think the equipment in the movie was lettered for that railroad. If I remember, that railroad still exists, or existed up until very recently.

"Danger Lights" from 1930 would be my pick. One of the first sound movies filmed on location (Milwaukee Road "Trans-Missouri" division I think). Great cast and story. Unfortunately, one of the railfan video companies got a hold of it and butchered it up to cut out all the non-train parts, so if you watch that, the story makes no sense. It actually is a very good movie if you can ever see the whole thing.

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

"Emperor of the North" was shot on a Pacific Northwest shortline, I think it was called the Oregon California and Eastern ?? I think the equipment in the movie was lettered for that railroad. If I remember, that railroad still exists, or existed up until very recently.

"Danger Lights" from 1930 would be my pick. One of the first sound movies filmed on location (Milwaukee Road "Trans-Missouri" division I think). Great cast and story. Unfortunately, one of the railfan video companies got a hold of it and butchered it up to cut out all the non-train parts, so if you watch that, the story makes no sense. It actually is a very good movie if you can ever see the whole thing.

[#ditto][#ditto] and [#ditto] *Please note the correct spelling is "Ditto"

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

"Emperor of the North" was shot on a Pacific Northwest shortline, I think it was called the Oregon California and Eastern ?? I think the equipment in the movie was lettered for that railroad. If I remember, that railroad still exists, or existed up until very recently.

"Danger Lights" from 1930 would be my pick. One of the first sound movies filmed on location (Milwaukee Road "Trans-Missouri" division I think). Great cast and story. Unfortunately, one of the railfan video companies got a hold of it and butchered it up to cut out all the non-train parts, so if you watch that, the story makes no sense. It actually is a very good movie if you can ever see the whole thing.

[#ditto][#ditto] and [#ditto] *Please note the correct spelling is "Ditto"

[Anonymous]

blimey...you could list a million fillummms here:

The Train, Von Ryans Express, one utterly awful film starring Roger Moore and Michael Caine whose name I have thankfully forgotten. However the classic documentary is "Night Mail". This is a homage to the overnight postal sorting train from London to Scotland. It was directed by the King of docu realism in John Grierson for the GPO (General Post Office) Film Unit; in those days the major nationalised industries had these offshoots. I am sure that the UK posters will remember Briti***ransport Films. The film is basically following a train from London to Scotland, with a heavy emphasis on those work the train (a lot was shot in the studio), set to the poetry of W.H.Auden and the music of John Betjemen.

[Anonymous]

blimey...you could list a million fillummms here:

The Train, Von Ryans Express, one utterly awful film starring Roger Moore and Michael Caine whose name I have thankfully forgotten. However the classic documentary is "Night Mail". This is a homage to the overnight postal sorting train from London to Scotland. It was directed by the King of docu realism in John Grierson for the GPO (General Post Office) Film Unit; in those days the major nationalised industries had these offshoots. I am sure that the UK posters will remember Briti***ransport Films. The film is basically following a train from London to Scotland, with a heavy emphasis on those work the train (a lot was shot in the studio), set to the poetry of W.H.Auden and the music of John Betjemen.

[Anonymous]

What was the name of the film with Gene Hackman and AnneArcher? He's trying to get her to a town for a trial or something. There's a bunch of bad guys trying to killer her on the train. Good fight scene on top of the train with Hackman and a bad guy.

Just don't remember the name of the flick. Anybody?

It's not too old.
Best of All : Emperor of the North!

[Anonymous]

What was the name of the film with Gene Hackman and AnneArcher? He's trying to get her to a town for a trial or something. There's a bunch of bad guys trying to killer her on the train. Good fight scene on top of the train with Hackman and a bad guy.

Just don't remember the name of the flick. Anybody?

It's not too old.
Best of All : Emperor of the North!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GKeller

What was the name of the film with Gene Hackman and AnneArcher? He's trying to get her to a town for a trial or something. There's a bunch of bad guys trying to killer her on the train. Good fight scene on top of the train with Hackman and a bad guy.

Just don't remember the name of the flick. Anybody?

It's not too old.
Best of All : Emperor of the North!

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question but maybe someone might.

And a reminder that you should check out Pentrex.com for railroad videos. They also have some TV documentaries and sometimes some old railroad movies.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GKeller

What was the name of the film with Gene Hackman and AnneArcher? He's trying to get her to a town for a trial or something. There's a bunch of bad guys trying to killer her on the train. Good fight scene on top of the train with Hackman and a bad guy.

Just don't remember the name of the flick. Anybody?

It's not too old.
Best of All : Emperor of the North!

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question but maybe someone might.

And a reminder that you should check out Pentrex.com for railroad videos. They also have some TV documentaries and sometimes some old railroad movies.

[Old Limey]

The short break film "London to Brighton in 4 minutes" (About 59 miles) was always popular and got updated to colour a few years back with a more modern train.
I have a Eurostar video somewhere that has Waterloo to Paris in ?? minutes.(10 I think)The John Grierson's" Night Mail "also got updated I think as the poetry was perhaps a bit cronic by rap standards.
I have a book on Railways in Films also hidden away somewhere and it gives details of quite a lot of the films in this topic but the book came out before Von Ryan's Express and the later big productions. There are a lot of British films listed of course including "The Titfield Thunderbolt" which was dished out free today in DVD form by a National Newspaper here.
"Oh! Mr Porter" "The Ghost Train" "The Lady Vanishes " and of course the original "Ladykillers" ( The trains conveniently carried off the bodies one by one throughout the film) with Alec Guinness,Peter Sellars etc
It should never have been remade by Tom Hanks.
"The Train " is hard to beat as it got into the fabric of railway working as did "Train of Events". All versions of "The 39 steps" had good train content but the original was good(Robert Donat) The Kenneth More version not bad but the Robert Powell film was on preserved steam.
Of interest and connected with this subject is the very poor research of train scenes where in one Sherlock Holmes film three different trains were used in a single journey from Paddington to Reading all wrong for the trip.I am sure this occurred in the States and around the World too as few Directors were Railway Buffs I suspect.
Any film with Ships, trains or aircraft suffers from this lapse of detail it seems.
In the old days the model makers had a field day with train scenes on film, the cries of "CHeeep!" going up as they were shown to the audience.With modern techniques hopefully that will die the death in future films.

[Old Limey]

The short break film "London to Brighton in 4 minutes" (About 59 miles) was always popular and got updated to colour a few years back with a more modern train.
I have a Eurostar video somewhere that has Waterloo to Paris in ?? minutes.(10 I think)The John Grierson's" Night Mail "also got updated I think as the poetry was perhaps a bit cronic by rap standards.
I have a book on Railways in Films also hidden away somewhere and it gives details of quite a lot of the films in this topic but the book came out before Von Ryan's Express and the later big productions. There are a lot of British films listed of course including "The Titfield Thunderbolt" which was dished out free today in DVD form by a National Newspaper here.
"Oh! Mr Porter" "The Ghost Train" "The Lady Vanishes " and of course the original "Ladykillers" ( The trains conveniently carried off the bodies one by one throughout the film) with Alec Guinness,Peter Sellars etc
It should never have been remade by Tom Hanks.
"The Train " is hard to beat as it got into the fabric of railway working as did "Train of Events". All versions of "The 39 steps" had good train content but the original was good(Robert Donat) The Kenneth More version not bad but the Robert Powell film was on preserved steam.
Of interest and connected with this subject is the very poor research of train scenes where in one Sherlock Holmes film three different trains were used in a single journey from Paddington to Reading all wrong for the trip.I am sure this occurred in the States and around the World too as few Directors were Railway Buffs I suspect.
Any film with Ships, trains or aircraft suffers from this lapse of detail it seems.
In the old days the model makers had a field day with train scenes on film, the cries of "CHeeep!" going up as they were shown to the audience.With modern techniques hopefully that will die the death in future films.