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Best Railroad Movies (topic rehashed)

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Posted by vsmith on Monday, November 10, 2003 4:14 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

QUOTE: Originally posted by redflasher

How about "Runaway Train" with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts? They escape from prison and stow away on an old yard engine that is out of control etc etc etc

An excellent performance by a no talent actress named Rebecca Demournay takes a lot away from the film.


Is that the movie where they are climbing on the outside of an old F unit during a snow storm?


Yes it is, it also the film where Jon Voight demonstrates why you should never stick your hand into a coupler while the train is moving, OUCH!!!

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Posted by vsmith on Monday, November 10, 2003 4:14 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

QUOTE: Originally posted by redflasher

How about "Runaway Train" with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts? They escape from prison and stow away on an old yard engine that is out of control etc etc etc

An excellent performance by a no talent actress named Rebecca Demournay takes a lot away from the film.


Is that the movie where they are climbing on the outside of an old F unit during a snow storm?


Yes it is, it also the film where Jon Voight demonstrates why you should never stick your hand into a coupler while the train is moving, OUCH!!!

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 1:51 AM
I just wanted to again remind people about the movie specials from Pentrex. No I don't get a kickback, but wish I did. [}:)]


One of the special for this week is about Christmas Trains and is only 9.95.

Another deal is either a vcr tape or a dvd of the UP Streamliners. The tape is 1 hour and 40 minutes and the dvd is 2 hours and 7 minutes. Your choice for 39.95.

There have some closeouts for 9.95 and up. A train movie would make a great stocking stuffer. HINT [:)] HINT [:D] HINT

p. s. I like streamliners. [:D]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 1:51 AM
I just wanted to again remind people about the movie specials from Pentrex. No I don't get a kickback, but wish I did. [}:)]


One of the special for this week is about Christmas Trains and is only 9.95.

Another deal is either a vcr tape or a dvd of the UP Streamliners. The tape is 1 hour and 40 minutes and the dvd is 2 hours and 7 minutes. Your choice for 39.95.

There have some closeouts for 9.95 and up. A train movie would make a great stocking stuffer. HINT [:)] HINT [:D] HINT

p. s. I like streamliners. [:D]
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:07 AM
There was a movie about a ski train whos brakes had frozen and in effect, was a runaway. Bob Johnson was the engineer. The main gist was about the passengers reaction. They were all finally rescued by a brand new diesel that waited for the train to pass, then raced after it, coupled up then brought it to a stop close to the right stop in the station. I think this was a late 70's or early 80's. It was quite an exciting movie but I just can't remember the name.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 2:07 AM
There was a movie about a ski train whos brakes had frozen and in effect, was a runaway. Bob Johnson was the engineer. The main gist was about the passengers reaction. They were all finally rescued by a brand new diesel that waited for the train to pass, then raced after it, coupled up then brought it to a stop close to the right stop in the station. I think this was a late 70's or early 80's. It was quite an exciting movie but I just can't remember the name.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 8:07 AM
If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 8:07 AM
If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:47 AM
My cousin once told me about a movie she watched on TV which featured a lot of trains in it, but couldn't remember the title. It had to do with aliens being transported in special railroad cars and all of the trains were CN and CP. I'm not a fan of science fiction movies, but I'm curious as to what this movie is. Does anyone know?
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:47 AM
My cousin once told me about a movie she watched on TV which featured a lot of trains in it, but couldn't remember the title. It had to do with aliens being transported in special railroad cars and all of the trains were CN and CP. I'm not a fan of science fiction movies, but I'm curious as to what this movie is. Does anyone know?
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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 10:03 PM
Without a doubt, "Emperor of the North" is one of the best. Great sequence in Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" and "Silver Streak" had a lot of good train action. Does anybody remember "The Harvey Girls" from 1946? Or how about Disney's "The Great Locomotive Chase" for another train movie?
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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Wednesday, November 12, 2003 10:03 PM
Without a doubt, "Emperor of the North" is one of the best. Great sequence in Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" and "Silver Streak" had a lot of good train action. Does anybody remember "The Harvey Girls" from 1946? Or how about Disney's "The Great Locomotive Chase" for another train movie?
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Posted by vsmith on Thursday, November 13, 2003 4:23 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by taylorl

If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.


THAT WAS THE NAME!

I thought it was also called "Runaway Train" Thats the movie, they used a big diesel to come up behind the runaway and used the brakes of the big diesel to slow it down.

MY FAVORITE train moment from any movie has to be from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid..

"Think ya used 'nough dynamite there Butch?"

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Posted by vsmith on Thursday, November 13, 2003 4:23 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by taylorl

If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.


THAT WAS THE NAME!

I thought it was also called "Runaway Train" Thats the movie, they used a big diesel to come up behind the runaway and used the brakes of the big diesel to slow it down.

MY FAVORITE train moment from any movie has to be from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid..

"Think ya used 'nough dynamite there Butch?"

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by vsmith on Thursday, November 13, 2003 4:29 PM
Another train movie that won several "Golden Rasberry" awards for worst movie.

"The Cassandra Crossing" -deadly plague killing has-been actors before plunging off bridge, pitty the real actors weren't on it.

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Posted by vsmith on Thursday, November 13, 2003 4:29 PM
Another train movie that won several "Golden Rasberry" awards for worst movie.

"The Cassandra Crossing" -deadly plague killing has-been actors before plunging off bridge, pitty the real actors weren't on it.

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:07 PM
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH WAS GREAT LEE MARVIN & EARNEST BORGNINE
WERE GREAT A1 & CIGGARETTE WERE FUNNY ANOTHER GOOD ONE IS UNDER SIEGE 2 (DARK TERRITORY) STEVEN SEGAL ACTS IN THIS ONE AND LIKE ALL HIS MOVIES KICKS A's TAKES NAMES
END OF THE LINE WAS REAL GOOD IT STARS WILFORD BRIMLEY &
KEVIN BACON ALSO RUN AWAY TRAIN WAS GOOD
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:07 PM
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH WAS GREAT LEE MARVIN & EARNEST BORGNINE
WERE GREAT A1 & CIGGARETTE WERE FUNNY ANOTHER GOOD ONE IS UNDER SIEGE 2 (DARK TERRITORY) STEVEN SEGAL ACTS IN THIS ONE AND LIKE ALL HIS MOVIES KICKS A's TAKES NAMES
END OF THE LINE WAS REAL GOOD IT STARS WILFORD BRIMLEY &
KEVIN BACON ALSO RUN AWAY TRAIN WAS GOOD
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:09 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by taylorl

If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.


THAT WAS THE NAME!

I thought it was also called "Runaway Train" Thats the movie, they used a big diesel to come up behind the runaway and used the brakes of the big diesel to slow it down.

MY FAVORITE train moment from any movie has to be from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid..

"Think ya used 'nough dynamite there Butch?"
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:09 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by vsmith

QUOTE: Originally posted by taylorl

If I remember right, I think it was called Avalanche Express.


THAT WAS THE NAME!

I thought it was also called "Runaway Train" Thats the movie, they used a big diesel to come up behind the runaway and used the brakes of the big diesel to slow it down.

MY FAVORITE train moment from any movie has to be from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid..

"Think ya used 'nough dynamite there Butch?"
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:50 PM
The Avalanche Express, of course. Thanks Mr Taylor, I've been racking my brain for days trying to remember the name of that movie.
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:50 PM
The Avalanche Express, of course. Thanks Mr Taylor, I've been racking my brain for days trying to remember the name of that movie.
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Posted by Train Guy 3 on Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:49 PM
Anyone ever see "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" ? That final crash scene was just such a pathetic attempt to show a train wreck. It just looks compleatly like models falling down. The cars bunce in the frame like boxes. Plus if its dark territory why are there signals and electronicly controled switches. Hmmmm what were there chanes of being on the same track as the SP tank-train?

TG3 LOOK ! LISTEN ! LIVE ! Remember the 3.

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Posted by Train Guy 3 on Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:49 PM
Anyone ever see "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" ? That final crash scene was just such a pathetic attempt to show a train wreck. It just looks compleatly like models falling down. The cars bunce in the frame like boxes. Plus if its dark territory why are there signals and electronicly controled switches. Hmmmm what were there chanes of being on the same track as the SP tank-train?

TG3 LOOK ! LISTEN ! LIVE ! Remember the 3.

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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:53 PM
My two cents:

No doubt about it, The Train is the best railroad movie ever, period. Great story, great action - supplemented by some great trains! You know the air raid scene? Or the derailment? Take a good look - no models. The "special effects" were truly special in that it was all full-sized equipment being blown to h-e-double-hockeysticks. But don't watch it just for the trains: at its core it's a great piece about a little-known chapter in World War II history, and a grand tribute to the French resistance.

And there's something to be said for Von Ryan's Express. We all remember Guns of Navarone and The Great Escape... this is pretty much the same fare: World War II action-adventure. Sure, you really have to suspend belief for a few aspects of the movie (I assume that while they took over the entire Operating Department of the Italian state railways was out on a smoke break...) but it's still a classic, great fun, well worth it. Catch it on AMC from time to time.

And Silver Streak was funny, of course. There's also minor but memorable train moments in other movies - I think someone mentioned the "Use enough dynamite, there, Butch?" scene in Butch Cassidy, and the scenes on the train in North By Northwest.

But there are some baddies, too - Atomic Train, Runaway Train, Emperor of the North, etc. Let's just say that, to put it mildly, they aren't exactly cinematic gold. If you get a chance to see them... save the 90 minutes for something worthwhile.

"You'll get your Iron Cross for this, Von Ryan!"
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:53 PM
My two cents:

No doubt about it, The Train is the best railroad movie ever, period. Great story, great action - supplemented by some great trains! You know the air raid scene? Or the derailment? Take a good look - no models. The "special effects" were truly special in that it was all full-sized equipment being blown to h-e-double-hockeysticks. But don't watch it just for the trains: at its core it's a great piece about a little-known chapter in World War II history, and a grand tribute to the French resistance.

And there's something to be said for Von Ryan's Express. We all remember Guns of Navarone and The Great Escape... this is pretty much the same fare: World War II action-adventure. Sure, you really have to suspend belief for a few aspects of the movie (I assume that while they took over the entire Operating Department of the Italian state railways was out on a smoke break...) but it's still a classic, great fun, well worth it. Catch it on AMC from time to time.

And Silver Streak was funny, of course. There's also minor but memorable train moments in other movies - I think someone mentioned the "Use enough dynamite, there, Butch?" scene in Butch Cassidy, and the scenes on the train in North By Northwest.

But there are some baddies, too - Atomic Train, Runaway Train, Emperor of the North, etc. Let's just say that, to put it mildly, they aren't exactly cinematic gold. If you get a chance to see them... save the 90 minutes for something worthwhile.

"You'll get your Iron Cross for this, Von Ryan!"
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 9:02 PM
Crap! I almost forgot - THE GENERAL! Not just a train classic, but a cinema classic by any stretch. Buster Keaton is the Southern engineer in the W&A who has to get back his stolen 4-4-0. The General in the movie was an original Norris Civil War-era American working under its own steam; Keaton performs all his own stunts. Dated, yes, but it holds up remarkably well, and it's still pretty funny. (And it's a much better telling than Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase.)

And finally, has anyone seen The Titfield Thunderbolt?
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, November 13, 2003 9:02 PM
Crap! I almost forgot - THE GENERAL! Not just a train classic, but a cinema classic by any stretch. Buster Keaton is the Southern engineer in the W&A who has to get back his stolen 4-4-0. The General in the movie was an original Norris Civil War-era American working under its own steam; Keaton performs all his own stunts. Dated, yes, but it holds up remarkably well, and it's still pretty funny. (And it's a much better telling than Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase.)

And finally, has anyone seen The Titfield Thunderbolt?
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 14, 2003 9:34 AM
Scottydog,
There are some train movies you can see over and over again on AMC or Turner Classics, but I have yet to see Avalanche Express again unless I have had my head in the sand and missed it. There is another good one in which Glenn Ford played an engineer on an ALCO PA-1 on the old Chicago National. Even had some cab ride shots in the movie (B&W). Your turn: do you remember the name of this one?
Larry
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, November 14, 2003 9:34 AM
Scottydog,
There are some train movies you can see over and over again on AMC or Turner Classics, but I have yet to see Avalanche Express again unless I have had my head in the sand and missed it. There is another good one in which Glenn Ford played an engineer on an ALCO PA-1 on the old Chicago National. Even had some cab ride shots in the movie (B&W). Your turn: do you remember the name of this one?
Larry

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