TRAINS at the MOVIES |
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| As for feature films there are lots of westerns too numerous to mention, but Rio Lobo with John Wayne has a great train robbery scene right at the beginning of that film. This film also has Mike Henry the former football star playing a tough guy. For me Steve Reeves was always the best movie Hercules, and Mike Henry was the best movie Tarzan. Of course Gordon Scott wasn't too hard on the eyes either. (I did enjoy watching Ron Ely play Tarzan in the TV series I watched in my youth too.) |
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| It was only a few years ago I got to see the silent black and white Buster Keaten picture The General. This movie is a must for anyone who likes trains. Just get a copy, trust me on this one. I still don’t know how they did some of the stunts without somebody getting killed. (If you’ve seen Doc Hollywood with Michael J Fox, there is a scene where Fox is walking around a hometown festival, and some folks are watching a silent movie and it’s the Buster Keaten film THE GENERAL.) |
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| Walt Disney made a colored-sound vision of this film titled The Great Locomotive Chase, this time starring Jeffrey Hunter who later went on to become Captain Christopher Pike in the pilot episode of Star Trek. And he's most famous for portraying Jesus! |
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| Also, at Christmas most everybody I know likes It’s A Wonderful Life and simple must watch it a hundred times during the holidays. But for me it’s the old Robert Mitchum movie A Holiday Affair with this little boy who wants a Lionel train set for Christmas, and Bob plays this guy in the toy section at a big department store who sees that he gets it. David James Elliot did a recent TV remake of this show, either one has lots of toy train action. |
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| The Train is a great black and white war film starring Burt Lancaster, this one has lots of European trains getting wreaked. (I should say blown-up!) |
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| The Denver and Rio Grande is a great older movie about the building of the first narrow gauge railroads through the rockies. This was filmed along the now Durango & Silverton Scenic RR in Colorado. The climax is two trains hitting head-on. |
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| Bite the Bullet was filmed along the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. This is a cute modern day western (not your usual shoot’m up) with some great acting, and of course lots of train shots. |
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| To show you how nuts I am about trains, I rented the video Phantoms recently, and before the opening titles were finished flashing across the screen, I knew it was filmed in Georgetown Colorado. How did I know? I recognized the train bridge. |
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