http://www.nfb.ca/film/railroaders
This is a short documentary about winter railroading in the Canadian Rockies and the men who keep the lines clear. The stretch between Revelstoke and Field, British Columbia, is a snow-choked threat to communications. The film shows the work of section hands, maintenance men, train crews and telegraph operators.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/railrodder
From director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal), this short film starring Buster Keaton was one of the last films of Keaton's long career. As "the railrodder" he crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to his genre, the film is full of sight gags as Keaton putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the days of the silent slapsticks.
