Hallmark Channel's The Christmas Train

[ScottC4746]

Did anyone see this? I was excited to see stock footage of actual Amtrak cars and the conductor wearing an Amtrak hat until they stepped into the cars. WOW! Has Amtrak gotten fancy since I last rode or is that Hollywood Magic again. Bedrooms big enough to have a desk. Old style roomettes with upper and lower berths. Even the lounge car is nicely done in wood treatments and leather club chairs. I dare say it is Hollywood magic. They are going from Washington DC to Los Angeles non stop. ;

 

[Skyline]

Not since Robert Redford "hiked" the Appalachian Trail in the movie version of A Walk In The Woods has there been so much digital fakery on the silver screen.

 

[Lonestar648]

The movie was filmed in Vancouver, BC using VIA cars for external shots and studio sets for the internal shots so they could use green screen to add in the passing outside shots. Also used the inside of the Vancouver VIA station. Lots of inaccuracies, like the Conductor traveling the entire trip from WAS to LAX, no car attendants, and passengers walking up into the cab to talk with the Engineer. But, for those watching who have never thought about taking the train, it gave them a warm and fuzzy feeling to do it. Unfortunately, they will be surprised.

 

[NS VIA Fan]

Some scenes were shot at the West Coast Rail Museum in Squamish along the former BC Rail route to Prince George. In a couple of scenesyou can see the Blue and White Stripes of BC Rail on a Budd RDC and also one of the Budds in the Orange Scheme of Pacific Great Eastern Railway.

 

[Shanghai]

Mrs. Shanghai watched the show. She commented to me that the bedroom on the train

was very different from the bedroom we have taken. She mentioned the size of the room

and that there was a desk in the room.

 

[JRR]

The book is somewhat more accurate and I recommend it to all. An interesting and exciting mystery with a twist ending. My wife and I both read it and it got us interested in riding trains again.

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[DSS&A]

Hi, my wife and I watched the movie. I noticed one of the RDCs had the number BC-31.

 

[dlagrua]

I saw part of the movie and it was a poor representation of public transportation in the real passenger rail world. Except for the Orient express, and private car rail travel, Amtrak trains were never that luxurious. Anyone wishing to try rail travel basing their decision on this movie will really be disappointed.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I saw part of the movie and it was a poor representation of public transportation in the real passenger rail world. Except for the Orient express, and private car rail travel, Amtrak trains were never that luxurious. Anyone wishing to try rail travel basing their decision on this movie will really be disappointed.

It was a movie not an Amtrak ad.

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[MikefromCrete]

I saw part of the movie and it was a poor representation of public transportation in the real passenger rail world. Except for the Orient express, and private car rail travel, Amtrak trains were never that luxurious. Anyone wishing to try rail travel basing their decision on this movie will really be disappointed.

You do know that it was a fictional TV show.

 

[chakk]

Sounds a bit like a fellow I met in the SSL on the SWC shortly after leaving LA a couple years ago. He thought we would be arriving in Chicago in about 12 hours, instead of the actual 40 or so.

I think the movie “Silver Streak” also had the same engineer and conductor for the entire journey from LA to Chicago, but the “hippies” detrained with most of the other passengers early (was it at Rockford Junction due to a bomb threat?)

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[choochoodood]

I tuned in just to check it out. I immediately saw what the sleeping car interior looked like. Thus I immediately switched to another channel.

 

[Lonestar648]

I knew it was all fictional, but what the story tried to do is give a sense of excitement and adventure to traveling by rail instead of flying. In this day of the internet, any interested party can easily see what Amtrak travel looks like. Hopefully there are some people who want to rekindle some excitement of travel by rail, seeing the beauty awaiting them outside the windows.

 

[DSS&A]

Lonestar has a good point about the story about having interest, romance, etc in riding a train. Creating interest in passenger train travel in TV and movies is a great way to reach new customers.

The 1950 "Ticket to Tomahawk" and 1952 "Denver & Rio Grande" movies, which were filmed on the D&RGW Silverton branch, helped generate public interest in riding the once-a-week mixed train. By 1955, it was being operated tri-weekly in the summer due to the increased passenger business. Passenger business continued to grow and the D&RGW had to build eight NEW narrow gauge passenger cars in 1963-64 to operate a second train because of the increased business.