Dark Shadows--Amtrak Phase V in early 70's

Well, I'm at least glad they have one. Waiting for Bachmann to do the Williams Phase V, is like an epic movie where my bum get's numb from sitting through all the ads and trailers waiting to see the feature.

What would have been the correct real AMTRAK train for that region in 1972?

 

Does any of that AMTRAK equipment from 1972 still exist?

 

How hard would it be to round up similar railroad equipment from historical collections around the USA to recreate those trains?

 

Andrew

It's a matter of money to round up any suitable, available equipment and bring it up to current standards to transport for such a historically significant movie.   Most "DS" fans probably wouldn't notice or care, anyway.

 

Rusty

In 1972, Amtrak was still running lots of legacy passenger equipment from the contributing railroads.  Trains were still pretty colorful with some passenger cars getting only Amtrak patch jobs to show ownership. E8's were the predominant form of motive power as most of the newer engines were pulled from RR passenger service so they would not be conveyed to Amtrak.

 

I remember taking Amtrak from Philly to Orlando around 1975.  The whole train was all hand-me-downs and in pretty rough shape.

 

Fred

They had to use the current, functioning AMTRAK fleet, because the movie did not revolve around the history of the passenger trains.

 

It is possible to use computer graphics to overlay the early era equipment and colors on the modern AMTRAK train, when a new version of "Dark Shadows" is released in another format. The commuter trains in the movie "The Source Code" are a great example of digital additions.

 

Andrew

Electric engines from that era are easier to find there is a platinum mist red nose Amtrak GG1 in new paint at a New York fairground and an E-60 at the Pennsylvania RR museum in Strasburg. And there are RDCs a plenty.

Besides a true Dark Shadows fan would appreciate the gaff as a shout out to all the gaffs in the old show of which there were many and legendary. Flubbed lines, mics in the shots and so on

I just considered it one more laugh when I saw the Genesis locomotive in what was supposed to be the early 70's.  I think it would have made more sense to use stock footage of an Amtrak train from that era, then quickly cut to the interior of the passenger car rather than attempt to round up the appropriate equipment.

 

It was pretty jarring to anyone familiar with trains to see those long lingering shots of a modern train, almost as jarring as having a 2012 model year car drive by right in front of the camera when you are trying to establish the era as early 70's.

I don't think Tim Burton was worried about what the railfans think...

 

Rusty

Probably not, although I would imagine to the average person that the engine would still look too "new" for the early 70s.

 

As for the film itself: well, my wife and I walked out of it about 3/4 of the way through it; not one of Tim Burton's finest by a long shot.

If the movie is that annoying to people, why not go back to the original series to make a Dark Shadows themed O gauge layout using passenger trains and freight trains from that time period.

 

Andrew

It's a vampire spoof movie, not a train movie. Who cares if they used the wrong era train? Not me. Besides, does anyone remember the TV show? They had all kinds of gaffs - stage hands walking across a set, microphones in plain sight, props falling off walls, etc.

As long as jhonny Depp was not carying around a straight razor!