Watch this!
http://youtu.be/sTtmS_LZgOE?t=17m41s

Reminds me of our yard trackage at 9th St.....

"Keaton set the film in the 1830s so he could indulge his passion for trains by creating a working model of Stephenson's Rocket, an early locomotive. He also employed a dandy horse which, by the 1830s, would have been out of fashion. The traveling shots of the locomotive are clear precursors to later work on The General (1926), and were shot in the same Oregon locations."

Really interesting, thanks for the link!

Howard P.

Imagine trying to replicate that today....All the safety regulations and what not, doubt you could.

It would all be cgi....

Using vintage trains can be done with the appropriate waivers in hand. I recall that the B&O Museum's replica of the Lafayette and the old stage coach based cars were used for the movie "Amistad". It appeared in one scene, transporting President Van Buren. There were a myriad of waivers that they had to obtain to use the Lafayette.

The genius that was Buster Keaton.

Those movies must have been a nightmare to film. I can't be the only one who noticed how many starts of derailments are in this very funny train sequence. I bet the film crew spent half their time jon location ust getting those cars back on the track.

Nope could still do it how many FRA and FAA violations do you see in this video of the filming of unstoppable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFrIH0X8J6o

All things taken in consideration, it DID stay on the track, at least!

This has probably been posted before, but if you like railroads, Buster Keaton and Canada, you must see this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiqqxyZeDXo

That is proof positive, that an ass has been running the railroad, since the beginning!

Keaton loaned out the prop "Rocket" and train to his friend Al St. John, who was nephew to Fattie Arbuckle. The three had appeared in many comedies together in the late 'teens. St. John made a two-reeler called "The Iron Mule" in 1925. This was the time that John Ford's "The Iron Horse" appeared, so at least in the title, "the Iron Mule" was poking fun at the serious feature.
The replica was a non-powered prop, hauled by cables from out of frame. It was built to narrow gauge, and the sideways dimensions were compressed. See interior of coach shot. The engine boiler was likewise compressed into an oval shape.
Here is a link to the surviving one-reel version of "The Iron Mule".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN64U63YTZg

I stand and correct myself, happily. This seems to be the complete two-reel version, running at over 19 minutes. I did not realize it had been "found".

If you film it on a railroad entirely on private property, FRA will not enter.
That is precisely the meaning of "insular" in FRA parlance.

You'd still have to deal with OSHA and whatever quasi/government agencies may stick their schnozz, as a result of your other normally regulated activities such as employing staff, relying on trades, or involving union crews.

You could also find that with the FRA out of the picture, some OTHER agency sees a regulatory vaccum, steps in and tries to apply "railroad" regulations to your operation. If they simply grab the full FRA book and try to apply it to you, that would be a debacle. FRA exemptions exist for a reason. But you can hardly expect a regulatory agency to grasp that, since, to be blunt, most of the readers here do not grasp it.