Nevada's Famous Virginia and Truckee Railway
The Inyo in the Texans: "How does a fireman drive a train and blow the whistle?"
 The Inyo (and V&T coaches?) in the Texans  Closeup of the Inyo in the Harvey Girls |
In making Living
Steam I decided to view other railroad documentaries to see what to do, and
what not to do. During the Winter of 2007/2008, I subscribed to
Netflix and rented many
railroad films. I knew that the Virginia and Truckee raised money on the late
1930's during their bankruptcy by selling locomotives to movie studios.
A list of these movies
with V&T locomotives is at the Friends of the Nevada State Railroad Museum
website. This list has two small drawbacks. First, I never found any locomotives in Meet Me in St. Louis, so take that one with a grain of salt. There is a great streetcar scene with Judy Garland singing "Clang clang clang goes the bell," and it's a movie worth seeing -- just don't look for the Inyo. Second, the list doesn't tell us which V&T coaches were used in any of the movies. I am sure that many of these movies using the Inyo and other V&T equipment also feature V&T coaches, but I haven't done the research. I do know that the V&T #10 was used in Union Pacific. THE TEXANS - #22 Inyo The Texans is a bit cliched and goofy as far as movies go, but it's worth watching. Unfortunately it's typical of movies where the Inyo appear. The whole movie is about the end of the Civil War and a cattle drive to Abeliene, Texas. Throughout the movie they make references to the new Kansas Pacific railroad. Only in the last five minutes do they arrive in Abeliene, and the Inyo is only featured in two shots comprising less than one minute. One note on the Texans: somehow at the end (Raymond Hatton?) as Cal Tuttle, the ranch foreman, realizes his dream of driving a steam locomotive, and stampeding cattle at the same time. Somehow he drives the Inyo and blows the whistle from the fireman's seat. Today it takes two to run the Inyo. (continued below) |
(con't from above) THE HARVEY GIRLS My favorite movie with the Inyo was the Harvey Girls with Judy Gardland. I wasn't a fan of musicals until I watched Meet Me in St. Louis and The Harvey Girls. The Harvey Girls seems to suffer from a locomotive inconsistency. The opening of the movie shows what I think is the #18 Dayton pulling the train with Judy Garland and the Harvey Girls heading west. During the same trip the Dayton goes away and the Inyo is seen pulling the same train. From what I can tell, the Inyo is used for the rest of the movie. This is a great movie and a great train movie, Read more about it at the Internet Movie Database. Virginia O'Brien appears with her deadpan style as one of Judy Gardland's fellow Harvey Girls. Garland and O'Brien pal around with Cyd Charise, another Harvey Girl.
THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE For those seeking movies that feature historic locomotives, you can't beat The Great Locomotive Chase. While the movie features another locomotive, there is a great chase scene with the Inyo following The General.
GROUCHO MARX AND THE MARX BROTHERS IN GO WEST This was a very funny movie, it features a lot of train action, but again the Inyo only shows up at the end. Groucho wants to head west to find gold in California. Harpo and Chico are gold-seeking scam artists. There is a great long railroad chase scene where the trains runs off the tracks through farms, around and around in circles, and back to the tracks. If you can imagine the Marx brothers running a train you understand this movie. NOTE: When I rented this from Netflix I received a two-sided DVD with another Marx brothers' classic, The Store. No trains in the store, but watching this made me realize that a Marx brothers musical could be enjoyable. Virginia O'Brien puts in a great one-song performance with her deadpan style. UNION PACIFIC - #11 Reno, #18 Dayton, #21 Tahoe, #22 Inyo plus #10 V&T coach While not historically accurate, Union Pacific, is a must watch movie. Fictionalizing the history of the battle between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific to complete the Transcontinental Railroad, Cecille B. DeMille created another epic with Union Pacific. This movie has trains, trains and more trains. A must for railfans and history buffs. Barbara Stanwyck is great with her fake Irish accent and Joel McCrea kicks butt throughout the movie. LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL Here is a real western, with Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn. What can I say, any Anthony Quinn movie is worth watching, and this one has enough train scenes to keep railfans happy. The movie starts on a graphic note when Kirk Douglas' Indian wife is assaulted and killed by Anthony Quinn's son and a ranch-hand. From there it goes on to show how Douglas and Quinn, two old friends, become deadly foes. Quinn is happy to assist Douglas in finding the villian until he realizes that it's his own son. Douglas fights for his life against a town run by Quinn, and is only aided by Carolyn Jones, Quinn's quirky girlfriend. There is a long standoff between Douglas and Quinn where Douglas takes Quinn's son hostage in a hotel room. This is a great movie if you can get past the unhappy beginning. COWBOY Another great movie without much satisfying railfan action. Don't watch this for the trains, watch it because Jack Lemmon stars in a western. Jack Lemmon plays a hotel clerk who joins Glenn Ford as a partner in a cattle drive. LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN Skip this movie. Others may disagree, but I have to say it straight -- this movie sucks. What a shame that Paul Newman wasted his talent on this slow historically inaccurate movie. There aren't that many train scenes, so it's not worth watching for any reason. 'Nuff Said -- JL |
