Republic Pictures

Dorothy Appleby (as Kay Carson) and Grant Withers (as Lawrence “Larry” Doyle) dress up the front of Southern Pacific Railroad #2418 in this canted publicity photo. Our movie features this oil-burning locomotive as the primary motive power of the fictional “Moon Valley Short Line”.

Thanks to reader Mo Bouk for suggesting this movie and providing links to B&W and colorized versions of the film on YouTube. I will be reviewing the colorized version.

The gist of the plot is the evil Armstrong Trucking Company has resorted to nefarious deeds, (downright racketeering if you ask me), to take customers away from the railroad, forcing them into bankruptcy.

Larry Doyle has been appointed receiver/trustee of the short line, and charmed by Kay Carson’s perky ti…err…demeanor, sets out to win back the stolen business from the truck line.

The print of this picture is pretty bad, so I will concentrate on the last 3/4’s of the movie which seems to have the best daylight views. Enjoy!

Arriving at Paradise (the movie’s namesake), is SP #2418 4-6-2 “Light Pacific” P-1 class built by Baldwin in August 1906. Built as a coal burner, it was soon converted to use oil. Superheater added at Ogden on 3-23-18. Vacated from roster 11-8-42. Scrapped at Bayshore on 10-12-48.

OK, is that enough information? ;p

2418’s engineer and fireman gaze warily at the antics of the truck-driving creeps paralleling the railroad.

Kay deals with her cranky grandfather (President of the line) who, reluctantly, has to cashier one of his favorite engineer/fireman crews.

Harry Davenport as President Jed Carson does a great portrayal as a crotchety old curmudgeon. Over the top, even. He could have mentored Shatner.

Harry D? You remember him. Two years later, he would portray Doctor Meade in Gone With The Wind (“Good heavens Mrs. Meade, remember yourself!”).

Lawrence Doyle, Receiver of the bankrupt railroad, meets local tomato Kay Carson. Later on, an Armstrong henchman runs a reefer (refrigerator car) off a cliff, for which the local press mocks poor Larry. Bastards.

Undaunted, Larry orders a speed test to prove train is faster than truck, but a Hench locks him inside a refrigerator car (Man, it’s cold!).

Larry and Kay give villain owner Armstrong (played by Donald Kirke) the stink-eye afterwards. Is that a sinister moustache on Armstrong, or what?

OK, on to the finale in daylight! One more train/truck race is in order.

Blasting out of town to the cheers of the local populace, SP #2418 gains momentum, passing a 30 – 18 speed board (passenger/freight) outside of town. Keep an eye on that gray reefer behind the engine.

Both trucks and train get the dutch angle treatment.

Blowing the whistle as the train leans into a curve. The rear brakeman shares his caboose with several onlookers.

Hey, we’re gaining on them. Ha! Hahahahah!

Pulling past the competition and leaving them in the dust.

All too soon, the special must stop for water. Uh-oh, nothing’s coming out of the spout.

Good view of the cab with Larry and Harry; I found the problem…; It’s diabolical sabotage!; the responsible henchman is trying to sneak away. The race is off.

Furthermore, the Hench tries to open one of the reefers, but a shotgun-toting Harry gets the drop on him.

Someone hits upon the brilliant idea of using ice from the reefer bunkers to water the locomotive. Thus several men form up to relay ice to the engine’s tender. The race is back on!

Whilst Harry keeps the henchman at bay (are those eggs or fruit/vegetable crates?), the freight train takes off. Steam pressure keeps rising, much to the mad delight of the head end crew.

Coolest scene of the movie. Trucks and train are headed for a meet at the crossing. As the wig-wag signals frantically, old #2418 forces the lead truck to veer off. Chicken!! I count 7 reefers and a caboose behind the 4-6-2.

With a thunderous welcome from onlookers, the special trundles into Paradise in triumph — men still decorating the car tops. For his heroics, Larry gets a quick buss from Kay – who does that little kick thing, women do.

Epilogue:

It appears they used (takes a deep breath…), a Western Pacific Railroad, Pacific Fruit Express, Ventilated Refrigerator and pasted over its square Feather River Route logo with a circular Moon Valley Short Line sign. WP Reefer picture added for reference.

If you’d like to view the feature I reviewed yourself, the link is below:

That is, if it’s still on YouTube.

Here’s what IMDb has to say about Paradise Express:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029373/

If you have ANY information about this movie you’d like to share, please contact me at: Lindsay.Korst@gmail.com, or leave a comment.  Thanks and enjoy the blog!

THE END