Tag Archives: Oregon

Stand by Me 1986

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Columbia Pictures

Update 1/11/2024: Many thanks to OregonRailfan who corrected me (see his comments below) on a couple of items.

Yeah, yeah. Four boys coming of age and learning about friendship and all that. The REAL star of this production is McCloud River Railroad #25, a 2-6-2 steam locomotive built by Alco Locomotive Works in 1925, new for the railroad. MCRRR #25 is still with us and currently operates on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad.

I was fortunate enough to ride behind her during the SP&S convention at Astoria, Oregon in 2019. I have posted some pictures I took of the 2-6-2 at the end of this review.

What? The film’s main protagonists? Oh, all right. Here’s the boys in no particular order:

#1 Wil Wheaton as Gordie Lachance.

#2 River Phoenix as Chris Chambers.

#3 Corey Feldman as Teddy Duchamp.

#4 Jerry O’Connell as Vern Tessio.

The main menu (seen above) from my DVD, features a locomotive that looks nothing like #25. Any guesses on which engine it might be? Big boiler. A 4-8-4 perhaps?

Singing, “The Ballad of Paladin”, the four Musketeers march down the tracks. This is the ending theme song to the TV series “Have Gun – Will Travel” (1957) starring Richard Boone as Paladin. Songwriter Johnny Western successfully sued Stand by Me’s producers for not securing his permission beforehand.

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The General 1926

United Artists

Buster Keaton’s masterpiece from 1926 is both a silent picture and black and white, which makes it about as obscure a train movie to modern audiences, as can be. Based on the true-to-life Andrews Raid during the Civil War, location shooting took place on the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern railroad near Cottage Grove.

Filmmakers were able to discover three 4-4-0 locomotives in Oregon to use for the movie. They were:

OP&E #4, built by Cooke Locomotive Works in 1886. This became W&A #3, “General”.
OP&E #5, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1881. This became W&A #5, “Texas”.
OP&E #1, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1881. This became USMRR #8, unnamed.

Chock full of railroad scenes featuring some incredible stunts by Keaton, I had a difficult time chopping down over 200 screen caps to a manageable 64 for this review.

Our story begins in 1861, Marietta, Georgia….

…where a despondent Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) has been denied enlistment, account being too valuable as an Engineer on the Western & Atlantic (W&A) Railroad. As he rests on the main driving rod of the 4-4-0, a hostler moves General into the shed.

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Emperor of the North 1973

20th Century Fox

Filmed along the Oregon, Pacific & Eastern short line, this movie treats us to TWO operational steam locomotives pulling an eclectic mix of rolling stock past the cameras. The train scenes are sublime although the actors employed frequently go way over the top in the overacting department. Shatner-level carpet chewing. Anyway…

The real stars are OP&E #19 (2-8-2 Baldwin-built 1915) and OP&E #5 (2-8-0 Alco-built 1922) and happily, both engines are still with us. #19 is being rebuilt at the Age of Steam Roundhouse and #5 can be found at the Galveston Railroad Museum (renumbered to 555).

Many thanks to James Tiroch’s Cine Trains Project for helping me identify the heritage of these locomotives. The link includes an exhaustive history of both locomotives.

Oh, the actors? Well, filmmakers brought on board three ENORMOUS hams, Borgnine, Marvin and Carradine, but I’ll be ignoring them for the most part. There’s far too much steam locomotive pulchritude to savor instead. Highball!

OP&E #5 on a passenger train overtakes OP&E #19 in the siding with a freight. In the background, we see a lumber mill featuring one of those cool, old-time wood waste burners. OP&E #5 (appearing here as #27), also was seen as #4 in the movie.

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