Pearl Harbor movie Loocomotive

[ebtnut]

Couple of side notes on movie locos - SR No. 4501 appeared in at least two movies:  Fried Green Tomatoes and Fool's Parade.  She was also supposed to appear in Coal Miner's Daughter.  However, she had a dry pipe failure which resulted in Royal Hudson 2839 subbing in.  Not exactly a back-woods Kentucky loco! 

[rogertra]

The locomotive in the Harry Potter movies is all wrong as well.  Yes, we know it's fiction but they depart from Kings Cross station, which was an LMS (London Midland Scottish Railway) station, whereas the loco in the movies is a GWR (Great Western Railway) Hall class loco and would served the west of England departing London from Paddington station, which doesn't have a platform 93/4.

Besides which, a Hall class locomotive should be painted GWR brunswick green and not that LMS maroon.

But then movie and TV show producers never really care about accuracy in any railroad scenes.  They'll take great care with costumes, scenery, props, cars, signage, etc., etc., but any train in the shot?  "Ah, who cares?  It's train, nobody will notice or care if it's wrong."


Cheers

Roger T.

[Skarloey Railway]

Eight HP films has proved a nice little earner for Olton Hall and if you look at the engine on the cover of the first edition of the first Harry Potter book http://boingboing.net/assets_mt/2011/03/22/harry-potter.jpg I'd say Olton Hall was a massive improvement.

I think it is a little unfair to lay the blame for the inaccurate portrayal of railways wholly on the film makers. Any film set in the SW of England circa 1930-50 is going to be spoilt for choice for appropriate stock and locations, but there are massive gaps in the preservation ranks when it comes to other regions and time periods.

Mind you, I do recall watching a documentary on the building of the Central Pacific that had a shay in one shot.