A Traveler's Library » railroad

When Train Travel Was “It”

pen4hire — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:00:34 +0000

This is a fun film to go with our review of Historical Atlas of the North American Railroad.
The film is obviously aimed at children, but still, it reminds us of how rail travel has changed.

The station at the beginning is Washington D. C.’s Union Station, and the ending of the film (after the awkward splice with “Bobby” showing up out of nowhere) is in Lamy, New Mexico. At one time, Lamy was the closest stop to Santa Fe. Now there is a branch line to Santa Fe, and you can take an excursion to Lamy from Santa Fe and have lunch.

Thanks to Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, for pointing this film out on Facebook. The Philbrook in Tulsa Oklahoma has amazing collections of American Indian Art, including Quincy Tahoma, and also a deep collection of historical art and other objects.

If you would like to see more films about railroads and other stuff, go to http://www.archive.org/details/passenger_train

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Road Trip Gallops Into Colorado

pen4hire — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:28:54 +0000

The Great American Road Trip

Destination: Colorado

Movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

The Sound Track for this post:

Last week the road trip stopped in Utah, and this week we take up seamlessly where we left a plane crash in Northern Utah, as we watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an oldie but still goodie. The movie starts in Utah and then hops and skips to Colorado for the train sequences and back to Utah and back to Colorado (not to mention New Mexico and California) following the adventures of lovable bad guys played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford. The train is actually the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, and as a stop on your own road trip, you can ride on it–with no robberies along the way.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge RR

Of course every reader of A Traveler’s Library has already seen the movie. Right? Well, I had not watched it for quite a few years, and I had actually forgotten how well the movie portrays the luscious western scenery. If you can watch this movie and NOT want to travel (by road trip or on horseback, or train) to Colorado (and Utah and the West in general), perhaps you should schedule a neurological examination. There is something definitely wrong with your wiring!

One of the best things about the west–you can watch a movie set in the 1890′s and today you can still see the same wide-open spaces and the same spectacular mountains and canyons, that these desperadoes rode across.

Even if the movie had no plot, a re-watch would be worth it to see the extended scene with Paul Newman riding around the ranch yard(sorry, that’s California) on a bicycle, sometimes with Katherine Ross on the handlebars, and the catchy tune Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head in the background. (You’re singing it right now, aren’t you?)

And then there’s that unforgettable leap into the river from a cliff (in Colorado)–with better results than when Thelma and Louise drive over a Utah cliff in a later movie.

Jump!

According to Wikipedia, actors as diverse as Jack Lemmon and Marlon Brando were considered for roles, but these are the guys who made film history.

Redford and Newman as Butch and the Kid

Whew! Thank goodness it turned out to be the perfect film coupling–Paul Newman, as the nervous “thinker” who is smarter than the rest of the gang( but that’s nothing to brag about) and Robert Redford, the silent, moody and sometimes dense partner. Not only did it start Redford’s film career, but the pair went on to make several more movies together.

Sneffels Creek Canyon, Photo by Tom Harris, USFS

But mostly, I recommend looking at the film again so you can see that fantastic Western scenery. If you’ve never taken a road trip across Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, perhaps I need to explain that it really does look that spectacularly beautiful.

Pictures are from various sources, but the scenic canyon view is a Creative Commons picture from Flickr. Click on it to see the nice work of the photographer. And thanks, as usual to You Tube for always coming through with the right film clip.

AND THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS POST #500!

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Trains

pen4hire — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:00:36 +0000

Train Conductor

When I started thinking about trains and train travel after reading Waiting on a Train, it seemed that everywhere I turned, people were thinking about trains. Here are some of the interesting things I found on the net.

President Obama has announced his program for improving American railroads. It contains most of what the book Waiting on a Train advocated.

Peter Greenberg talks about the improved service tied to Vancouver Olympics.

World Hum presented arguments being promoted in Europe to take the train vs. plane.

Last Call for the Dining Car, A Telegraph Book Best train essays from the U.K. Telegraph newspaper.

If all this reading about trains has you ready to shout “All Aboard!!” Here is a commercial travel site for train journeys.

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