Tag Archives: Western Pacific Railroad

Project Phoenix 1972

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Universal Studios

Banacek! George Peppard stars in this NBC Wednesday Night Mystery Movie. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” fans will remember him as the courtesan to Patricia Neal and companion of Audrey Hepburn.

This train-laced movie (both prototype and model) features 4 character actors from Star Trek TOS and Batman 1966 and includes overhead (helicopter) scenes of railroads in Boston, Massachusetts.

Banacek is brought in when an expensive, experimental sports car vanishes from a non-stop freight train. The solution to the mystery is so preposterous, you just HAVE to come along for the ride (no pun intended). Let’s roll…

Would you believe an Atlas O scale (two rail) Great Northern, Big Sky Blue box car is a key exhibit in explaining how they done it? Read on…

42 years later, this is what Big Sky Blue fades to, in Sandpoint, Idaho.

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Paradise Express 1937

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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

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Western Pacific Agent 1950

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Lippert Pictures, Inc.

What better way to showcase Western Pacific Railroad’s spanking new streamliner (the California Zephyr) than shoehorning train footage into a Noir B picture?

The opening credits and first three minutes of this movie feature the CZ both inside and out with location shooting on Altamont Pass, Feather River Canyon and the WP Sacramento station.

This 72 minute potboiler tells the story of WP Special Agent Rod Kendall (played by Kent Taylor) who is tracking down the mad killer Frank Wicken (played by Mickey Knox).

All Aboard!

Is that Jack Benny talking to the statuesque blonde in the Vista Dome? ………WELL! Nah, no idea who he is, but his gal pal is actress Vera Marshe; Led by WP #801, an EMD A-B-B set of 1947 F3 locomotives worth 4500 hp, the California Zephyr glides into Sacramento. Quite a crowd on hand ready to board.

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Sudden Fear 1952

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RKO Radio Pictures

A cross country train trip on a through sleeping car is the highlight of today’s feature. Believe it or not, back in the 1950’s, you could ride from New York City to Chicago, then on to San Francisco (Oakland) in the same sleeping car. Other railroads also offered similar coast to coast service.

What we see on screen (and out the window) is a wonderful mish-mosh of various railroads — some that would definitely NOT be on our movie’s NYC – Burlington – D&RGW – WP routing.

Myra Hudson (played by Joan Crawford) is a successful playwright whose smash hit is running on Broadway. Whilst riding the train out of New York, she spots Lester Blaine (played by Jack Palance) boarding at an intermediate stop. Myra had rather abruptly dismissed Lester from her play. Well. This might be a touch uncomfortable.

Palance turned in a wonderfully-creepy performance in this picture and Crawford… oh, those scary eyebrows. No wonder she wound up portrayed in the campy horror classic, Mommie Dearest. “Tina!! Bring me the axe!”

Anyway. It’s film noir on a train and that’s always a winner. Remember The Narrow Margin, anyone?

Can’t have a noir flick without smoke. Through the haze we see the studio’s recreation of Grand Central Terminal.

Note in the background, Track 25: Commodore Vanderbilt (Train 67) and Track 24: State of Maine Express. Myra would have taken Train 67 which carried the through 10-6 sleeper.

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Bound For Glory 1976

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United Artists

Four! Count ’em, FOUR steam locomotives star in today’s movie review. Just to whet your appetite, the four steamers are:

  1. Sierra Railroad #3, an 1891 Rogers-built 4-6-0.
  2. Sierra Railroad #28, a 1922 Baldwin-built 2-8-0.
  3. Sierra Railroad #34, a 1925 Baldwin-built 2-8-2.
  4. McCloud River Railroad #25, a 1925 Alco-built 2-6-2.

Today’s feature is a 1930’s biography of folk singer Woody Guthrie (played by David Carradine). Filmmakers really went all-out, pulling 34 obsolete freight cars out of a scrap line and painting over most railroad identification marks.

Train scenes were filmed along the Western Pacific, Tidewater Southern and Sierra Railroads. Let’s jump right in and enjoy THIS TRAIN-laden bio pic.

Electric traction also made a brief appearance in this flick. Woody/David is about to step off Pacific Electric #1058 in Los Angeles on his way to the studio. With a trolley pole reaching for wires that aren’t there, this Red Car had to rely on an internal-combustion engine of some sort.

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