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Trains in old movies but not necessarily train movies

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Posted by Sara T on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 10:01 PM

Here I found something funny, a film with a train but not a train film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsgJC6brhgc

Mr Bean on the train, scene 4 1/2 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEgYTVOJE50

Mr Bean on a TGV, 9 min

Sara 

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Posted by 54light15 on Thursday, April 8, 2021 7:11 PM

Sara T- that is exactly the point of this thread- films with trains but not train films.  Pictures like Runaway Train, The Train, The Lady Vanishes great as they are, are not really what I was after when I started this thread. Thanks for posting those! 

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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, April 8, 2021 9:28 PM

There is so much in "Black Orpheus" to marvel at. Rio, Carnival, music, samba, the favela,  and of course the tragic story. But Orfeu is a streetcar motorman and the rides are wonderfully charming. A magical film.

Rick  

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by rixflix on Thursday, April 8, 2021 9:50 PM

"Closely Watched Trains" is a film that should qualify despite it's railfan-magnetic title.

I couldn't watch either "Trainspotters" or "Track 29" to their termini. 

Still Rick

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, April 9, 2021 12:55 AM

Some fun rail action in the Roger Moore Bond film Octopussy.

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Posted by M636C on Friday, April 9, 2021 5:33 AM

Overmod

Some fun rail action in the Roger Moore Bond film Octopussy.

 

The rail scenes were filmed on the Nene Valley Railway in the UK with a Swedish locomotive standing in for the "East German" locomotive on the circus train. But good fun...

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Posted by M636C on Friday, April 9, 2021 5:49 AM

While not really a movie and with a train as a central object, the TV series "Day of the Roses" is set in a Coroner's investigation of a very serious rail accident in Australia in 1977.

The Day Of The Roses-Granville Train crash (FULL FILM) - Bing video

There is a "trailer" which you can watch to see if you might be interested. 

DAY OF THE ROSES TRAILER - Bing video

What is interesting is that a complete reproduction set in full scale using real rail vehicles was built in a supermarket parking lot (presumably on a slow couple of weeks for sales) and the bridge collapse on the train was reproduced (seen in the trailer).

The emphasis on local politics may be a little tiring. The main train scenes start 50 minutes or so into the full movie and were filmed at the actual locations for the whole journey using a preserved locomotive of the correct class. Interiors were filmed in the correct type of passenger car.

There are gaps in the original tape to allow TV advertising to be inserted which need to be skipped over.

But an interesting examination of rail safety failures.

Peter

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Posted by rixflix on Friday, April 9, 2021 12:03 PM

Buster Keaton's "Our Hospitality" has possibly the wackiest railroading ever filmed.

Also try "Railroading with Our Gang" on Youtube for footage that hopefully never went to distribution. Playing with 1:1 trains can shorten your life kids!

Rick

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, April 9, 2021 12:47 PM

rixflix
Buster Keaton's "Our Hospitality" has possibly the wackiest railroading ever filmed.

Wackier than 'The Railrodder'???

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Posted by rixflix on Friday, April 9, 2021 1:26 PM

Overmod

A pair of bookends with only "The General" in between for Keaton's railroad trilogy.

Rick 

 
rixflix
Buster Keaton's "Our Hospitality" has possibly the wackiest railroading ever filmed.

 

Wackier than 'The Railrodder'???

 

 

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, April 9, 2021 1:56 PM

rixflix
Also try "Railroading with Our Gang" on Youtube for footage that hopefully never went to distribution. Playing with 1:1 trains can shorten your life kids!

But you have to admit there is no argument whatsoever that they built the coolest play train in the history of movies.  And it ran!  It's tough to top Professor Grampy in "Christmas Comes But Once A Year" -- but they did it!

That said, I find I don't appreciate Buckwheat any more, much less with the old 'white with fright' trope.  And I myself can't stop reacting every time the locomotive runs over... whether that scene was filmed live, or with a double, or not.  It just isn't amusing, even once -- and they do it far more than once.

I do get the impression that episode was done along the same lines as the epic "Play Safe" cartoon, to impress some of the dangers of railroading.  Reminds me a bit of that detail in Hazards of Helen where they note the engine is running away with the oil feed and the injector both on, so it won't stop before it reaches disaster...

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Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 12:59 AM

Overmod
...I find I don't appreciate Buckwheat any more...

You are aware, I take it, that Buckwheat converted to Islam, changing his name to Kareem of Wheat?

Wayne

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Posted by Sara T on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 1:08 AM

Take care Helmut, you too. And I will tell her.

S. T.

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, April 25, 2021 9:48 PM

Keaton's "Our Hospitality" is a hoot! It features a Stephenson's Rocket type of locomotive pulling a train that couldn't outrun a dog! See it! And then there's "Seven Chances" which features a lot of train and streetcar action, plus a railroad crane where all the gags involve women in bridal gowns. One of his best! 

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Posted by ORNHOO on Friday, May 14, 2021 2:23 PM

54light15
the point of this thread- films with trains but not train films

Someone on another forum pointed out the opening title sequence of Hilda Crane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnReNlGSWAc

no trains in the rest of the movie.

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Posted by 54light15 on Friday, May 14, 2021 4:26 PM

The opening of Hilda Crane reminds me of this one- I saw it as a kid, but haven't seen it since. I seem to recall there is a D & H train at some point in the film. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0dvHP-1SnM 

 

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Friday, May 14, 2021 6:09 PM

There was a movie set in  the UK that carried sea mines.  Someone sabatoged some of the mines and the hero ( Glenn Ford ? ) had to disarm the bombs.     B & W movie  with the girl showing up just before bombs were to go off.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 5:39 PM

"They came to Cordura" .  Set in Mexico 1920s ? End of movie.  Gary Cooper trying to get a pump hand car up a grade.  Track ribbon rail welded with anchors.  Perfectely ballasted as well.

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Posted by 54light15 on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 10:26 PM

I haven't seen "They Came to Cordura" but if Gary Cooper is in it, that's all the recommendation I need. 

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, May 20, 2021 7:45 AM

blue streak 1
Track ribbon rail welded with anchors.  Perfectely ballasted as well.

Like the perfect track in the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max?  To the average viewer it's just track. The railfan sees all the details and wonders who's doing all that work...

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Posted by M636C on Thursday, May 20, 2021 8:48 PM

The track used in the third Mad Max movie was newly constructed track on the line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs, which replaced the narrow gauge line via Maree and Oodnadatta.

This was opened in 1981 if I recall correctly. It is possible the filming was carried out before the line opened to traffic.

The first Mad Max movie was a pretty low budget affair, but the budget expanded with each new title.

Peter

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Posted by 54light15 on Thursday, May 27, 2021 1:59 PM

This one has train scenes as well as streetcars, Harold Lloyd's "Get Out and Get Under" from 1920- funny as hell. The streetcars have open ends with an enclosed center section. Isn't that called a "California Car or am I thinking of the SF cable cars with that configuration?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1-kR7o34cA 

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Friday, May 28, 2021 12:13 AM

The streetcars were indeed called California Cars, though the name came from the enclosed center/open end style was first used on the California Street cable car line. Both L.A.Ry and PE had a large number of "California cars" but were also known as Huntingdon Standards.

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Posted by 54light15 on Friday, May 28, 2021 8:48 AM

Thanks- they are interesting and they make me wish I had the room for a traction layout. 

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Posted by M636C on Saturday, May 29, 2021 12:18 AM

The California Street cable cars were double ended, unlike all the other cable cars in San Francisco. So they had a grip at each end, with longitudinal bench seats at each end either side of the grip operator position.

A number of electric streetcars were built to this design, both single truck cars and bogie cars. These were very popular in Australia where they were known as "California Combination" cars. The open end were often not very suitable in the cities with colder climates, and in many cases the ends were enclosed later in life.

In Sydney, Australia there was an electric bogie car type known as the "class F" which had the longitudinal seats arranged as if there was a grip at each end. In wet weather the seats could be reversed so that they faced inward and canvas blinds were pulled down on each side.

Most California Combination cars in Australia had transverse full width seats in rows at each end. The F class had one transverse seat at each end behind the control position. In all but one car, the longitudinal seats were replaced by transverse seats increasing the capacity. A partition was inserted behind the operator position. The one car, now preserved was kept for operator training since the seat behind the control location allowed an instructor to sit, watch and insruct trainees.

Peter

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Posted by 54light15 on Monday, August 16, 2021 11:17 PM

I just saw a good one, "Spies" a silent film from 1928 directed by the great Fritz Lang. It's got some very sinister people, an evil clown, broom-handle Mauser pistols and a train wreck in a tunnel that features the classic German 4-6-0, the type P 38. It's long, but well worth seeing. It's Lang's first film after the legendary "Metropolis." 

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Posted by azrail on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 2:52 PM

Looks like a repainted Great Northern FA...per the stripe patterns... the FAs in "Human Desire"

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, September 27, 2021 5:57 AM

chutton01
wherein a newlywed couple attempt to build a self-assemble 'kit' home

Thousands of Americans (and, I guess, Canadians) grew up in Sears "Craftsman Homes". Pick what you want from the catalog, have your bank wire the funds to Chicago and you soon end up with a box car on your local team track. Everything, and I mean >everything< was there  - pre-drilled beams, preassembled windows and doors, floors, knocked down stairs, shingles, kegs of nails and bolts, stove of your choice, electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, paint, wallpaper. You just had to unload and assemble it.

"The average do-it-yourself (DIY) mail-order houses came with over 30,000 pre-cut and fitted parts, 750 pounds of nails, as well as electrical and plumbing fixtures. The 25-ton giant kits were transported via railroad. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold over 70,000 of these DIY houses across America.

The DIY house kit came with a 75-page instruction manual which detailed how the house should be constructed. The houses were primarily assembled by the owners with the help of friends, relatives, and other members of the community. According to Sears, “a man of average abilities” could easily assemble the house in approximately 90 days."

Sears Homes 1908-1914 (searsarchives.com)

(160) Pinterest

The Story on Sears Houses - Old House Journal Magazine (oldhouseonline.com)

If you are a model railroader and need some ideas for houses on your layout, looking up "Sears Craftsman Homes" on line should give you plenty of ideas for everybody from section hands to the division superintendant. 

 

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, September 27, 2021 6:32 AM

Deggesty
There are forms of it that have two Ls in romanization, but not the Russian -- it means Elijah, by the way.

Ilya is Russian, Illya is Ukrainian. 

"Kuryakin is consistently referred to as Russian; however, he appears to have spent at least some of his childhood in KyivUkraine ("The Foxes and Hounds Affair") and his name is spelled the Ukrainian way not the Russian way (Illya vs Iliya)"

 

 
 
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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, September 27, 2021 7:03 AM

54light15
Not to get off-topic but time bombs in movies have always made me laugh.

Try the British series "Danger UXB" about EOD teams in Britain in WW2. Based on the memoirs of a Bomb Disposal Officer. There were duds and bombs with time or anti-disturb fuses dropped by the Luftwaffe. Not to mention the diabolical "Butterfly Bomb"

Danger UXB - Wikipedia

Here's the first episode, "Dead Man's Shoes" 

Danger UXB. Episode 1. Dead Mans Shoes - video Dailymotion

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