Okay....now that we've settled the question about whether #19 drinks its food or gulps it,I have another question.....could a movie like "Emperor of the North" be made again?<br> Several years ago,Paramount was going to make what looked like a railroad epic,called "Night Ride Down".I believe the movie was to be about the organization of the Sleeping Car Porters Union.Several steam locomotives were contracted and repaired by their owners at Paramount's expense,and preparing to move to Chicago when the movie was shelved.Does the will exist,and the money,to do another realistic railroad movie?<br>



kbcotton@flash.net

Here - Here Kenneth. I am in favor of the next really big train movie. Not one of those "Wild Wild West" bogus make-overs, but an honest to goodness railroad themed movie. (Big Boy excluded as the odds are against that). How about a movie version of Petticoat Junction.... good lookin chicks and Sierra #3 to boot! Now who could we get to play Uncle Charlie?<p>JB<br>



btflco@aol.com

How about a realistic epic of the construction of the transcontinental or perhaps a good Andrews Raid? GENERAL and TEXAS are still around. I need a replica Bury boilered kettle so I can handle a YONAH. ROME TRAIN 4-4-0 can be WM Mason, and there is a rumor that the boiler from the WM R SMITH exists in Birmingham, AL. <p>Dave<br>



lathro19@idt.net

Dave, maybe on the History Channel, but doubtful if Hollywood could do anything of that caliber...<br>JB<p>How about a realistic epic of the construction of the transcontinental or perhaps a good Andrews Raid? GENERAL and TEXAS are still around. I need a replica Bury boilered kettle so I can handle a YONAH. ROME TRAIN 4-4-0 can be WM Mason, and there is a rumor that the boiler from the WM R SMITH exists in Birmingham, AL. <p><br>

It's a shame they squanderered their resources on "Wild Wild West". They spent a bunch of bucks not only refurbishing the "William Mason" but building two credible private rail cars-at least the interiors, which used George Pullman's on private varnish "Monitor" as an inspiration. But they botched it when the studio-built cars were then mounted on the frames of cut-down modern box cars with roller-bearing trucks for exterior location filming. Production Designer Bo Welch's work was commendalble but wasted on a go-no-where production.<br>One of my favorites is still the 1950s Disney "Great Locomotive Chase", which was one of the first films I saw as a kid. Pretty cut and dry dramatically, but still had some of the best rail scenes filmed (I still thrill to the "Texas"- V&T No. 22 "Inyo" racing in reverse before the camera)<br>As to another big rail-epic, I'd be all for it. There is enough period motive power and rolling stock around- but most is in museum hands now and a large part has been restored to as-built condition, either cosmetic or fully operational. And I wonder if most museums would hold off on allowing film crews to get their hands on them. Who would let a film company let their locos race around like in "Locomotive Chase" and risk damage? Most of the best films and TV shows made great use of not only Sierra #3 and 18, but also their own locos and rolling stock they acquired from the railroads in the late 1930s, most notably the Virginia and Truckee ( No 11 "Reno", No. 21 " J. W. Bowker",No. 22 "Inyo", etc. This actually was a reprieve for this equipment from the scrappers torch during WWII and led to their eventual restoration and preservation. But alot of this equipment is now back in museums and alot of dollars invested in their preservation. <br>Still, I'd love to see any of them perform before the cameras.<br><br>



JMFouchard@aol.com

I hear that there was a sequel planned to Fried Green Tomatoes until Jessica Tandy's untimely death. Too bad, because it would be cool to have A&WP 290 reprise her roles as Tallahassee and Albany 290 and Mobile and New Orleans 526.



Southeastern Railway Museum
sa750@boone.net

The best lockie besides Sierra #3 to be used for movies is V&T #11, RENO. Now, who wants to raise funds for her restoration?<br>



jkruger504@aol.com

Have still been wondering about what "Reno's" status is. Everything I have heard is that she is not operational and suffered alot of damage during the Old Tucson fire. They dressed ger up for "Wild Wild West' and then rigged her with pyro and blew her cab off. Anyone have more details? Hope she'll wind up being restored, like her sisters "Inyo" and "Genoa"<br>I grew up on Sierra #3's appearances in movies and TV ( how many RR names have decorated? Lasted two seasons on TV, with Dale Robertson and the Three-Spot starring. Coach #6 all dolled up as the private varnish.<br>Don't know the status of Universal Studios Nevada County Narrow Gauge No. 5, another loco with alot of film credits on her resume. Saw her years ago on the backlot dead on the tracks. Does the studio still own her? <br><br>



JMFouchard@aol.com

Was also trying to mention the TV show "Iron Horse", but my computer swallowed up the sentence! Starred Dale robertson and the Sierra Three-Spot. Coach No. 6 looked great as the private varnish. They shot alot of film on location on the Sierra for that show (wish it was worth the effort...)<br>



JMFouchard@aol.com

V&T #11, The "Reno" has been severely damaged. In the fire at Old Tuscon Studios, all of the wood on the locomotive was destroyed, including the original cab. Old Tuscon did not blow it off of the locomotive. As I understand it, the Reno was operational just up until the fire. A restoration effort would be nearly impossible for two reasons.
A) Old Tuscon will not sell her to anyone, they practically take off on you if you even mention purchasing her from them. B) The restoration would be extremely expensive, we're talking about a steam locomotive that had been gutted completely in the boiler and the tender, that had extensive damage after that fire. What I say needs to be done is to go to Old Tuscon and protest their dis-treatment of that historic locomotive. Maybe after all that they will be willing to sell her to a museum or even donate her. A thorough restoration would be not one mill, but possibly 2 million or more! that's more than most locomotive restorations these days, but that's if we're talkin' new restoration of the old boiler to keep as much of the original as possible. New boiler would still require at least a 1 mil restoration. Hope I cleared things up, and seriously, think about that protest thing.

Mike Ninneman

This has to be a record for the 'gap', timewise, between postings on a topic!

And just what is this "protest thing"? Or did I miss something major here?

Definitely longest gap ever in a thread.

The cool thing nowadays is they could do a movie with a yard full of Pennsy T-1's or an NYC Niagara at 100 MPH or whatever with CGI.

THAT would be pretty cool.

I believe a "Casey Jones" movie should be looked at. And I mean a sure to goodness true movie about his life and the fatal wreck and not some crazy spoof comedy and the such.

Jamie

The creators of AMC's "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad" are doing this: http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/abcs-pi ... nds-leads/

I hate to say it, but from the description shown, I'm not sure this is what we would like to see. Besides some commentators who think former slave-owners and Confederate soldiers are not sufficiently synmpathetic for audience tastes, the story does not really revolve around the railroad as such. Indeed, I can picture this series being done with virtually no railroad footage, other than crews spiking down track for the most part, and not even too much of that.

There are a host of stories we could tell--about engine crews dealing with locomotives that won't steam, about plugging leaking staybolts and boiler tubes with a bag of cornmeal fed in through the injector (recounted in H. Reid's "The Virginian Railway"), about an engineer who ran his locomotive off the end of a mine spur on the C&O because the New River had come up and covered the rock in the river he used as a landmark to tell him where to initiate his brake application (and he later claimed at the accident investigation that he could not be held to fault because his rock sank), about division superintendants who determine the truth about incidents because they were once on the line themselves, and could decifer the truth from the lies they heard, and meter out discipline with a wonderful line, like "Young man, you have the makings of a first class railroader. You can lie with the best of them. About two weeks (suspension) will fit your case." This is from Edward Custer's autobiography, "No Royal Road," and the quote is attributed to no less than the famous Robert Pitcairn of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Hollywood is missing out.