Tag Archives: Steam Locomotive

Confessions of a Train Spotter 1980

Leave a reply

BBC Manchester

When this series cropped up on PBS, I was a big Monty Python fanatic. Still am. At the time, I had no idea that Michael Palin was a train spotter from an early age. As soon as it became available, I got a copy on VHS tape. Of course by now, good copies can be found on YouTube (see end of this review for a link).

I’ve said several times in past reviews, I’m not much of a railfan of European/British rolling stock, but…but…the Python/Palin continuum is just too juicy to pass up. Monty Python reminds me of all those “key phrases” we used to quote in college like “Shunt’s work is a load of rubbish about railway timetables” or “a very brave and influential Knight (waggles his left hand).”

Anyway. This TV show started Palin on a second career as a globetrotter filming his experiences. His next big travel project was 1989’s “Around the World in 80 Days” which included a ride on Amtrak’s Desert Wind and California Zephyr.

Back to our feature, it was Sir Michael’s intention to visit Kyle of Lochalsh and the Isle of Skye — and wanting to get there entirely by train. Along the way, there were several detours and stops to visit interesting and famous railway destinations…at least as far as Britain is concerned.

Here’s Sir Michael riding a Flying Scotsman excursion and chatting up some of the passengers.

Continue reading →

End of the Line 1959

Leave a reply

National Film Board of Canada

According to our narrator, the years 1955 – 1961 represented Canada’s phasing out of steam, to be replaced by diesels. Today’s short (30 minutes), is mostly interviews with people, both railroaders and those outside the industry, asking how they feel about this transition.

Fortunately, there is a good amount of steam footage as well as a smattering of first-generation diesels to examine. The highlight is a double-headed “farewell to steam” fan trip on Canadian National including several runbys for their fans.

Our feature is mostly steam on Canadian National Railways, but as the ending credits roll, we are treated to pacing shots of Canadian Pacific Railway steamers on two, separate trains.

En voiture!

A classic roundhouse view, with sunlight streaming through the windows, highlights a quiver of steam locomotives resting between assignments.

Continue reading →

The West~Bound Limited 1923

Leave a reply

Film Booking Offices of America (FBO)

“An Amazing Photodrama of Flesh and Steel” is the tempting come-on of one lobby card (seen above). Today’s feature from the silent era was filmed in the Los Angeles area at both Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroad locations.

My review pretty much just skips over the plot and concentrates on the train and locomotive goodness. Considering the movie is 100 years old, it’s a reasonably crisp print. A link to this movie can be found at the end of my narrative. Enjoy!

Southern Pacific Lines #2420 gets a fair amount of screen time and is seen here at full gallop. The 4-6-2 is from Espee’s P-1 Class and was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1906. This was robust, speedy passenger power for its day including 77″ drivers, 200psi boiler pressure and just under 30,000lbs of tractive effort.

Sister locomotive #2423 is shown here for comparison, in this well-lit view from 1940.

Continue reading →

The Flying Scotsman 1929

Leave a reply

Warner Brothers

Here I go again with another foreign film. This “British International Picture” came in JUST at the start of talkies and consequently is half silent, half sound (dubbed in post-production). Who’d a thunk the star of the show (London & North Eastern Railway #4472 Flying Scotsman) would still be around and kicking in 2023?

Well it is, and it was an exceptional, historic piece of locomotive pulchritude. Britain’s favorite Class A3 4-6-2 (A1 class as built / Doncaster 1923). She looks simply smashing in that LNER apple green (see below).

LNER #4472 was named after an existing passenger train between London (King’s Cross) and Edinburgh (Waverly). This film has it all. Forbidden romance. A villain bent on revenge. Treachery. Pungent overacting. AND…a thespian I’ve actually heard of, playing the hero. Let’s check out this tasty bit of crumpet!

GO BIG GREEN! LNER #4473 steps smartly away from the platform with another trainload of her fans. Contrast this with a frame from the movie as it approaches the bumper post at King’s Cross. Same locomotive, many decades apart.

Continue reading →

Challenge for Tomorrow 1954

Leave a reply

Santa Fe Railway Safety Department

This one was a lot of fun to research and review. An old Santa Fe safety film in glorious Technicolor from the days of yore. Its formal name was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) which stretched from Chicago to Los Angeles, The Bay Area (Richmond, California), and down from Kansas City into Texas.

Somehow all the prints I discovered online have the opening credits/title page lopped off. Thus, we’ll use the above safety images instead. The gent in the natty suit and bow tie, (wide lapels must be “IN” this year), has his pointer on San Bernardino’s injury count. He really needs to take a look at Albuquerque.

Just a smattering of steam locomotives are shown segueing into Santa Fe’s colorful, first-generation diesel fleet. And there’s no topping that classic red, silver and gold “Warbonnet” scheme on the passenger engines.

Let’s check it out. Santa Fe, All The Waaaaay!!

Motorcar operator “Skippy” is trundling down the San Joaquin Valley, blissfully unaware of the approaching San Francisco Chief. Should we warn him? “Look around, Skip, look around!” bellows the narrator. This great bit of melodrama will be fleshed out in the upcoming story. Read on.

Continue reading →

La Bête Humaine 1938

1 Reply

Paris Film Production

Many thanks to Steve Esposito who tipped me off about “A dour French film with great train scenes”. Normally, I don’t review foreign films, but La Bête Humaine (translation: The Human Beast) is not only available on YouTube, but just the train scenes, are available there also. Well, when you make it that easy for me, it’s hard to resist. I’ll review only the train vistas, then.

And what a collection of train views it is! Filmmakers got up in the cab and trackside to film SNCF pre-WW2 steam in all its glory. Left-handed running fast passenger trains on a double track mainline.

The star of the show is SNCF 4-6-2 steam locomotive #231-592. One engine from this class has been preserved (#231-558), restored and is operational.

Comparison of our black & white “movie star” #231-592 with present-day sister 4-6-2 #231-558. Looking good in racing green and gold pinstripes!

Continue reading →

Railroad Tigers 2016

1 Reply

Well Go USA Entertainment

Happy Birthday, Hunny! Yep, this movie review coincides approximately with my wife’s 39th birthday and references tigers, her favorite carnivore and house pet.

The movie itself is rather thin on the tiger side, but chock full of kick railroad scenes pretty much throughout this picture. I had a heck of a time finding out about the locomotives used. After much googling, I came across this vague quote from Wiki: “The film had railway sequences shot in Diaobingshan using steam trains.”

Diaobingshan was the key. I soon discovered the nearby Tiefa Steam Locomotive Museum which has a whole fleet of similar looking locomotives. <– This last link is an absolutely outstanding look at operations from over 20 years ago (Many thanks to David Longman).

One more lick of trivia before we start reviewing. Check out the above back cover from my DVD. How did a U.S. built (Baldwin 1925), narrow gauge, Durango & Silverton K-36 class 2-8-2 #486, make it all the way to Diaobingshan? Slow boat to China? Nope. Cut & paste, and maybe they won’t notice. How about Flying Tigers?

Ding Hao!!

Here’s a REAL railroad tiger, posing with my glass-marbled crossbuck. Mister Tiger is the aforementioned house pet who spends most of his time napping on the living room couch (Lazy ass tiger…).

SY class 2-8-2 #9708 rounds a curve with an eclectic mix of rolling stock. I believe filmmakers were using 2 locomotives and just changing their numbers for different scenes or trains.

Continue reading →

Railroad Town 1956

1 Reply

National Film Board of Canada

My regular readers know I enjoy reviewing B&W railroad films produced in the 1950’s by the NFB of Canada. In this documentary short, we take a look at the railroad town of Melville, Saskatchewan whose main raison d’etre is Canadian National Railways.

Melville is/was a division point with a two-story depot, a large rail yard with ample steam and diesel servicing facilities. The depot is still there as of 2022 and is being restored.

Steam was still plentiful, but early first generation diesels were on the scene and slowly taking over with full dieselization occurring just four years later. Also, this was pre-1960 “wet-noodle” C N logo and paint scheme.

Check out this gem with CBC host Fred Davis getting no less than 3 cab rides and an open air speeder trip!

This is the mystery locomotive from the documentary. CN #8553 does not appear to match up with any CNR roster I could find online.

It is an end cab switcher, possibly a GMD-built SW-900 that was quickly renumbered to the 7200 series. In one of my books (Rail Canada, Volume 1 by Donald C. Lewis), I have a picture of CN #8555 at Calgary, so this is a distinct possibility.

Continue reading →

Coal Miner’s Daughter 1980

Leave a reply

Universal Studios

This movie review was inspired by one of my favorite monthly publications. Kalmbach’s Trains Magazine (October 2021, page 28) published an article about the steam locomotive used in 1980’s, “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. I picked up a DVD of this excellent movie, but WAS disappointed in the lack of train screen time in the actual film.

Fortunately, the Trains article and a little web-searching revealed a bounty of pictures and information on our locomotive d’jour: Canadian Pacific Railway 4-6-4 Class H1c #2839 “Royal Hudson” built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1937. At the time of filming, the #2839 had been restored to operation and was used in the Southern Railway’s steam locomotive program. In addition, Southern provided a series of 3 bay coal hoppers and passenger cars for use in the picture.

Railroad filming locations included Pardee, Virginia and Blackey, Kentucky. Moviemakers even built an authentic depot to represent Van Lear, KY. This station was later moved to Duffield, VA where it exists today in private ownership.

Let’s visit deepest, darkest Appalachia and watch Southern #2839 star in a pivotal scene of Coal Miner’s Daughter.

Southern #2839 is briefly seen during the opening credits as Loretta Lynn (played by Sissy Spacek) canters along on horseback.

Continue reading →

Terror on a Train 1953

Leave a reply

Metro Goldwyn Mayer

This started out as a movie I was reviewing on YouTube. Halfway through grabbing screen caps, they took the video down, so I went out and bought the DVD. MUCH better scans that way. The title is rather misleading. The original name, “Time Bomb”, is more accurate as this movie evokes suspense rather than terror.

Filmed in Great Britain, Glenn Ford stars as the Canadian bomb expert Peter Lyncort, recruited to (hopefully) find and disarm a saboteur’s incendiary device on a trainload of mines headed to the Royal Navy at Portsmouth.

Even in the misty murk of a black and white picture, I was able to identify no less than four English steam locomotives. French actress Anne Vernon plays the saucy wife of Glenn Ford, “Janine”, so the movie is not a complete weinerfest. Diffusing a bomb has got to be a perishable skill. Let’s see if ol’ Peter still has what it takes…

Here’s a movie poster for the original title. It looks like Glenn Ford is throwing a football; LOTS of interesting detail on the EXPLOSIVES placard.

Continue reading →