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  • THE 4:30 MOVIE ROLL-OFF....

  • Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.
Discussion related to railroads/trains that show up in TV shows, commercials, movies, literature (books, poems and more), songs, the Internet, and more... Also includes discussion of well-known figures in the railroad industry or the rail enthusiast hobby.

Moderator: Aa3rt

 #215506  by Dieter
 
If you lived around New York City or anywhere that WOR-TV 9 was available on cable as a Superstation, here's a blast from your past.

Do you recall the 4:30 movie on Channel 9 in the 1970's and 1980's before everyone became NewsChannel Obcessed? In their opening sequence before running the flick, there was a dramatic shot of a steam locomotive rolling off of a collapsing timber trestle. In a series of melting wipes broken up by vertical lines moving horizontally, the clip meshed in between cowboys, action and romance, lasted a mere five seconds at the most to your eye.

Now, if you know anything about it, see if you can settle myth from fact.

Is that an actual scene from a movie, or is it as I was told a long time ago? Someone said that gut-wrenching scene which took every Model Railroader's breath away was a specially shot scene made specifically for the 4:30 movie opener. Supposedly, it was shot by a production company and not by a movie studio, on a basement layout in a home outside of Montreal.

The trestle was made to break away, and for easy reassembly as the owner realized they may need to do more than one take if anything went wrong. He figured three takes tops. I was told that the owner, despite what he was paid, got pissed with the Producer because the Producer wanted multiple retakes, and the brass locomotive was beginning to get damaged. Anybody knows that even if a brass steamer falls into a blanket, thingys still get bent!

Do YOU know anything about it??

Dieter./

 #215601  by Marty Feldner
 
Damn- you're taxing the brain cells...

I vaguely remember what you're talking about, and I want to say it was part of a scene from 'Breakheat Pass'; didn't that come out in '75 or so?

 #215762  by Dieter
 
Hi Marty!

No, the movie you mention had a longer trestle. This is a short trestle which collapses out from beneath the locomotive.

The first take was supposedly perfect, but the Producer kept going with retakes. After driving with his gear all the way to Quebec, he wasn't going to go home empty handed.

This opener was running almost daily for several years before the movie you mention was shot.

Dieter./
 #216919  by steemtrayn
 
Dieter wrote:If you lived around New York City or anywhere that WOR-TV 9 was available on cable as a Superstation, here's a blast from your past.

Do you recall the 4:30 movie on Channel 9 in the 1970's and 1980's before everyone became NewsChannel Obcessed? In their opening sequence before running the flick, there was a dramatic shot of a steam locomotive rolling off of a collapsing timber trestle. In a series of melting wipes broken up by vertical lines moving horizontally, the clip meshed in between cowboys, action and romance, lasted a mere five seconds at the most to your eye.

Now, if you know anything about it, see if you can settle myth from fact.

Is that an actual scene from a movie, or is it as I was told a long time ago? Someone said that gut-wrenching scene which took every Model Railroader's breath away was a specially shot scene made specifically for the 4:30 movie opener. Supposedly, it was shot by a production company and not by a movie studio, on a basement layout in a home outside of Montreal.

The trestle was made to break away, and for easy reassembly as the owner realized they may need to do more than one take if anything went wrong. He figured three takes tops. I was told that the owner, despite what he was paid, got pissed with the Producer because the Producer wanted multiple retakes, and the brass locomotive was beginning to get damaged. Anybody knows that even if a brass steamer falls into a blanket, thingys still get bent!

Do YOU know anything about it??

Dieter./
The scene where the loco falls off the trestle is from the movie "Tycoon", starring John Wayne.

 #217924  by Dieter
 
Thanks!! I figured it had come from the Gary Cooper era of film, if it wasn't done by a production company.

Dieter./

 #222313  by gravelyfan
 
The "4:30 Movie" that I recall was on WABC Channel 7 in New York. They had a dramatic-sounding opening for the movie; I googled it once and sure enough, someone has a website on it, including an audio clip of the theme music. See this link:

http://home.earthlink.net/~kfp/

Sorry I don't know how to do the link thing the right way.