From TRAINS NEWS WIRE:

ATLANTA — A major motion picture company is starting a nationwide search for used railroad equipment that will be used on set in a yet-to-be-named film. The film company is looking for up to two dozen pieces of rolling stock, including passeng...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... vie-trains

And if you read the attached it says “… and would likely be scrapped after shooting.” which is indicative of the movie industry. They are not our friends in preservation. I find the movie people really don’t care about things and certainly not about taking care of historic artifacts or even accuracy of historic or industry conventions. If you have stuff you don’t need or want and you can get them to remove it, good for you. but don’t be suckered into believing anything they get their hands on is going to a better place or purpose.

CCdW

The text with certain highlights:

ATLANTA — A major motion picture company is starting a nationwide search for used railroad equipment that will be used on set in a yet-to-be-named film.

The film company is looking for up to two dozen pieces of rolling stock, including passenger cars, freight cars, and cabooses, to be taken to the Atlanta area later this year. Truck Brokers Inc. and Rail Transportation Management Specialists LLC are both helping lead the search.

Rail Transportation Management Specialists owner Art Miller, who has worked as a railroad coordinator for films like Unstoppable and October Sky, tells Trains News Wire that this is a great opportunity for short lines, regionals and museums to rid themselves of unwanted equipment.

“The production designers are primarily looking for unused out-of-service equipment that has acquired unique coloration and weathering patterns during its storage,” Miller says.

Miller adds that the equipment purchased by the film company does not have to be in operating condition and would likely be scrapped after shooting.

Among the items the film company is looking for are:
•1 Bi-level passenger car, possibly of Santa Fe heritage.
•2 Passenger or Pullman cars.
•3 Box 40 to 70-foot boxcars
•3 65-to-85-foot flatcars
•2 three dome tank cars
•1 Burro crane
•1 200-to-250-ton Derrick or “Big Hook” crane.
•1 idler flatcar
•2 cabooses
•Various work-train camp cars

Miller says that the film company would also consider leasing equipment — specifically rare pieces such as the 250-ton crane — and returning it in the condition it arrived.

Railroads that are interested in selling or leasing equipment should send the rolling stock’s last used reporting marks, a general description of its condition, broadside and end photos and location information to Miller at art.miller@rtms-movietrains.com.

My own commentary:

I won't argue that the movie people too often don't take care of leased stuff (this has also been a problem for some people with older automobiles).

Obviously we're looking at ANOTHER movie with a wreck--bah!!

At least the movie people are saying anything that will be destroyed is to be purchased. . .

This is why CGI exists. Also the Lone Ranger movie used mockups.

on the other note I recall a thread somewhere about a horde of equipment somewhere of freight cars rallied around some area, I don't recall who what where.

The railroads may have dead car storage from accidents or even passenger cars, that may be getting used for parting out. Cabooses are a differrent animal as railroads don't use them and most are in preservation and no way would allow to be scrapped. They would be better to mockup a wooden one. I think the main railroads may have better sources for excess equipment they could release.

Whatever crane they use I reccomend the owners rep be there to help manage the crane and make sure its use is proper and returned properly.

The Ringling Brothers circus train may have surplus passenger and flat cars available once it completes its final tour this spring.

I have a couple bilevels and a boxcar...

However several friends of mine in the military vehicle hobby have leased/rented equipment to film studios. They said the pay was good, and the food was better, the way they treated your stuff when you weren't looking was awful. They got away with demanding they were the only ones who could drive the vehicles, and thus got to be there whenever they did any filming. Not sure you could do that with rail equipment.

I would be loath to let them scrap anything afterwards... well maybe some well used RBOX boxcars and a few flats. But everything else, would be harder to let go.

To quote Arthur, King of the Britains, "Run away!"

It sounds like they are going to re-make Danger Lights!
Now where will they get a round house full of Milwaukee Road steam locomotives....

Keith

Sounds like a post apocalyptic movie in the genre of Waterworld or Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome set in a rail yard. Perhaps Atlanta Pullman yard will be the set.
It appears the plot needs some working cranes and the rest they want in bad shape so they can make it worse and then scrap.

Paul

If this is the same person/outfit that handled "unstoppable", I can tell you that the railroads that supplied equipment and track were treated pretty well. I didn't talk to anybody in the management ranks that was complaining. Compensation was adequate. I even called one of my clients involved in that movie to tell him about something I'd seen I was very concerned about, he already knew about it, and basically said 'for what we're being paid, it's OK with me'.

I certainly can't say that about several others I've heard about. And honestly, wouldn't you rather be openly warned about 'don't send us anything you don't want scratched' rather than mislead you that it would be handled by retired Smithsonian members wearing white gloves?

From my very limited experience (was an extra in 1 film) and what others have told me, film companies know exactly what shots they want before they ever get to the location. They don't care if "that isn't the way it was really done" or "that isn't historically accurate". The object is to get what they want in the shortest time at the lowest cost. If they are going to film a wreck scene the cheapest thing to do afterwards is to scrap the equipment on site.

The movie business often is very secretive about their plans and movies in which railroad equipment is really destroyed are relatively rare.

Two exceptions would be the WWII classic "The Train" and the more recent "The Fugitive"

Bob H

Add a stack of former LIRR coaches for one of the Transformer movies.

I've got a friend who rented old buses to movies companies for period movies. They would do whatever it took to modify the buses in the shortest time possible. For instance, they would rip seats out of the floor instead of unbolting them, damaging both the seat and floor. Personally, I loaned out a fully operational Ford Transit for an American Express commercial and got a static paperweight with a frozen engine in return. Yes, they do compensate you well for the damages but in the end you're still stuck with a ruined bus.

Another example were the three operational Kettenkrads that were used in "Saving Private Ryan." All three had their transmissions torn to shreds. Yes, they were compensated for the damages but parts for those things are near impossible to come by.

On the plus side, a Southern California railroad museum loaned several passenger cars for the movie "Changeling." The studio gave the cars a good paint job that is holding up well to this day.

But in this case, the future for the rolling stock does not look promising once the studio is through with it. Like others have said, I don't see the need for the real stuff when they can do so much with CGI and mockups.

They tell you, up front, the equipment will be scrapped.

Every month or two, we read a post about some equipment that can't be saved, is too far gone, and had to be scrapped. Surely somebody out there has or knows about something like that right now. A piece that's going to be cut up when they get around to it or when scrap prices go up.

Presumably, these guys will pay more than scrap price. So you come out ahead. You know the outcome (it's not coming back), so you don't have to worry about anything, since you're only going to sell them stuff that is only good for scrapping.

I fail to see the problem here.