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Windy City LSA

Windy City LSA

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Jan 24, 2006
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This will be sort of a departure from the usual topics of conversation here, but I'm going for it! :) It is Amtrak related, though.

Has anybody seen the movie "Continental Divide" lately? Unfortunately, it was John Belushi's last movie and was set (and filmed) in part in Chicago. It's from 1981. I have seen it before, but it's probably been about 20 years. Anyway, for those that haven't seen it, I estimate the last 10-15 minutes of the movie to be a virtual Amtrak commercial. I suspected it might be when the female lead stated she was taking the train from Chicago back home to the Rockies. I enjoyed it a great deal because I got to see some old equipment...equipment from long before I was "into" trains. Single level sleeper interior, and exterior shots mostly. The interior shots appeared to be real and not a set. I'm also wondering how correct it was factually speaking. They took the Empire Builder to somewhere in Wyoming. (I don't remember the town, as it was 2:00 AM and I was fighting sleep.) It doesn't go there now...routinely anyway, but did it back then?? I kind of figured it might have been made up for the movie, but the train station had the Amtrak sign an everything. Not that Hollywood isn't capable of making one.
 
They did not use a regularly scheduled train. The train used was a set of cars and locomotives leased from Amtrak for the location scenes. It was placed anywhere where location shooting would work and where track was available for the train shots. That is not necessarily where the movie script says it is. What on film seem like short. simple scenes can take hours or days to film, so using a real train is not possible.

Almost always the interior shots on trains or planes use a set on a sound stage because the camera set-ups are very difficult in the confined space of a real vehicle. The use of the Empire Builder name was just a choice by the writer should not be taken too literally.

Continental Divide was either the last or next to last movie made by John Belushi. Neighbors, a quirky comedy with Dan Aykroyd where Belushi played the straight man, was released after Continental Divide, but may have been filmed earlier.
 
PRR 60 said:
They did not use a regularly scheduled train. The train used was a set of cars and locomotives leased from Amtrak for the location scenes. It was placed anywhere where location shooting would work and where track was available for the train shots. That is not necessarily where the movie script says it is. What on film seem like short. simple scenes can take hours or days to film, so using a real train is not possible.
Almost always the interior shots on trains or planes use a set on a sound stage because the camera set-ups are very difficult in the confined space of a real vehicle. The use of the Empire Builder name was just a choice by the writer should not be taken too literally.

Continental Divide was either the last or next to last movie made by John Belushi. Neighbors, a quirky comedy with Dan Aykroyd where Belushi played the straight man, was released after Continental Divide, but may have been filmed earlier.
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Thanks for the info!

I didn't mean to imply that I thought they were using a real train on an actual trip. I was more looking for an issue of inaccuracy for having the Empire Builder going through Wyoming. I don't look for film mistakes, they just interest me when I come across them. Like when TV or movies are filmed in Chicago, and characters mention an intersection of real street names, but they actually run paralell or not even near eachother. I guess most of the time filmmakers don't sweat the small stuff. But I sometimes wonder how time consuming it would be to pick up a phone and check facts. I guess with Condinental Divide, they wanted so badly for a train to be part of the story that they didn't care if passenger trains didn't actually go there. Can't fault them for that.

To me, the interior train shots looked real. Especially the one's while still parked in the station. But they can create about anything on a soundstage I guess!
 
you can also watch "silver streak", which has gene wilder and richard pryor on a runaway train that is modeled after the southwest chief. i just watched it on DVD last night and it's still pretty funny!
 
I noticed recently on "Cheaper By The Dozen" that the kid gets on an Amtrak train at CUS (the inside shot is obviously an Amtrak coach). However, they then cut to an arial shot of a Metra train running in push mode.
 
The very last scene in Swordfish? I think has the bad guys leaving on the Coast Starlight. The Parlour car is used to film this, both a quick inside shot and it train is shown leaving LAX, with the actual Parlour Car and the other cars. Plus they have their stolen cars or whatever they robbed in the box cars behind. :)
 
saxman66 said:
The very last scene in Swordfish? I think has the bad guys leaving on the Coast Starlight. The Parlour car is used to film this, both a quick inside shot and it train is shown leaving LAX, with the actual Parlour Car and the other cars. Plus they have their stolen cars or whatever they robbed in the box cars behind. :)
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That sound more like the last scene from "The Italian Job", starring Charlize Theron.
 
I just watched "Loose Cannons" with Gene Hackman,Dan Ackroid and Dom DeLuise which was filmed in 1990. It had several scenes of a Amtrak Viewliner consist and Grand Central Station. Was Grand Central still in use in 1990? They also were filming in a bedroom (what seemed) a couple doors from the H room as the camera moved down the hallway. The movie plot had the bad guys stop the train, using helicopters, on a railroad trestle over a river. Sure wish I knew where that was shot.....

I didn't see this listed as one of the 246 or what ever the number was.....BD
 
Boxcar Dummy said:
It had several scenes of a Amtrak Viewliner consist and Grand Central Station. Was Grand Central still in use in 1990?
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I believe it was still in use as an Amtrak station at that time. However, within a year or two of that the Empire Connection had been established and GCT was dropped by Amtrak.
 
A real good train movie is Midnight Run with Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. They take a train from New York to Chicago and later in the West they ride on a freight train.
 
there's also a scene in "planes, trains, and automobiles" where steve martin and john candy board a chicago-bound passenger train in wichita (?) and it breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
 
"People train doesn't run out of Wichita, it runs out of Stubbville, enless your a hog or a cattle!" :D That is my favorite line in any movie. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is my favorite all-time movie.
 
DaveKCMO said:
there's also a scene in "planes, trains, and automobiles" where steve martin and john candy board a chicago-bound passenger train in wichita (?) and it breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
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I believe that was filmed on the New York & Lake Erie RR in or near South Dayton, NY.
 
Also got "In Her Shoes" I think it's called where the lead character takes the Silver Palm (!) to Delray Beach I think. Scenes from 30st Philadelphia station including nice shot of the Solari Board.

Also, I've been watching Season 1 of "The Sopranos" and in episode 9 or 10 I think there's a nice shot of Tony standing next to the NEC with a several car Amfleet train flying past him.
 
Does anyone remember Trading Places with Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy....the train ride from Philadelphia to NYC....of course the costume party that takes place on the train :D
 
Does anyone remember Trading Places with Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy....the train ride from Philadelphia to NYC....of course the costume party that takes place on the train
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Actully the trip was from D.C. to philly and they had a exterior shot of a AEM pulling Amfleets for philly to NYC.

Another good film that shows amtrak is Only the Lonely starring John Candy when his love runs away on the train to new york. he meets her at niles, mi station and they take the train to NY together. As the train leaves niles for NY, two thing are wrong with this picture. 1. the wolverene does not serve NYC and 2. the train departs westbound towards chicago.

All of the train scenes take place in the last 15 min of the movie
 
North by Northwest.!!!.... nothing else compares with stations scenes, platform scenes, dinning car scenes and sleeping car scenes. Outstanding, that is of course my opinion.
 
IIRC, The French Connection has a shot with Amtrak GG-1s pulling a train in the background on the NEC.

Or maybe it was The Seven Ups.

Movies blur for me these days. Sigh.
 
The final scene from In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger features a gorgeous shot of a Gulf, Mobile and Ohio train carrying Mr. Tibbs back to Philadelphia. It's one of my favorite train scenes in film.

I can't remember any instances of the Empire Builder ever going through Wyoming but I do remember it was routed via Stampede Pass in the 1970s.
 
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