amtrak portrayals in tv/film

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amamba

amamba

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I know the topic often comes up when amtrak/train travel is portrayed in tv and movies.

I was flipping through the channels this afternoon when I happened upon the episode of "sex and the city" when Samantha and Carrie take the train from NYC to California. It is kind of hilarious. While there are some inaccuracies (coach/sleeper car exteriors), color of uniforms and the color of the upholstery in the car, the substance is kind of accurate. :)

I realize that perhaps the demographics of this board mean that most of you haven't seen this episode or this show - but look it up if you want to be amused. :)
 
I remember that episode, but not very many details. Now I want to watch it again. :) I don't see it on Netflix Instant View, so I'll check Hulu, etc when I get home.
 
They left New York from Grand Central Terminal, so right away, you know devotion to accuracy wasn't key to the show. It was good for some laughs, however.
 
I was amused to see Amtrak portrayed in the movie "Dark Shadows" and reasonably well, to boot. During the opening credits, one of the main characters is taking Amtrak from NYC to the fictional town of "Collinsville" in Maine. Scenes of the Downeaster traveling through the northeast are used, even though the train did not exist in the late 1970's era the movie takes place in. They did, however, get the interior and platform shots of the train dead-on for the era, including the orange and brown AmFleet interiors, white linen headrest covers with the embroidered "pointless arrow" Amtrak logos, and even the red bell-bottomed Amtrak OBS uniforms.
 
There's been some discussion of Amtrak portrayals in this thread over in the Non-Rail Transportation section.

Also coming to mind is "(500) Days of Summer," which accurately portrays the Pacific Surfliner.

Available on Netflix instant streaming is the 1979 TV-movie "Disaster on the Coastliner," which, although they don't use the name "Amtrak" (and although the depiction of railroad procedures is somewhat inaccurate), includes plenty of scenes of late-1970s Amtrak equipment, shot in and around Los Angeles.
 
The train scene from Trading Places, they applied painted butch paper over the windows of standard Amfleet coach to make it a baggage car. Also they are in a sleeping compartment.

quality is terrible I know.
 
NE933 said:
The Trading Spaces train scene: an E60 transforms into an AEM7.
Click to expand...
You'll also notice there is an Amfleet Baggage Car but as AlanB pointed out if you "slow roll" that scene you'll see the flutter of paper over the windows to make an Amfleet Coach look like a Bag. Of course that car plays an important role.
 
Trading Spaces is on Netflix. I just watched the opening and it appears it is set in Philadelphia. Opening scenes include SEPTA surface trolley line, what I beleive is the Market Franford subway/elevated, exterior shots of Suburban Station, City Hall, The Schukill expressway (with the Amtrak station yard in the far background), and othe Philadelphia sites. Will be watching the whole thing soon.
 
The movie "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges has a great scene of him driving along by what appears to be the Southwest Chief - I think he waves to the train…

It was shot at what looks to be sunrise or sunset, either early morning or late afternoon. Golden lighting with the sun at a low angle. I assume they knew the schedule and they must have waited for the train to pass by at about the right moment. Maybe they had a lookout - a scout with a scanner? Or maybe Amtrak provided a "run by" train, but hard to imagine pulling that off in Arizona or New Mexico. Unless it was shot in California, and they maybe used an available Sunset Limited consist for a movie run-by.
 
benjibear said:
Trading Spaces is on Netflix. I just watched the opening and it appears it is set in Philadelphia. Opening scenes include SEPTA surface trolley line, what I beleive is the Market Franford subway/elevated, exterior shots of Suburban Station, City Hall, The Schukill expressway (with the Amtrak station yard in the far background), and othe Philadelphia sites. Will be watching the whole thing soon.
Click to expand...
Yes, most of the film takes place in Philadelphia. The Amtrak scenes are in the last third.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Amtrak Forum mobile app
 
The interior shots of that "compartment" everyone was sitting in was likely done in the studio as to my knowledge no Amtrak sleeping car or compartment has ever looked like that. It appears there are seats for 6 facing one another a la a European style day train.

Merry new year!
 
There is an episode of The Rockford Files where he is trying to stash someone from the Syndicate and ends up at an Amtrak station with a classic Heritage consist headed up by an SDP-40.
 
Trading Places is one of my all-time favorite movies. :)

Here's a scene from another movie I love, Love Jones. It's set in Chicago and features the city pretty heavily. It also has a great soundtrack if you're into jazz and blues.

The first two minutes of the clip feature Union Station and Amtrak. He's running through the station to catch her train. The escalator he runs down is the main escalator from the food court down to the South Concourse. Since Nina is heading to NYC, and it's a single-level train, I assume he's running after the LSL. I can't speak to the paint scheme or seat color/fabric authenticity, but if it helps, the movie was released in 1999.

Bonus shot: Metra loco in the background after the train leaves the station. I also love all of the fog they use for dramatic effect. ;)

http://youtu.be/YXcg9MIkqMM
 
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How about the Lucy Show where they go to California? Probably not Amtrak but gad they look big and different inside.
 
Aloha

I can not think of the film tittle. It is one of the comedy films with 12 kids. But the story line is the young boy runs away by train from Chicago to someplace in Ohio, also forget city. The train filmed starts in Las Angeles Union Station, with a sign reading Chicago over the ramp, and arrives at (I think) Santa Ana, as the other Ohio city.

Obviously the movie is just so so but it is fun to watch.
 
What I would be interested in whether there are any recent (within, say, the last 15 to 20 years) movies or TV shows that show the stations and trains on the NEC. At least with some degree of accuracy. I know a number of movies and TV shows have had scenes shot in DC Union Station, but I get the impression that most of them are using the station as a backdrop with some making references to taking the train to go someplace. The reason I bring this up is I have seen TV shows and movies nominally set in DC, Philly, NYC, or Boston where characters travel in or between the cities but it is obvious that the script writer(s) and producers who likely live in LA have little understanding of the geographical distances involved or that people can take a train between the cities.

Instead, the show or movie has wacky things like the characters flying between downtown Philly and NYC or they drive from DC to NYC in an hour. Or if the movie/TV show acknowledges that the NEC exists, characters are supposed to be on an Acela or Regional, the train in the background or in interior scenes is obviously a commuter train, probably one in Toronto.
 
SarahZ said:
Trading Spaces is one of my all-time favorite movies. :)

Here's a scene from another movie I love, Love Jones. It's set in Chicago and features the city pretty heavily. It also has a great soundtrack if you're into jazz and blues.

The first two minutes of the clip feature Union Station and Amtrak. He's running through the station to catch her train. The escalator he runs down is the main escalator from the food court down to the South Concourse. Since Nina is heading to NYC, and it's a single-level train, I assume he's running after the LSL. I can't speak to the paint scheme or seat color/fabric authenticity, but if it helps, the movie was released in 1999.

Bonus shot: Metra loco in the background after the train leaves the station. I also love all of the fog they use for dramatic effect. ;)

http://youtu.be/YXcg9MIkqMM
Click to expand...
The last car of the train is a cab car like what is used on the Keystones. I can't recall, in that era, what trains used them in/out of Chicago. The seat fabric looks like its from a 1990's era Superliner.

H290Coach.JPEG
 
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