Can someone post here or point me in the right direction for pictures of PRR #1223 when she was dressed up as the NYC engine for Hello Dolly?

It would be much appreciated for a paper I am writing. Thanks

Aside from the movie itself; there is the Strasburg web site for starters.

I am constantly amazed by the amount of images that turn up on the Google images site. They are not very high level scans though!

i have seen the Hello dolly car at Strasburg, PA I have always wondered how the movie company got the PennCentral as I think it then was to host that movie shoot. I guess if you have a lot of money to throw at something; almost anything is possible.


Ted Miles

Don't forget that Hello Dolly was released in 1969, which means it was probably filmed in 1968 or even earlier...

Friction bearings were still legal, and steam hadn't been gone all that long. Regulations weren't as strict, and traffic levels were lower back then. (The 60's were a real low point for railroads, until TOFC and COFC came along things were looking rather grim for a while...)

As somebody else pointed out, movie companys know how to grease the wheels of commerce. Money makes the wheels go round so to speak.

I recall the story of a certain big name steam operator who went to a machine shop in desperate need of a part late on Saturday afternoon as he was broken down on the road. "We're closing soon, I don't work overtime, I don't work on Sundays, no way I can possibly get that done this weekend, let alone get it done tonight!" He pulls out his billfold and begins laying $100 bills on the counter. The part was done late that night, and they were both smiling when it was done.

Here's the information I came across on the internet copied from a web site.

In 1968, Hollywood called again, this time for the 20th Century Fox film HELLO, DOLLY! (1969) starring Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau and Louis Armstrong. In this film, Strasburg Rail Road provided four coach cars and steam locomotive PRR#1223, built in 1905, which is now retired and sits in the Rail Road Museum of Pennsylvania. You may remember the open train car Streisand is seen riding (and singing) on in the final shot. You can ride in it (or one of the other cars used in the movie) if you pick the right train when you visit. Besides the fun of being in this famous train car, you’ll enjoy the wonderful views of the Amish farmlands Streisand never saw…

Open Air Coach 68 – Built by the Pullman Car Company in 1896 as a passenger car, it was painted yellow and converted to an open observation car based on 20th Century Fox studio specifications, particularly so dancers could easily access it. This is the oldest passenger car on Strasburg Railroad’s roster and is still named the “Hello Dolly.” It has since been painted brown.


Coach 59 – Painted yellow for HELLO, DOLLY! and lettered NYC & HR No. 2, the coach is now named “Grasshopper Level.”

I couldn't recall the car's history. That's something else that most likely wouldn't happen these days. "Hey Strasburg, would you mind taking the oldest car on your roster and 'kitbashing' it into an open car for us?"

I have no idea what condition the car was in, or any other details of the conversion, so maybe there were other considerations, such as the car being nearly rotted away, but I do wonder if they would do the same kind of conversion now or if they would try and keep the historic fabric of the car intact. (I'd guess the latter...)

You can watch the whole scene from "Hello Dolly" on YouTube, by the way. Quite the period piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyICQ-lSYCo

That's some quick and orderly boarding of that Hello Dolly car!

Wow 1223 really looks sharp in that movie. Who was the engineer for the movie, was it someone from Strasburg or just someone from the movie crew?

Len.

As with any movie, I always like the way they dressed up one town (Garrison, NY) to resemble another ("Yonkers"). Of course...only rail people would know the difference.

I doubt that Strasburg would have let someone from the production company run any steam locomotive. It isn't like driving a car-

What about all the people who live in Yonkers? ;)

A quote from Linn Moedinger from somewhere within the RyPN Interchange archives:



Wesley

Mr Huber Leath just past on a few weeks ago. So its to late to ask him anything.

Len.

I don't know a lot about the history of Yonkers' development, but they probably could not have shot it in the Yonkers of 1968, and had it approximate the Yonkers of the Gilded Age. I think they picked a great place to evoke the essence of a small town near New York in the 1890s.

It is interesting to look at the techniques of film makers when they seek to create a "period" environment. There may be some lessons here for railroad museums.

Hi All

Hello Dolly coach # 68 her history ,,built by Pullman in 1896 for the Boston & Maine

RR as there coach # 856,, for passenger service,,she then when into work train,

service for the Boston & Maine RR as there # 3205...

Coach sold too Strasburg RR in 1966,,1st in service at Strasburg in 1968 rebuilt for

movie Hello Dolly,,,and then last rebuilt in 1995.. ,Pat.