Can’t find the original thread, so I’ll start anew. I just saw Sullivan’s Travels again. It’s a Preston Sturges film from 1940 or '41, starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. I had forgotten how very many nice RR scenes are included. It appears that the shooting was done on the S.P. in Southern California. The actors, posing as Hobos, ride in an S.P. stock car and a T&NO DS boxcar. S.P. 2-8-0’s are prominently featured, although there is some nice footage of doubleheaded Santa Fe 2-10-2’s that sneak in (probably stock footage). McCrea and Lake’s train, headed by S.P. and/or ATSF power, unaccountably takes them to Las Vegas on the SPLA&SL (UP). But the footage is choice, and the film is a classic. Highly recommended.
I watched that a couple of years ago on Turner Classic Movies. Very good movie.
How about It Happened to Jane with Jack Lemmon and Doris Day from 1960 or so? Can’t remember if that one was mentioned but it’s unfortunately relatively unknown so maybe it slipped through. It’s a romantic comedy centered around a widow’s troubles at getting a refund from the railroad for failing to promptly deliver her first shipment of live lobsters. The steam powered local is front and center during much of it.
My favorite train movie of all time is Danger Lights. It was shot along the electrified portion of the Milwaukee Road. Oddly there were only steam engines in it, no electric.
George
Is this the thread you were looking for?
“A couple of train movies on TMC”:
http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/p/203900/2443719.aspx#2443719
Bruce
There is a link at imdb.com to the full movie. It is 74 minutes long. Apparently modern copies of the film are of varying quality as the original producers let the copyright slip through their hands, resulting in modern day VHS/DVD versions being dupes of third and fourth generation prints.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020806/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Bruce
Turner Classic Movies showed “Danger Lights” several years ago, and their print was very good.
You may want to check a TCM catalog if you’re looking to purchase the same.
“It happened to Jane” was filmed on the New Haven in the Mc Ginnis era using the last serviceable NH steam locomotive, 2-8-2 3016(?) which had been kept for snow melting duties.
It ends up failing on a major crossing, delaying two passenger trains worked by double FL 9 locomotives.
The railroad name used was “Eastern and Portland”.
The railroad manager was played by Ernie Kovacks.
M636C
Bruce,
Thanks for the info. I will try it out.
George
AgentKid: Thanks for trying to jog my memory, but it was a different thread in Trains General Discussion. It was “Trains Operating Agencies in Movies, TV Shows, & Entertainment”, and it ran from Nov. 18 through 25, 2013. A lot of very high-quality films were discussed. Some had the RR playing a major role in the plot; others used the RR as backdrop for the story. Tom