Perhaps I’m hallucinating (from God knows what - I don’t do drugs) - but I remember seeing a movie on TV when I was pretty young (around 1975) where people were riding on what seemed to be a Union Pacific passenger train, and there were some Santa Fe warbonnet diesels (either U28CG’s, U30CG’s or FP-45’s) came out of a siding and began chasing the UP train, to the complete horror of everyone on the UP train. It seems to me now, 30 years later (I was only about 5 years old at the time - and I only remember seeing a short part of the movie) that this was a fictional, semi-horror movie where the ATSF locomotives and tracks were controlled by some invisible force. I remember that the camera was pointing out of the back of the UP passenger train, when it goes past a siding with the ATSF diesels at a standstill - as soon as the UP train clears, the camera shows the switch points move, and then the camera goes inside the Santa Fe diesels, where the throttle suddenly begins to move forward (the scarry part is that nobody was in the cab - ooooohh!!!). The Santa Fe’s then accelerated very quickly, and the people in the last UP passenger car were scared to death as these Santa Fe diesels were bearing down on them…
Ok - that’s where my memory ends… Be honest with me (I know I’m tempting a lot of you with a few well-deserved wise-cracks, but that’s ok) - was there such a movie, or do I need to get my head examined (or both)?? I’m curious to know what the name of this movie was, what it was about, and whether it’s available on VHS, DVD, etc. Thanks for your help.
I also remember a movie from way back then. It may or may not be the same movie as you described, but it was from that time.
I do not remember as many details as you, but I do remember a movie where a “high-horsepower” locomotive is sent to halt a runaway by coming up from behind it to couple on and stop it. In the movie, the railroad officials said it was too risky to attempt the rescue, but the heroic engineer poopoo’d the naysayers and came to the rescue. The saved train stopped just short of a bumping post or something.
You still may need to get your head examined, but it will not have anything to do with your memory about this movie. Either that, or we both need an exam.[:D]
Yes “Runaway” was this movie and the one cspmo provided the link to, a ski train full of passengers looses it brakes and hurtles down the mountain, they use a really big diesel to come up behind it and couple on and use the big engines brakes to slow it down and stop it . neat action scenes Woof! dialog and acting though…
But this doenst sound like the movie Mr. Frank is refering too, I distinctly remember there was no logo on the big engine (it was so new they hadnt painted it yet) By describing UP and SF warbonnets, seams were talking two different movies here. I dont remember any such movie, it could have been a TV show episode of some crime show or just a now anonomous TV movie.
That’s good to know; one less hallucination I have to worry about…now if I could only do something about the voices in my head and the fairies dancing on the end of my pins…
Not sure where it was filmed ( maybe a Rio Grande branch?), but in the Runaway, Rio Grande locomotives were used. I believe a GP 30 was the lead unit on the runaway, and a GP 40 or Dash 2 was painted up in something resembling the Grande passenger scheme as the “big” chase engine.
Fun to watch, but not realistic, and kind of insulting to anyone familiar with train operations.
There have been a couple more train disaster movies worth mentioning.
Runaway Train, a theatrical release starring Jon Voight, filmed on the Alaska Railroad, using their power. Being a theatrical release, it had a bigger budget, better production quality and effects. I later saw another different railroad movie that used the same action sequences!
Then there 2 awful made for tv movies. Atomic Train, with Rob Lowe and one with Robert Urich (I believe both were filmed on BC rail with MLW M420’s). Bad!
Jimmy
I remember a film starring Burt Reynolds (those cheesy 70s anything but loose series perhaps) in which they attempt to rob a UP passenger train, alas the plan fails when the would be robbers, dressed in the wild west train robber regalia with pistols at the ready stand by hapless as the train blows by them at 80 mph.
Ok this is a stumper, what film featured the Missouri Pacific in a cameo role?