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Trains in old movies but not necessarily train movies

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Posted by M636C on Monday, November 22, 2021 4:50 AM

I watched Schindler's List last night.

In the earlier part of the movie, one of the trains was headed by a WWI era Austrian 2-8-0, I think a kk St B type 170. Later in the movie when one of Schindler's trains was redirected to Auschwiz, the train was hauled by a  DRG Class 52 2-10-0. These are both very likely locomotives to have been used at the times concerned. The scenes at Auschwiz appear to have been filmed at the still standing entry gate. But the rail scenes seemes as accurate as could be expected.

Peter

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, November 21, 2021 9:08 PM

That is a Tom Cruise movie I've never seen and no this isn't for steam only. There are train movies like "The Train" or "The Lady Vanishes" where trains are central to the plot, which isn't really the point of this thread. Movies where trains play a part but are not the centre of the plot, is the point. But, there are no hard-set rules- if it's a movie with trains in any form, fine. We're all on the same page here.   

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Posted by Pauley on Sunday, November 21, 2021 5:55 PM

New to this forum and didn't read this entire thread, so sorry if this one has been mentioned before.

There is a spooky railroad crossing scene in the Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds. Anyone remember that?

 

Oops, was this thread for steam only? Ashamed

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Posted by 54light15 on Friday, November 19, 2021 9:49 PM

"Crashout" from 1955 is a spiffy prison break movie with William Bendix and Arthur Kennedy. There are a lot of train scenes featuring a "Hern Pacific" locomotive with a Vanderbilt tender and the other rolling stock is all lettered the same. Hey, that's the way they were painted. Well worth seeing. 

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Posted by 54light15 on Friday, October 22, 2021 10:06 PM

I just watched Harold Lloyd's last silent film called "Speedy" from 1928. He plays his usual ner do well who can't hold a job. No trains, really but a lot of conduit driven New York streetcars plus a horse car. Many, many scenes of Manhattan and Coney Island and there's a bit featuring Babe Ruth himself and the original Yankee Stadium. Funny as hell! 

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 10:34 PM

Regarding the video about Cleethorpes- I've been there. There is a very narrow gauge steam railway along the waterfront that runs about two miles. At the main station, there are two pubs, Pub One and Pub Two, one on each platform. Some very friendly people there and I got on well with them. One told me how back in the big show, there were a lot of Canadians stationed at the nearby airbase. I said how I've heard that they were awarded a fair amount of DSOs. One asked what that meant. I said, D*** Shot Off. They all cracked up.

At the station for the narrow gauge, there was the tiniest pub I've ever seen that would fit about 3 people in it. The whole structure would fit in the back of a pickup truck but they had 3 kinds of real ale. Do you recall the scene in the movie, "Tommy" where Roger Daltry is running along the water and there were a lot of elderly people in their cars looking at the water? In Cleethorpes, that's exactly what I saw. An English thing, I suppose. 

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 4:40 PM

York1
Are you talking about the one that showed the dangers of nuclear war?

No, this is antipersonnel butterfly bombs in WWII, complete with a one-sentence mention that the technology was adapted from 'the enemy' (to make it even more lethal).

As I remember it, you had evil soldiers invading something like Bambi's forest, only to have butterflies develop a patriotic urge, flutter down in increasing numbers, and blast them.  I don't remember in detail if there were stereotypical features on the enemy, but I uneasily recall there might have been.

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 4:19 PM

Overmod

 

 
Flintlock76
Looks like some people didn't "Get the word" during WW2.

 

Can anyone find the American propaganda film -- I think it was one of the Disney films, but might have been the ex-Fleischer 'Famous Studios' -- that covered the United States version of the butterfly bomb?  It was on YouTube but now I can't find it.  Terrifying use of animation...

 

 

 

Are you talking about the one that showed the dangers of nuclear war?

York1 John       

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 4:08 PM

Flintlock76
Looks like some people didn't "Get the word" during WW2.

Can anyone find the American propaganda film -- I think it was one of the Disney films, but might have been the ex-Fleischer 'Famous Studios' -- that covered the United States version of the butterfly bomb?  It was on YouTube but now I can't find it.  Terrifying use of animation...

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Posted by 54light15 on Sunday, October 10, 2021 4:03 PM

Here's a great one- "Dodge City" from 1939 with Errol Flynn. Some great railroad scenes, a superb cast and the mother of all Western saloon fights. See it! 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, September 27, 2021 10:09 AM

BEAUSABRE

 

 
Flintlock76
A British friend of mine told me after the episode "Butterfly Winter" aired (I think that was the name) people all over Britain were bringing to the local police stations dud "butterfly bombs" they'd picked up after Luftwaffe raids, having no idea what they were!   They didn't look like "real bombs" after all.

 

Here's an official British film from the war warning the population about the bombs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj8mT6Z_LEY

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2013/jun/21/butterfly-bombs-luftwaffe-cleethorpes-grimsby

 

 

Looks like some people didn't "Get the word" during WW2. 

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, September 27, 2021 9:54 AM

Flintlock76
A British friend of mine told me after the episode "Butterfly Winter" aired (I think that was the name) people all over Britain were bringing to the local police stations dud "butterfly bombs" they'd picked up after Luftwaffe raids, having no idea what they were!   They didn't look like "real bombs" after all.

Here's an official British film from the war warning the population about the bombs 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj8mT6Z_LEY

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/the-northerner/2013/jun/21/butterfly-bombs-luftwaffe-cleethorpes-grimsby

 

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Posted by 54light15 on Monday, September 27, 2021 9:10 AM

BEAUSABRE- I lived in a Sears kit house when I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York. About a dozen houses on my street were Sears kits. I didn't know anything about them until one day, I'm mowing the lawn and a guy walking by told me that. Built in 1930, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, combined living/dining room,  small kitchen, an enclosed front porch which was nice and a one-car garage. It had a toilet in the basement which was handy when I was working on my model train layout. 

Back to trains in old movies- I recently saw the film "Marlowe" from 1969, based on the Raymond Chandler novel, "The Little Sister." it has no trains at all but there are interior shots of LAUPT. James Garner is no Bogart but he makes a credible Phillip Marlowe. Bruce Lee is in it too, doing some remodelling of Marlowe's office. 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Monday, September 27, 2021 8:20 AM

BEAUSABRE
Try the British series "Danger UXB" about EOD teams in Britain in WW2.

I remember that series, it was excellent!  

A British friend of mine told me after the episode "Butterfly Winter" aired (I think that was the name) people all over Britain were bringing to the local police stations dud "butterfly bombs" they'd picked up after Luftwaffe raids, having no idea what they were!   They didn't look like "real bombs" after all.

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, September 27, 2021 7:25 AM

There's the Barabara Streisand flick "Funny Girl" which uses scenes from CNJ's Jersey City Terminal

Also, and I admit they are railroad related,

Union Pacific (1939)

Union Pacific (TV Series 1958-59)

Hell on Wheels (TV Series 2011-2016)

The Train (1964)

Von Ryan's Express (1965)

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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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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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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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