I was watching Silver Streak the other day and that got me to wondering just how cooperative railroads are towards Hollywood. Just how much cajoling do they need to allow movies to be filmed on their rails? And how do they get paid? Percentage of the profit? A flat fee?
I would think that special effects and CGI are getting to the point where the above would become a moot point someday.
IIRC, the Sierra RR has all but served as a Hollywood property over the years, appearing in numerous movies, and even in the TV Show “Petticoat Junction.”
“Silver Streak” appears to have been filmed (at least the outside portions) on Canadian rails. A significant number of “American” (ie, supposedly in the U.S.) movies are actually filmed in Canada.
I think someone said at one point that the escaped convict movie “Runaway Train” was filmed on the Camas Prairie. There have been a couple of threads that discussed movies in the past - maybe someone will take the time to dig them out.
I doubt you’d see much beyond stock shots from the Class 1’s nowadays.
It seems like much of that business is going to the Fillmore and Western these days.