I hadn't seen this in probably 25 years at least, found it on netflix and watched it. It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it as a kid, but I did marvel at all the steam in the show that is now cold (S&A 750, CRR # 1, Stone Mountain, etc...)
Does anyone know where all this was filmed at? I have no idea where some of the steam scenes were done or what power was used. Where did the Promontory scenes get filmed at, for example?
Such a shame at the scenes of the abandoned stations as well, I'd guessing most of them don't exist anymore...

Wha, woah, what, huh? Not as good?

I bought the DVD for my son whe. he was 4 or 5. I believe in raising the young'uns right... Johnny Cash plus railroad legends = all time wins for me....

And check out the latest issue of TRAINS which takes railroad legends head on.

:-)

This special was filmed all over the USA. For example:

The rail gang scene was filmed at TVRM
Tom Thumb vs Horse scene was filmed at the B&O RR Museum
The Promontory scene was filmed at Promontory

The "Great Locomotive Chase" scenes were filmed at Six Flags Over Georgia. The opening scenes with 4501 were filmed in Zebulon, GA on the now abandoned SR line (originally Atlanta & Florida RR) between Williamson and Fort Valley. The 750 "Casey Jones" scene was filmed, I believe, near Senoia, GA on the Central of Georgia "C-Line" between Griffin and Chattanooga.

Yeah, I know it’s blasphemy to say a Johnny Cash show with trains isn’t the pinnacle to entrainment. I’m as big a Cash fan as you’re going to find in a person who otherwise doesn’t like country music much (I begged my folks to take me to his only concert ever in my hometown, I think in 1981, the first concert I ever went to). The train sequences are pretty well done, even by today’s standards. There’s just long stretches that could have been edited out.
I’m surprised that the Promontory sequence was actually filmed there. Which engines did they use? Clearly, ‘119’ wasn’t in steam at the time. The replica engines for the NPS weren’t built until after this show was filmed, so where did they get the ones used in the show? I’ll be darned, I just assumed they filmed it at Stone Mountain. I wonder where they got the freight cars from? For such a low budget they did pretty well with the re-enactments.
Still, the blocked out letting on the locomotives got to me, especially the covered SRR cab herald on 4501. I understand why they did that, but it was still annoying to a train buff.

I imagine they just put sheathing over the Six Flags passenger cars. The original SFOG cars were built on D&RGW wooden flats, anyway.

Andrew Durden
Decatur, GA

I literally wore the VHS copy my local video store carried out. Love this movie and brings back many fond memories. Those first images of 4501 with the cocks open never fail to stir my heart. Good stuff all round. I've always thought another addition would be an amazing project.

Before the Promontory replicas were built and delivered, Jupiter and 119 were represented by stand-ins Virginia and Truckee's #22 "Inyo" and I believe #11 "Reno" respectively.

Here it is, and with an automatic play-through of its six segments on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoR7mcsV ... 027F216C4D

Impressions from glimpses of something I haven't seen in 40 years include Cash's enthusiasm for the subject, 4501, Clinchfield 1, and the Victorian style titles that you also saw on the covers of trendy train books of the time.

Have fun.

This may be an urban myth but it's been said that Johny Cash owned a steam locomotive at one time...what a PR move it would have been for Johnny Cash to ride one of the Southern specials or do a print ad for them...not that they did not have any problems seling tickets but things might have grown bigger sooner...

Johnny Cash also had some production at the Colorado Railroad Museum at Golden Colorado in 1974. A train was "backdated" with locomotive 346 with a diamond stack with a consist of passenger car 284 and business car "Rico" painted D&RG tuscon red. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9aJ2QoxoI4
I believe that the agent in the Rico being held up and robbed is CRRM founder Bob Richardson.

The NCTM's former Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 4 was owned by the Carter-Cash family corporation for a few years during the early 1970's. This was between the locomotive's use in Northeast mainline fantrips by the Quakertown & Eastern RR and her brief use in tourist service on the Southwest Virginia Scenic RR during the mid 1970's.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

An interesting essay on this program recently appeared in The New Yorker:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbi ... l_facebook

I believe at that time UP #119 was played by V&T #18. "Dayton". Both were owned by Paramount Studios at the time before they were acquired by the Nevada State RR Museum.

Couldn't let this topic go by without posting this photo of John in Nashville: