To all concerned Pennsy fans:

A Pennsy T-1 makes a camea appearence in Lemony Snickett's Series of Unfortuante Events.

One of our local theaters had a "2-for-1" Holiday special in which they were showing "The Polar Express" and "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortuante Events" back to back yesterday.

While I wasn't exactly enthused about "Lemony," I was still interested in seeing it, so I stuck around. Mind you, seeing a 2-8-4 go skating across a lake of ice can leave a railfan's blood flowing pretty lucid, so I didn't expect any thrills in the latter film. However, I'd noted in the trailers for "Lemony" that there was a scene in which a train was bearing down at a car straddling a pair of railroad tracks. It bugged me because the sound editor mixxed in a diesel horn and all the rest.

As the scene played out in the film, it becomes VERY obvious that the locomotive is a steam locomotive and based entirely on the design of the Pennsy T-1, right down to the lead trucks and running gear and that distinctive streamlining. I gather that the loco fit the overall exagerated production design and look of the film. The railroad crossing at which this takes place is a neat conglomeration of railroad artifacts. Switch stands, a wigwag, crossbucks, telephone poles and signals, and of course, a speeding passenger train.

Nevertheless, the sound effects are all wrong, probably the result of a sound guy who didn't do his homework. The loco is never seen in full, but the few glimpses of it rushing toward the camera or swooping by in the background will definately get "foamers" interested. Of course, my girlfriend had her hand over my mouth when I started to exclaim "that's a Pennsy T-1" but I guess I'm all the better for it :D

To see the set (scroll down the photos at right) go here:
http://www.theasc.com/magazine/dec04/lemony/page1.html#

To check out the loco in a few moments of celluoid, pan through the trailer here:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount ... _snickets/

-Happy New Year,
Kelly Lynch
"nathanfivechime"