http://commercialsociety.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/jamesons-iron-horse-commercial/

Early coaches should probably resemble stagecoaches but other than that, the only change I would make would be to move the date up to the late 1820's, maybe 1830.

Steve

Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!!

That open passenger car isn't too far off, really:

http://commercialsociety.wordpress.com/ ... the-world/

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/phot ... 14603546.j

Another ad from an apparent series on the subject:

http://commercialsociety.wordpress.com/ ... the-world/

Now, somebody tell me again why we can't or don't run a great American railroad TV series or come up with a really good railroad film (i.e., an adaptation of of "One Way To Eldorado"), other than American stupidity. . .

BNSF has been running a commercial featuring STEAM and ATSF F-units on the 'Nightly News Hour' (PBS outlet).

DPK

The open cars are spot on for the British. Liverpool & Manchester had a series of "Third Class" cars that were open like that.

Also, I think even the Great Western in its broad gauge days had similar cars.

Wow, great commercial!
Has anyone seen the computer commercial where a woman is showing off her new laptop and suddenly is in the platform of a Brit train station around the 1870s? They did a great job with that one, too...

Great commercial! "Calmly, he relieved the engineer, a decision he would instantly regret..."

The view from the front with steam bursting from the seams of the boiler is really fun, even though that portion would actually be the smokebox.


A couple of comments. I've heard a few complaints about previous commercials, like the one where he saved a city (and his brewery) from a huge fire by blowing up a dam. The complaint? The events never happened, but it was presented in a way that made it appear it was possibly a historical fact.

Any idea how / where this was filmed? Is it purely CGI, or did they use any real equipment to film it? The engine's obviously computer generated for much of it, but the coaches full of people looked like they might have been real or possibly shot on a sound stage.

It wouldn't surprise me if they used the engines at the Beamish museum for the shoot, or at least for a basis for the CGI models. Note, however, that that smokebox of the engine in the commerical appears to actually be the backhead of the Puffing Billy.



A little more research reveals this picture from the website for the "Alpha Stabilized" camera. It is labeled on the website as being from the "Jameson's Whiskey commercial"

Been taking a closer look at that commercial, and I think the locomotive is a non-operating "replica" or "caricature" of the Puffing Billy (think of the 4-4-0 in "Hell on Wheels" or the various locomotives in the new Lone Ranger flick), combined with CGI in certain spots (locomotive crashing through the sailing ship, possibly the run off the end of the track sequence). Of note is that the thing is narrow-gauge (first noticeable when approaching the end of track, and much more so in the shot where the camera is looking back from the tender to the flat car of whiskey where the locomotive is uncoupled). The appearance of the equipment in the camera crane shot in the previous post confirms the narrow gauge status.

Wonder where this was shot? My guess is New Zealand, which has been notable for some interesting film work in recent years, including the recent "Lord of the Ring" series.

http://commercialsociety.wordpress.com/ ... ommercial/

Oh, how nice it would be to have someone spend money on some of our stuff like that. . .

Wonder if this thread is one that really belongs in "Railfanning?"

It is preservation related, as it's discussing a specific topic that has already occurred, rather than a 'pie-in-the-sky' topic of "wouldn't it be nice to build a..."

What's the preservation angle?

1) Is the rolling stock pictured accurate?

2) Was the commercial CGI, real or both? (We've since discovered it's both, obviously some CGI and we've got a photo of the steadicam rig.)

3) As always in this type of discussion, a reminder that commercials are a great way for your operation to get some much-needed revenue.