Being a fan of anthropomorphic comics and comic art, I would suggest that there is a difference in between commercial film and the smaller demographic art comics and films. In those products, the emphasis is more on the story and artistic skill rather than special effects and technical details. The artist is using artistic license and we as the viewers understand that.

I recall the disgusted look Connery had (in character) at finding out--while on top of the train--how many low bridges the railroad ran under in a short distance. I can't help but wonder if he was really disgusted with how the shoot was going!

This also reminds me of a recollection in a magazine article from years ago by the late Larry Sagle, principle author of Staufer's "B&O Power" and for years the B&O's publicity man and an early, if not the first, director of the B&O Museum. This was for the filming of "Stand Up and Fight," one sequence of which had a "race" between a stagecoach and an early train pulled by the Norris 4-2-0 replica. According to Sagle (who fired the engine while it was on location), the stagecoach was supposed to "win" the race on camera, but the coach driver made some disparaging remarks that got the B&O engineer "steamed up," and he ran the locomotive so fast he not only "won" the race, but the horses were so pooped out they could not restage the race until at least the next day.

This was shot on a logging road in California, and it was not unusual for a Shay-powered log train to be waiting out of sight for a break in the filming to proceed through the shooting area. Apparently the first time this happened was a cause for panic among the movie people, who were not used to the combination of rapid exhaust and low speed from a geared engine. When, after receiving a proceed signal, the logging engineer whistled off and opened the throttle, the film people thought the Santa Fe's Chief was racing towards them and that a collision was imminent. They were astounded to have to wait, wait, wait for that geared job to come on through.

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/1401 ... iler-.html

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3409/Stand-Up-and-Fight/

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3409/Sta ... views.html

Here's a new question about the Lone Ranger locomotive. There are one or two scenes of someone uncoupling the tender from the train while at speed, viewed from the side. And one scene viewed from above the coupler showing an uncoupling (or a coupling). The question is: what kind of coupler was that?

The coupler I'm talking about utilized a cylindrical, vertically oriented solid "bulb", rigidly attached to the car. The other half of the coupler looked like a two-arm claw. Left and right curved fingers fold towards each other, capturing the cylindrical bulb. (I believe the action sequence was of the couplers being uncoupled.) The claw-side looked like a casting, with "Janney" prominently visible as raised letters. The coupler looked like it had a reasonable amount of play to allow the train to negotiate curves.

This is not the traditional Janney automatic coupler with which we're all familiar. Was it an earlier variation, recreated by the movie shop? Or was it a fantasy coupler?

No way you'd see a movie star doing scenes like that today. Connery could have bene killed numerous times while making that film!

its a Hollywood coupler. It kinda resembles the ole Marx tinplate couplers.

I ask myself a lot of questions why this, perhaps its the camera view of Tonto for the effect, perhaps its not letting the public know how a real coupler works, but its one of those hollywood artisticic deflects doing this.

Even the engine controls are not correct.

This is why we can't have nice things.

What I want to know is what is the rock band KISS doing in the old west? Or is Tonto on his way home from an audition after not making the cut?

Its thanks to movies like this one that future generations will have a distorted idea of what genuine railroads were like in the past. Why in Hell does Hollywood think they have to embellish scenes with fake couplers, super-steep grades, excessive speeds, etc. I realize that today's younger generation feeds on thrills, but COME ON!!!, there is such a thing as historical accuracy for the future's sake!!

You can't beat Thunder On Blue Ridge by O Winston Link for some Reality Railroad.

Ah, yes, because movies in the past were truly accurate...
-Buster Kenton's 'The General'
-'Danger Lights'
-'Emperor of the North'
-The "Keystone Cops' comedies
Yep, Hollywood's past is filled with high-accurate films depicting perfect historical accuracy...
...NOT!

That might be true, but one would think we would get something over the years that would be better than most of what we see, especially in recent years.

Actually, of the list above, "Danger Lights" isn't too bad from a historical point of view, at least for Hollywood. It's best part is the "spirit" it has, such as when the line is blocked, all sorts of effort are expended to get it open again for the Olympian. And the character of the hobo is a classic!

Guilty pleasure, maybe?

With regards to Sean Connery and the Great Train Robbery, that movie was actually filmed in the Republic of Ireland, look closely and you can tell that it's broad gauge. They did a pretty good job of re creating a Victorian era train for that movie complete with fake outside frames on the 0-6-0. Coras Iompair Eireann had no qualms about running steam FAST, and many of their stations and buildings still had a stuck in time quality including water columns and semaphore signals. Incidentally I think quite a few dogfight movies were also filmed in the skies over Ireland for similar reasons of avoiding panic stricken risk management types.
P. Hosford

I believe the Irish 0-6-0 in "The Great Train Robbery" was ex-Great Southern & Western No. 186 (Sharp, Stewart & Co., 1879), so a genuine Victorian era engine. She's owned by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland:

http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/locom ... oco186.htm

Ireland tends to be much more laissez faire than the UK in all sorts of endeavors, which is why for example fox hunting is still legal in Ireland while its been banned on the other side of the Irish Sea.

-Philip Marshall

Just thought this was appropriate here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAz7hBbO ... 7h&index=9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV36CHsD ... ion_465524