I watch the History Channel occasionally on railroads. Today they had a show with a scene in it that I found quite different.
The scenario was a Hot Fruit Express hoofing it down the track with smoke belching and reefers swaying and it was pretty good going for a fast reefer train. While I was watching this clip, the reefer train was switched into the side track at a pretty high rate of speed while I was pondering why the train of 14 or so reefers and caboose was slamming thru that switch a silver streamliner train slammed past from behind in a “Over taking” meet while the 3 men jumped from the switch after throwing it.
There was maybe 5 seconds between both trains. Got me to thinking do the railroads really push it that close? Or was it a “Publicity” stunt? executed by steel nerved and fearless train crews?
This sounds like a publicity stunt to me. The consequences of an otherwise minor failure/accident (hot box, loss of power in the loco, one of the crew falls/stumbles while jumping down to throw the switch) in this situation don’t bear thinking about. Besides which, any delay to either train would throw the timing completely.
There used to be some truly insane stunts performed in the early days - anyone who has seen “The General” with Bister Keaton may remember the scene where he balances on the 4-4-0s pilot and uses one tie to knock another off the rails (the ties had been left by the train he’s chasing in an effort to derail his loco). These were real ties, and it looks very much as though Keaton did the stunt himself - film editing was in its infancy then. I’ve also heard of a few RRs staging head-on collisions between redundant locos - crews would set them going then jump off.
Yep, that was Buster on the pilot and those were Real wood ties… There were NO model used in the filming of that movie, even the 4-4-0 falling thru the bridge was real! Sad waste of an engine by todays standards IMO, but back then it was probably considered rolling scrap metal. I find mysef saying that even watching not to old movies, seeing a classic Corvette or Bel Air being driven off a cliff…I wonder if we will we be saying that 30 years from now seeing a Ford Expedition getting blown to bits? makes ya wonder?
Some years ago Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas appeared in a movie in which they escaped from prison and hijacked a Southern Pacific Daylight steam loco. After a chase they ended up at the Mexican border, plowing into a sand bank thrown up by the pursuing police. Was that a genuine crash? Did the locomotive survive?
Anyone ever to stop and think about the weight of that railroad tie?
I also hear stories of daring by train crews in child on the tracks rescues. I remember in time life books on old western railroads a man was caught on the bridge too far to run and too high to jump with a runaway engine swaying and rocking from side to side.
He was to lay down on the track lengthwise saying his last prayer when the entire side of the engine and tender was to pass over his body without injury. What is not written is what this survivor did with his life after the brush with death.
I caught the scene again on VCR and the moment that caboose cleared the switch the three men were throwing it and I think one or two fell flat for safety because the Streamlier was just then hitting the points.
It is addictive watching that one over again. Any failure on power or componet would certainly caused a wreck.
The movie “Tough Guys” with Lancaster and Douglas used a model for the great crash scene. The following shots with the engine buried in the sand utilized a plywood, one sided mock up.
Railfan & Railroad magazine did a special article on the filming and even had a spectacular shot of 4449 passing an exploding fireball on the cover. It’s in the Sept. 1986 issue, which I fondly keep to reread.