A non-railfan relative suggested I see this movie—with the oxymoron title—Color of a Brisk and Leading Day (It's in black and white!)
http://www.vh1.com/movies/movie/93596/moviemain.jhtml

Apparently the train action is superb. A web search yields no trailers. I'd be interested in any comments from any members of this forum who have seen the film.

Sloan

Yes, it is a "must see" for the superb black-and-white cinematography and the re-creation of the end of the YVRR and that period of Americana on what must have been a very limited budget.
When the plot deviates from the protagonist's efforts to save the YV from abandonment, well, it's time to hit the mute button or if you have it recorded, to fast forward. The acting ranges from pedestrian to awful, and the only "name" in the cast is Henry Gibson (of "Laugh-In" and "Nashville" fame), who plays the YV's general manager.

The film is said to be based on the true story of an 18-year-old Pacific Electric employee who tried to keep the YV from the scrappers.

I checked imdb.com for filming locations, but none are shown there. Obviously some filming was done at Railtown 1897. Hopefully others on RYPN will know of the other locations.

The film was released in 1996. It received an award for cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival that year, and the next year was nominated for best cinematography at the Independent Spirit Awards. It received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in '96.

"Color" shows up fairly regularly either on IFC or Sundance, sorry I don't recall which. Amazon has it on DVD for $23.99.

I do highly recommend recording it or buying the DVD, as the non-railroad portion of the plot is best viewed in fast-forward mode.

Jim Tatum.

That story is told in one or both of the major books on the Yosemite Valley. If memory serves me correctly, his name was McFadden and he died about twenty years ago. He also had an interest in some other railroads and gathered up material from at least the T&T. A number of the books, etc. in his collection were sold through one of the Los Angeles high-end used books stores; some other items ended up in the collection of Orange Empire.

It is interesting that the illustrated cover of the DVD appears to use a photo of one of the actual YV locomotives.