There is a short description of how the producers of this show made a 1:1 model of a period train from wood and Styrofoam. If you get the channel it is on you need to search for the 6 minute presentation.
Might be something that might be nice to see in Trains or Model Railroader.
They really are going to great lengths to keep the show historically accurate, one of the reasons I really like it.
Not train related, but in the most recent episode, when the army officer is bragging to Bohannon about his part at Antietam during the Civil War, he mentions he was in the 51st Pennsylvania, and his regiment took Burnside’s Bridge. Well, that IS the unit that captured the bridge. There really was no compelling reason to maintain absolute accuracy with a fireside boast story, who woudl EVER notice that unless you were a die-hard Civil War buff (or like me, looked it up to see if there WAS a 51st Pennsylvania, of they were at Antietam, and if they were involved in the bridge capture). Most peopel watching really don’t care - how many people have seen the movie Ray and missed the modern stack train the rolls across a bridge in one scene? The peopel making Hell On WHeels are really trying hard to make it right and not goof.
–Randy
I like “Hell on wheels” also, They are pretty accurate. Just don’t allow Young children to watch as it definitely has an adult theme… also noticed the stack train in the movie “Ray”
My mother would have noticed if she watched the show. In addition to being a holiday train nut she’s also a retired genealogy researcher and knows a great deal about the Civil War. She’d be the first to tell you Burnside was a very bad general and never should have been given a command. Turns out I had ancestors on both sides, white as well as Cherokee.
I also watch Hell on Wheels once in a while. I’m more into SciFi, action/drama than history. I do like railroad documentaries.
The channel is AMC. But you don’t need to get the channel to see how they built it. See: http://www.amctv.com/hell-on-wheels/videos/inside-hell-on-wheels-building-the-train