You railfans have to rent the DVD the train scenes are mostly real and shot at 40 mph during the stunts. If you want to spoil the movie before watching there are clips on youtube under the making of…
They had a MP15 loco moving the cars at some points but others it was the actual locomotives. Other shots were cars or locos on flatbed trucks. Fantastic train chase scene at the end makes it worthwhile to buy the DVD on Amazon. Would be curious where Disney laid the 5 miles of real railroad track they needed to film this out west…my guess is New Mexico.
Fairly realistic derailment scenes although I have never seen a real derailment take place.
I haven’t actually seen any behind the scenes footage, and I heard that a lot of it was fake with diesels pushing it. My Dad actually knows a guy who worked on the crew of the movie as some sort of railroad employee. It was very convincing, though, however they did it. I enjoyed it.
I am a big perplexed by their “Transcontinental Railroad Company” name on all the equiptment. Did UP not sell them the rights?
Another interesting movie I hear is Tough Guys, with the SP 4449.
Excerpt from Trains review http://trn.trains.com/railroads/2013/07/lustig-movie-review
Disney and Bruckheimer originally planned to film on an existing mining railroad in southern New Mexico. Construction of the movie’s Western towns was already in progress when Disney and Bruckheimer decided to build a brand-new railroad farther north. Albuquerque, N.M.-based Gandy Dancer Railroad and Excavating Services received contracts to do the job. The new line had no outside interchange and was removed after filming was complete.
Excerpt from the Location Guide http://www.thelocationguide.com/blog/2013/08/ng-film-the-lone-ranger-builds-western-sets-filming-on-location-in-new-mexico/
Among the production’s major set builds were Colby and Promontory Summit, built at Rio Puerco about 40 miles west of Albuquerque. Colby was a fictio
I really wanted to like this movie. The movie has it’s entertaining moments (I even like Depp as Tonto), but in typical Disney fashion, they make the Lone Ranger an utter buh-phoon. Disappointed, especially growing up watching Clayton Moore on tv.
Would Fess Parker be treated like this today…?[sigh]
Probably. Disney did an absolutely awful revival of “Davy Crockett” in 1988, which I turned off after a half-hour. They tried to get Fess Parker to do a walk-on as an old Davey on his way to Texas but Fess refused. They got Johnny Cash to do old Davey. Wise move on Fess’ part, as I said the show was lousy!
By the way, did you know that when John Wayne was doing his film “The Alamo” he wanted Fess Parker to play Davey Crockett instead of doing it himself? Ol’ Duke thought he’d have his hands full producing and directing and didn’t want to do any acting. However, the people providing the financial backing insisted John Wayne play Davey, so that was the end of that.
I took one look at the posters for “The Lone Ranger”, decided that Jonny Depp reminded me more of Alice Cooper than Jay Silverheels and decided to pass.
As for Fess Parker, he did a nice job of acting in “The Great Locomotive Chase”.
Yeah, I couldn’t figure out that Johnny Depp make-up either. As far as I know Tonto was an Apache, and the Apache weren’t flashy like that. Show was never the Apache style, to them deeds meant more than looks.
Good old Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels! Those two certainly set the bar high, no-one’s jumped over it yet.
Somebody’s going to wonder. That is PRR private car Columbus (yes, that third digit in the car number is a “3” although it takes some careful looking to make it out).
I had no idea these cars had such substantial track inspection lights!
Well, if you like The Maestro’s take on the “William Tell Overture” do a You Tube search for Toscanini’s “Hymn of the Nations.” Quite appropriate for the Fourth of July, his rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is one of the most stirring you’ll ever hear. What’s even more stirring is the emotion The Maestro’s face while he’s conducting it.
And thanks for that posting Wanswheel! I’m not a musician but I imagine playing a piece like the “WT Overture”, especially the last movement, and playing it well must be an exhilerating experience.
Though the popularity of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was immediate in Baltimore and the surrounding country, its acceptance by the American people as their national anthem was slow. In 1814, the song was printed in The National Songster, The American Muse, and the November issue of the Analectic Magazine. Such early publications of “The Star-Spangled Banner” omit the author’s name and describe the piece as “a new song by a gentleman of Maryland.” Between 1815 and 1861, various arrangements of this song were released, bearing imprints of our leading cities; but it was not until 1850 that it appeared in most songbooks for school and private use. By 1861, “The Star-Spangled Banner” had taken first rank among our national songs.
From the first, its most loyal partisans were the Army and the Navy. The wars in which we participated during the nineteenth century did as much as anything to increase the popularity of the song. During the War Between the States, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was claimed by both the North and the South. At Fort Sumter, where the opening shot of the war was fired, this song was played when the American flag was lowered in token of surrender by the Federal forces. In indignation over thi
I thought the makeup was to hide the fact that Depp was not native american. So they hid his ethnicity.
He played the character well, but the makeup… I have to agree.
And is anyone else bothered by the blatant historical inacuracy of the railroad being called "Transcon. RR Co.? Why didn’t they just choose UP or CPRR? Did UP refuse to give them the rights to the name?
Clearing rights to names, music, etc. may not be one of the strong points of the Bruckheimer organization. Failure to secure proper music rights has been proffered as a major reason that “Cold Case” has not been released to DVD.
Here’s an interesting fact about the original “Star-Spangled Banner” that flew over Fort McHenry. It’s made of English wool!
At the time the United States didn’t have any mills mass-producing woolen fabric, at least not on a large scale, so most woolen fabric used in this country was imported from Britain. Talk about irony!
And have a “safe and sane” Independence Day everyone, even if “safe and sane” can’t be much fun. Personally, if I don’t end the day with a few gunpowder burns I figure it’s been a wasted day and I didn’t celebrate hard enough!
Thanks, Mike, for the two pictures of THE “Star Spangled Banner.” When I first saw it, in 1968, it was hanging in one of the exhibit halls. Now, it is better protected than it was then (going on two years ago, I saw it as it is now ).It is a shame that about two hundred years ago it was thought proper to cut pieces off to give to people as souvenirs.
