I know there have been several threads here on trains in the movies (and TV) and the wonderful errors, but last night I think I saw the biggest one of all.
The movie was Desperate Journey (1942) on TCM. Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan are shot down over Nazi Poland, and make their way back to . One part of the journey is on a train headed to . The train consists of several Harriman cars pulled by an SP 4-6-2.
Probably to only thing as bad are the Spaghetti Westerns and their VERY European trains that are suppose to be in the southwest or Mexico.
The one I enjoyed most was what I think was called Grand Central Station…took place at Grand Central Chicago with great pics of the underground railroad, a chase scene on the EL, and other grand shots of Chi town railroading of the late 30’s or early 40’s. I never got to Chi to see area railroading and this was a fanscinating step back in time!
I just saw one of my favorites last night only for entertainment: The Santa Fe Trail.
Having read over 30 books on that time period in US history, I can say with assurity that any similarity between that movie and actual events is purely coincidental. But I enjoy it everytime I see it, and not just because I think Olivia de Havilland was an absolute knock-out in her day.
Editing:“The Professionals” is a good western with Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster. The opening scene has Heber Valley RR #75 approaching on heavy duty continuous welded rail. This scene was filmed on Kaiser Steel’s Eagle Mountain Railroad. A later scene was filmed elsewhere with lighter duty jointed rail. Does anyone know where that rr is? The cars were lettered NdeM.
Last week, TCM showed “In Cold Blood” which dealt with the 1959 murder of a family at their Holcomb, KS farmhouse. In the scene where the bad guys break into the house late at night, a sound effect of a SF train blowing the diesel eng horn at the only crossing in town was heard. In a later scene when the trial is going on in Graden City which would have been 1960, another sound effect of a train whistle was heard only this was a steam eng sound which was in error since the steamers had vanished several yrs earlier. For anyone riding on #3 through wstrn KS during the early sunrise hours, this house is located about a 1/4 mile on the south side of the La Junta Sub mainline slightly west of the WSS @ Holcomb and can be seen from the train.
I just saw a really nice train centered movie called “Train Master.” I suspect it contains more then a little “creative licence” but it is a very nice movie with lots of real, model, and “live steam” trains. It is available on Netflix instant viewing.
A lot people don’t about that movie is that it was filmed in all of the original locations including inside the actual house. This movie also differs from the book in a few ways. There are also some errors, for example, when they drive towards western Kansas and are in Emporia, you can see Ford Mustangs and others cars that were never around in 1959, but were definitely around when the film was made in 1967.
When I attended K-State, my roommate had to watch this movie and read the book as part of a Kansas history course. He gave me the movie. There was also a guy who lived on the same floor as me in the dorms whose relatives reside in the farm. He says that he could never stay the night after seeing the movie.
Also towards the beginning, you will see the Santa Fe El Capitan and Super Chief.
We lived in Emporia when I was 11 and I didn’t see the movie until I was 17 and had moved from Emporia.
They (in real life) bought some supplies at a Gibson’s store in Emporia and both the exterior and interior of the store were used in the movie and I recognized both instantly.
And here’s a coincedence. I saw it at a Drive-In on a double bill with The Professionals, mentioned earlier in this thread.
The best one I seen was Steve McQueen on top of a Chicago L. He grabbed hold of a ?? 2 ?? wire trolley. He swings out off the car and then back on to the car. NO HARM DONE.
I watched “The Professionals” again. Although the movie takes place in Mexico, all the filming locations were in the United States. All the railroad scenes were filmed on the Eagle Mountain RR. The ex-Great Western #75 was used to pull all the trains in the movie. The old cars & #75 were lettered JW Grant and later N de M.
From my post to another thread on another topic a long time ago:
“Remember the flashing railroad grade crossing [flashing] signals going beserk when the aliens were near in Steven Spielberg s movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” starring Richard Dreyfuss late 1970s ?”