"The Train" with Burt Lancaster.  He did all his own stunts. -Ken

Ken,

The stuntman in that movie "The Train" was Steven Burnette, son of Gene Autry's sidekick, Smiley Burnett.

 

Think Smiley was the engineer in Petticoat Junction.

 

Do not know the scope of the Stunts that Steve was involved in.

 

Seems that The Train is the best train film by popular vote~

Trains & Locomotives......RFD channel 231 on Dish, tonite at 6pm and again at 4 am.   Railroads in Wartime.   Classic films produced during WW2 and the Korean War.  Should be right on with this tread.

I can't say there is overwhelming memory of a train movie. I blame Clive Cussler's "The Chase" and "The Wrecker", these are two fictional stories that revolve around trains. They are very detail orientated, I have read and listened to the audio versions. I highly recommend these two books, they would make for excellent motion pictures. They are set in a time where man must use his own wits against the villains instead of relying on a smart phone.

 

-Ferromex

The wartime train films turned out to be a series of gov't films about the RR's use in WW2.   Nothing to do with fictional movies that include trains.  However, lots of good footage of vintage trains and operations.

I'm surprised thay nobody mrntioned "Denver & Rio Grande" a 1952 vintage movie loosely based on the Canyon Wars between the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe.  It featured lots of C16 footage.  Also "Around the World in 80 Days had good shots of D & RG C16s too.  The "Phantom Express" starring John Wayne filmed on the 1935 Southern Pacific had shots of a roundhouse and lots of SP steam shots.  "Broadway Limited" had good footage of PRR D16 and others, and Milwaukee Road steam was well depicted on "Danger Lights".  "the Train" and "Once upon A Time In The West" were pretty good if you like foreign trains. Odd-d

Wow. From what I can tell, no one has mentioned my favorite from about 1957- "Bridge on the River Kwai". I believe this movie won several Academy awards.

 

jim r

a train movie?  ...really?  if so, might as well include "Bad Day at Black Rock".  at least it has a short clip of a train (SP Daylight) at the beginning as well as the end.

I have a question for Ferromex who posted to this topic four hours ago. Are you (or anyone else reading this) familiar with the movie "Viento Negro", that I believe means black wind and is one of very few railroad dramas filmed in Mexico? Is this film worth purchasing for its railroad content, and assuming the sound track is in Spanish, does the movie have English subtitles? The published reviews on Amazon make no mention of a railroad theme.

 

Gil Hulin

Eugene, OR

Do you mean the Hurricane express [1932] someone mentioned that. Wayne never appeared in a movie called "Phantom express"

Also someone did mention "The Broadway Limited" which featured a streamlined # 3768.

I did mention the Denver and Rio Grande, with Edmound O'Brian, Sterling Hayden and Paul Fix. I only have it on VHS but I can not find it on DVD or downloaded Streaming form.

Re: Gil in Oregon,

 

I have a question for Ferromex who posted to this topic four hours ago. Are you (or anyone else reading this) familiar with the movie "Viento Negro", that I believe means black wind and is one of very few railroad dramas filmed in Mexico? Is this film worth purchasing for its railroad content, and assuming the sound track is in Spanish, does the movie have English subtitles? The published reviews on Amazon make no mention of a railroad theme.

 

Yes this movie would be great to own for the railroad content (the scenes are spectacular) because there is no CGI or green screen technology. What happens in the film is what was shot. Keep in mind this movie is on You Tube. I am a fan of the Golden age of Mexican film and own a few classics, not one of them has subtitles, all of them were purchased through Amazon.

 

Don't forget the classic Marx Brothers' Go West.

 

-Ferromex

 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...especially the airport rental car counter scene

Add another vote for The Train, although in terms of toy trains I have to go with Clockers.  A drug dealer living fast on the streets but retires to his room with his Lionel layout to escape his depressing surroundings.

First, "The Train". Second, a French film from the 1930s entitled "Le Bete Humaine". This is essentially a melodrama involving railroad personnel. There are many scenes showing the operation of the steam engines and one scene where the fireman drops the scoop into the water trough. Very interesting.

Denver & Rio Grande is available on Amazon on dvd.    Haven't seen that one for a while.

 

Another one that hasn't been mentioned is Rage At Dawn starring Randolph Scott.  This is interesting as Scott is Pinkerton detective trying to catch the Reno Brothers.   The RB were the first train robbers in America.   They actually lived in Seymour, In and I have been to their grave site.   They were arrested and brought to New Albany(my town) to be held so the vigilantes wouldn't get them.   Trouble is the vigilantes from Seymour rode a train to New Albany and hung the RB right in our old jail.  The movie says they were held in North Vernon, a town about 10 miles or so east of Seymour, but that was not correct.  

 

The tracks where they robbed the first trains ran thru a wooded hillside next to where my uncle lived outside Seymour.  Legend was that they hid their loot in that woods.  As a kid, I wandered around that woods looking for the loot!!

Agree with most of the above there's one that just came to mind that I haven't seen in about 25 years.

 

 

The Good Guys And The Bad Guys (1969) starring Robert Mitchum and George Kennedy.

And let's not forget the new Lone Ranger movie coming out with Johnny Depp as Tonto.  It will have a GREAT train scene!  

"Danger Lights"
Check it out for scenes filmed back in the early thirties!
Fantastic!

My favorite is The Ghost Train (1941).  You can find the full movie on Youtube.  Some travelers are stranded during the night at a railway station and find out that there's a ghost train traveling that night with carrying ghosts of a long ago train wreck.  It's labeled as a horror, but I think it's more of a comedy! 

Many choices. I like "It Happened to Jane" With Doris Day, Jack Lemmon and Ernie Kovacs. Good stuff, and for New Haven fans, old #97 is actually New Haven 2-8-2 #3016! Danger Lights is neat being filmed on the Milwaukee Road. Train scenes from Mrs. Soffel with Mel Gibson aren't bad either, (I was invloved with that filming!)

 

Jeff

1. The Polar Express

2. Unstoppable

3. The Station Agent

Silver Streak

I would like to thank prrbill, Ferromex, Mark O., KOOLjock 1, Dave Allen, Wurlitzer and others for calling attention to lesser-known train movies in this forum. Mrs. Soffel, The North West Frontier, Other Men's Women, Viento Negro, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Berth Marks and Human Desire are titles new to me, and over the past two weeks I have purchased (or ordered) four of these.

 

Various contributors have mentioned "The Lady Vanishes", "Strangers on a Train" and "North by Northwest" as Alfred Hitchcock favorites, but my nomination for a pair of favorite Hitchcock train scenes are the opening and closing scenes of Northwestern Pacific trains at Santa Rosa station in "Shadow of a Doubt."

 

A question about remakes: do readers who have viewed both versions prefer the original or remake of "3:10 to Yuma", "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3", "The Narrow Margin" or "The Railway Children"? Most reviews that I have read all favor the original.

Here are two train movies, previously unmentioned, that could almost pass for separate versions of the same story: "Lady on a Train" (Deanna Durbin) and Murder, She Said" (Margaret Rutherford).

Gil Hulin

Eugene, OR   

I agree with the originals of Narrow Margin and especially 3:10 to Yuma.  Can't say I cared for either Pelham movie and I haven't seen Railway Children.   I have the Deanna Dubin movie, but it didn't meet my expectations.  The Miss Marple movie is a good mystery, but the train play a pretty small part.

The Good Guys and Bad Guys did play on one of the Encore channels  the last year or two. 

 

Has the recent runaway train movie with Denzel Washington been mentioned?   That was an entertaining movie.

For those two in particular, the caliber of the classics (my preference) are hard to top.  Give me Robert Shaw & Walter Matthau along with Glenn Ford & Van Helfin (from Shane)

Yes several times, its a great movie if you enjoy it for the Denzel action flick that it is,its not a documentary. Its fast paced and edge of the seat the whole movie. My whole family enjoyed it even after they rolled their eyes when I said I rented it, "dad and his train stuff".

 

If you haven't seen it,rent it, grab a bag of popcorn, and enjoy!

 

There are many locations on line where one can download public domain movies including trains.  When you come across one, how about posting the link?

bridge on the river Kwai

Model railroading unlimited. Here is a clip that I found on the Tube. Quality isn't the best but it good entertainment.

 

 

Cesar 

I watched Union Station on Netflix the other day..not bad!

Closely Watched Trains ain't a bad watch either.

I've recently learned of a 2012 western, "Cole Younger and the Black Train", that has some of the worst reviews on both Amazon and IMDb websites. For ignoring the bad acting and script, can anyone describe the train or known where the railroad scenes were shot? I understand that the train's owner in the script is a Mr. Black, but is the train also painted black?

 

Gil Hulin

Eugene, OR

As I've noted many times before, no train movie can top "Emperor of the North" (aka "Emperor of the North Pole") in my humble opinion.  It's ALL about the trains, and how can you possibly top Marvin, Borgnine, and Carradine for a superb cast?

I agree with Allan.  Not only does it show many trains, but it is an exposition of life:  some people with a little power get exaggerated ideas of their own importance.

Has this one been mentioned?

 

Runaway Train (1985), starring John Voight

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089941/

 

 

Runaway Train is excellent. How about James Bond: From Russia With Love.

Yes I agree Emporer of the North Pole gets my vote

"The stars at night, I put them there." 

I really like the part where they have to ride "downtrain" and on top of the passenger cars

 

RIGHT YOU ARE, CONDUCTOR MILLER!

 

One of the best scenes in Emperor is where "A Number One" and his arrogant hobo sidekick "Cigaret" grease the rails on an upgrade near an overpass, and when a passenger train encounters it, the 2 hobos have a lot of laughs watching the drivers spin helplessly until sand is applied for traction, then the train slowly moves upgrade, passing under the overpass, giving the 2 hobos a chance to easily drop onto one of the coaches, for a free ride to Portland!

 

But the best parts are where "A Number One" engages in a battle of wits with "Shack", the sadistic conductor of train #19, where he would rather kill a hobo than let him cop a ride on his train.

 

Bad Order Hal