Top 250 Movies Like Great American Railroad Journeys

A list of the best movies similar to Great American Railroad Journeys. If you liked Great American Railroad Journeys then you may also like: Zorro Rides Again, Wagon Master, Wagons West, Whispering Smith, The Narrow Margin and many more great movies featured on this list.

Michael Portillo crosses the Atlantic to ride the railroads of America, armed with Appleton's General Guide to the United States, published in 1879.

Zorro Rides Again

The California-Yucatan Railroad, being built for the good of Mexico, is under siege by a gang of terrorists hoping to force its sale; no one can prove their connection to profiteer Marsden. Manuel Vega, aged co-owner, calls in the aid of his nephew James, great-grandson of the original Zorro. Alas, James seems more adept at golf than derring-do; but after he arrives, Zorro rides again! Can one black-clad man on horseback defeat a gang supplied with airplanes and machine guns?

Wagon Master

Two young drifters guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter cutthroats, Navajo, geography, and moral challenges on the journey.

Wagons West

Travelers heading west in a wagon train, under repeated assault by Indians, discover someone in their group is supplying rifles to their attackers.

Whispering Smith

Smith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).

The Narrow Margin

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a tense train ride.

The Night Flyer

Jimmy Bradley, a fireman on the old locomotive No. 99, loves Kate Murphy, daughter of the proprietress of the local lunch counter. His rival, Bat Mullins, is engineer of the new mail train scheduled to make a competition run. When Mullins overturns the new train, Bradley completes the run and earns the contract for his company by delivering the mail in record time on No. 99. A promotion to engineer helps him win Kate.

Once Upon a Time in the West

As the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.

Other Men's Women

The friendship of two working stiff railroad engineers is put to the test when one falls for the other’s wife.

Our Hospitality

A young man falls for a young woman on his trip home; unbeknownst to him, her family has vowed to kill every member of his.

Rabid Rider

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are back! The lovable characters have transitioned to the third dimension in the new series of animated shorts being produced by Warner Brothers. Wile E. Coyote is up to his old tricks in newfangled stereoscopic 3D. Hilarity ensues as per usual, check out the crazy antics in Looney Tunes: Rabid Rider

The Raiders

Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill and Calamity Jane help a Texas rancher against the railroad.

Raiders of San Joaquin

In this western, two cowboys ride to the rescue of ranchers who are fighting to keep a land-grabber from taking their land and selling it to the railroad

Railroaded!

A beautician and her crooked boyfriend attempt to rob the bookie operation located in the back room, but when the plan goes wrong, they frame an innocent man.

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Two peanut vendors at a rodeo show get in trouble with their boss and hide out on a railroad train heading west. They get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch, despite the fact that neither of them knows anything about cowboys, horses, or anything else.

Ride Clear of Diablo

A young railroad surveyor returns to his hometown to find the man who murdered his father and brother.

Runaway Train

A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.

Kansas Pacific

Just before the Civil War (but after the South has seceded), Southern saboteurs try to prevent railroad construction from crossing Kansas to the frontier; army captain Nelson is sent out to oppose them. As the tracks push westward, Nelson must contend with increasingly violent sabotage, while trying to romance the foreman's pretty daughter Barbara.

A-Haunting We Will Go

Stan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.

The Barbarian

An Arab prince masquerades as a tour guide for rich women in order to enrich himself.

The Great Locomotive Chase

During the Civil War, a Union spy, Andrews, is asked to lead a band of Union soldiers into the South so that they could destroy the railway system. However, things don't go as planned when the conductor of the train that they stole is on to them and is doing everything he can to stop them. Based on a true story.

The Green Glove

In World War II France, American soldier Michael Blake captures, then loses Nazi-collaborator art thief Paul Rona, who leaves behind a gem studded gauntlet (a stolen religious relic). Years later, financial reverses lead Mike to return in search of the object. In Paris, he must dodge mysterious followers and a corpse that's hard to explain; so he and attractive tour guide Christine decamp on a cross-country pursuit that becomes love on the run...then takes yet another turn.

Danger Lights

Head railroad man Dan is as ugly as he is honorable. When he spots a drifter who'd hopped a freight held up by a landslide, Dan offers the man a job; then he finds the man was a railroader, too, and takes him under his wing. Engaged to Mary, Dan doesn't notice the growing attraction between his protégé and his intended but focuses instead on running the railroad.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad

Mr. Conductor's supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to travel between Shining Time and Thomas's island, is critically low. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to get more. Meanwhile, Thomas is fending off attacks by the nasty diesel engines. Getting more gold dust will require help from Mr. C's slacker cousin, his new friend Lily and her morose grandfather, plus the secret engine.

Falling in Love

During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize each other months later in the train home and have a good time together. Although both are married and Frank has two little kids, they meet more and more often, their friendship becoming the most precious thing in their lives.

Fatherland

Fictional account of what might have happened if Hitler had won the war. It is now the 1960s and Germany's war crimes have so far been kept a secret. Hitler wants to talk peace with the US president. An American journalist and a German homicide cop stumble into a plot to destroy all evidence of the genocide.

The Polar Express

When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Shanghai Express

A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.

The Great Train Robbery

After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

The Great Train Robbery

Tom Logan is a railroad detective who takes it upon himself to halt the activities of his crooked brother Duke. Duke and his henchman have stolen an entire gold train, including the passengers......

Blood Red

Set in the Napa Valley in 1895, an immigrant family struggles to keep their vineyards from industrialists.

Half-Fare Hare

Bugs Bunny boards the Chattanooga Choo Choo and finds Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, from "The Honeymooners" TV show. Ralph and Ed are starving, and when they set eyes on Bugs, they yell, "It's foooooood!"

Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence

New York store clerk joins a hobo and an illegal immigrant heading for his newly bought land in Arizona.

Man on the Train

A man, Milan (played by Johnny Hallyday) steps off a train, into a small French village. As he waits for the day when he will rob the town bank, he runs into an old retired poetry teacher named M. Manesquier (Jean Rochefort). The two men strike up a strange friendship and explore the road not taken, each wanting to live the other's life.

Human Desire

Jeff Warren, a Korean War vet just returning to his railroad engineer's job, boards at the home of co-worker Alec Simmons and is charmed by Alec's beautiful daughter. He becomes attracted immediately to Vicki Buckley, the sultry wife of brutish railroad supervisor Carl Buckley, an alcoholic wife beater with a hair-trigger temper and penchant for explosive violence. Jeff becomes reluctantly drawn into a sordid affair by the compulsively seductive Vicki. After Buckley is fired for insubordination, he begs her to intercede on his behalf with John Owens, a rich and powerful businessman whose influence can get him reinstated.

The Midnight Express

Wastrel son of a railroad magnate, Jack's father becomes frustrated with his son's wild ways. To prove himself, Jack goes to work in the railroad yard as a laborer. An escaped convict, Silent Bill Brachley, steals Jack's car, and the chase leads to a meeting between Jack, the engineer of the Midnight Express, and the engineer's pretty daughter, Mary. As he is led back to jail, Brachley swears revenge.

The Password Is Courage

Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, a brave British soldier is captured by German forces during World War II. When he's thrown into a prisoner of war camp, he immediately plans his escape. Masquerading as a wounded German soldier, he makes it as far as the medical tent, where the deceived enemy forces award him the Iron Cross. Though he is ultimately discovered, he goes on to courageously pursue his freedom with a whimsical and undying audacity.

Freedom

Two men separated by 100 years are united in their search for freedom. In 1856 a slave, Samuel Woodward and his family, escape from the Monroe Plantation near Richmond, Virginia. A secret network of ordinary people known as the Underground Railroad guide the family on their journey north to Canada. They are relentlessly pursued by the notorious slave hunter Plimpton. Hunted like a dog and haunted by the unthinkable suffering he and his forbears have endured, Samuel is forced to decide between revenge or freedom. 100 years earlier in 1748, John Newton the Captain of a slave trader sails from Africa with a cargo of slaves, bound for America. On board is Samuel's great grandfather whose survival is tied to the fate of Captain Newton. The voyage changes Newton's life forever and he creates a legacy that will inspire Samuel and the lives of millions for generations to come.

Roots: The Gift

On Christmas Eve 1770, a young African warrior, who three years prior had been captured and sold into slavery in America, leads a desperate group of runaway slaves as they attempt to reach freedom in the North.

The Smallest Show on Earth

Jean and Bill are a married couple trying to scrape a living. Out of the blue they receive a telegram informing them Bill's long-lost uncle has died and left them his business—a cinema in the town of Sloughborough. Unfortunately they can't sell it for the fortune they hoped as they discover it is falling down and almost worthless.

Thunderground

A con-artist meets a tough fighter and sees him as her ticket to a better life. The two make an agreement and head off to New Orleans to arrange a match with "the man" - the mysterious king of bare-knuckled boxing. There are no rules for this fight...one man wins when the other dies.

Town Tamer

A gunfighter is hired to clean up a wild frontier town, but there are forces afoot who want to keep the town as wide-open as it is. Lyle Bettger, Bruce Cabot and Richard Jaeckel co-star as the lawless bad guys in this Western based on a novel by Frank Gruber.

The Train Robbers

A gunhand named Lane is hired by a widow, Mrs. Lowe, to find gold stolen by her husband so that she may return it and start fresh.

Tycoon

Engineer Johnny Munroe is enlisted to build a railroad tunnel through a mountain to reach mines. His task is complicated, and his ethics are compromised, when he falls in love with his boss's daughter

The Big Trees

In 1900, unscrupulous timber baron Jim Fallon plans to take advantage of a new law and make millions off California redwood. Much of the land he hopes to grab has been homesteaded by a Quaker colony, who try to persuade him to spare the giant sequoias...but these are the very trees he wants most. Expert at manipulating others, Fallon finds that other sharks are at his own heels, and forms an unlikely alliance.

The Hurricane Express

The Wrecker wrecks trains on the L & R Railroad. One of his victims is Larry Baker's father. Baker wants to find the evildoer, among a host of suspects, but it will be difficult since the Wrecker can disguise himself to look like almost anyone

The Lost Special

A lady reporter and two college students search for the "Gold Special," a train that disappeared without a trace.

Ridin' the Lone Trail

Trains are being robbed by a gang led by an outlaw on a beautiful white horse. The marshal sent to investigate finds out the horse beings to the girl he's in love with.

Perils of the Rail

A section boss for the railroad sets out to catch a gang of thieves who have been stealing ore shipments from his company's trains.

The Gambler: The Adventure Continues

Brady Hawkes, Billy Montana, and Jeremiah Hawkes are on a train bound for a huge gambling event when the train is taken over by a gang of vicious killers in search of money. As ransom, the gang takes young Jeremiah hostage. Brady and Billy embark on a quest to rescue him and form a small gang of their own along the way.

Where the Hell's That Gold?!!?

A pair of thieves are pursued by the U.S. Army, the Mexican federales and Apaches in this made-for-TV Western.

Bhowani Junction

Anglo-Indian Victoria Jones seeks her true identity amid the chaos of the British withdrawal from India.

Atlantic Ferry

The MacIver brothers (Michael Redgrave, Griffith Jones) build the first ship to cross the Atlantic by steam power alone.

The Signal Tower

A railroad worker accepts a colleague's offer to stay in his home, but when his friend is called out one night to stop a runaway train, he makes a play for the man's wife.

Emperor of the North

Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.

The Flying Scot

A gang of four would-be robbers plans to steal a fortune in currency hidden aboard the "Flying Scotsman" in a railroad stateroom by cutting through the wall of the adjacent stateroom, but find themselves up against numerous unexpected drawbacks, including interference by their fellow passengers.

The Runaway Express

Joe Foley, charged to deliver a trainload of cattle to his employer, is forced to commandeer the engine when his engineer refuses to continue until he has observed union rest rules.

Special Agent

A California railroad agent hunts two brothers for murder and robbing a payroll express.

Black Ice

A young woman on the run from a murderous rogue government agent hooks up with a pony-tailed taxi driver who reluctantly agrees to help her.

Train Ride to Hollywood

Harry Williams, member of the rhythm & blues band, Bloodstone, is about to go onstage for a concert when he is hit on the head. The rest that follows is his dream. The four band members become conductors on a train filled with characters and (impersonated) actors from the 1930s, such as W.C. Fields, Dracula, and Scarlett O'Hara. Various songs are featured. The singing conductors are obliged to solve a mystery; Marlon Brando is murdering Nelson Eddy, Jeanette McDonald and others by suffocating them in his armpits. A wacky funeral, a fight with a gorilla, and the threat of being turned into a wax museum figure are all part of Harry's dream.

Dead Ahead

A family's camping trip turns into a nightmare when a gang of bank robbers forces the son to guide them through the wilderness to a secret airstrip. Armed only with a hunting bow, the boy's mother, who is a skilled archer and survivalist, tracks the men, determined to do anything to rescue her son.

Last Train from Bombay

An American diplomat risks his life to save an Indian prince from an assassination plot designed to ignite a war.

Carolina Cannonball

Judy and her grandpa run a trolley between a train depot and a ghost town in Nevada, near the California border. Three spies intent of tracking down an atomic missile gone astray arrive. When the trolley breaks down, Judy and Grandpa unwittingly install the engine from the nearby crashed missile.

Twisted Rails

A railroad employee finds out the identity of "The Wrecker", a criminal who is deliberately causing trains to crash. However, before he can disclose the crook's name, he is shot and killed. A passenger aboard the train volunteers to go after the killer and bring "The Wrecker" to justice.

Lily in Winter

Lily Covington, a Manhattan housekeeper, embarks on a trip to the rural Alabama town of her youth. To Lily's surprise, her employer's nine-year-old son Michael stows away for the ride. Together, Lily and Michael realize just how alike and how different their worlds really are. Michael explores a way of life he never knew existed, while Lily discovers some tender truths about the family she left behind.

Denver and Rio Grande

Jim Vesser and his team of railroading men try to build a rail line through a mountain pass, while a group of less scrupulous construction workers sabotages the entire operation in the hopes that they can get their tracks laid first and get the money from the railroad.

Old Overland Trail

Anchor is building a railroad and to get cheap labor he gets Black Hawk's Indians to attack and burn the incoming wagon train. This forces the settlers to work for Anchor and he pays them in devalued scrip. When Rex figures out Anchor's swindle, Anchor gets Black Hawk to capture him. When Anchor turns on Black Hawk and shoots him, Black Hawk gets a chance to repay a debt to Rex.

West Bound Limited

Talbot works as a dispatcher at a small rural railway station. One rainy night, shortly after a company payroll has arrived at the station, a masked criminal arrives to steal it. Talbot intercepts the villain's plan and a struggle ensues. He manages to fight off the masked man and save the payroll. But during the fight he is away from his station and misses a call to change the tracks for an oncoming train. This causes a terrible train crash resulting in many lost lives.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. Even if it's paid, how could they get away?

Yellow Rock

Five men ride into the eerie town of Yellow Rock, hoping to rescue a family member and his lost boy. The leader, Max Dietrich, hires Mountain Man, Tom Hanner, to guide them into the Black Paw Tribe territory for the search.

Drums of Africa

David Moore is in East Africa to get to his employer's railway construction site. He's accompanied by the owner's son Brian and they've lined up Jack Cuortemayn, reputedly the best guide available, to take them there. Cuortemayn refuses as he doesn't care for the impact the railroad will have on the local inhabitants. While Moore tries to make other arrangements, he meets Ruth Knight who has lived there for many years working with her father in a medical clinic. There will be adventures along the way but when Ruth is captured by slave traders, it's up to the others to rescue her.

The Gold Express

Claustrophobic train-set comedy-thriller (produced by H.G. Wells son) with an ace reporter coming up against crooks intent on stealing a gold shipment on the Scotland to London express. A scatterbrained scientist, a gun-toting dame with revenge on her mind and a pair of eccentric spinster crime novelists – who steal the film – round out the motley band of passengers who cross the path of our intrepid hero as he tries to get his big scoop.

Final Run

The Grand Royale is a new high-tech passenger train with a computerized engine. On its maiden voyage, it suffers a severe technical failure, killing the controller and gradually increasing its already high speed, at the rate of 2 more miles per minute. With heavily populated areas ahead and the risk of a deadly derailment, every minute counts and once again, it's up to Lucky singer to save the 200 passengers on board.

Panic on the 5:22

Three armed men take over a private railroad car, determined to rob and kill the passengers.

Oh, Yeah!

A couple of roving vagabonds hitch a freight to the railroad town of Linda, and between bouts with the fright-yard bulls and other drifters, find romance in the persons of two waitresses at the camp restaurant. American-slang rules the dialogue to the point non-USA viewers need a slang-glossary to follow the dialogue.

The Love Special

Jim Glover is an engineer in charge of constructing a railroad to the sea. He gives the company president Gage a tour of the area of land coveted for its use as a short cut that can save hours on the journey. After the officials visit a recently constructed dam, the train makes a stop in a dull town, and Gage's daughter Laura throws a charity bazaar to combat the boredom. Jim puts together a mock-holdup that saves the event from financial ruin, endearing Laura to him. Later, an accident traps three workers in a cave, and Jim is called away to rescue the victims.

The Iron Trail

Alaskan railroad magnate Curtis Gordon hires engineer Dan Appleton to design a railroad route up the Salmon River to the rich gold country. Gordon turns down the engineer's proposed route in favor of his own, and Appleton quits. Murray O'Neil, a rival builder, hires him and falls in love with his sister Eliza, while Appleton courts Natalie, Gordon's stepdaughter. Following Appleton's plan, O'Neil lays the trail with a bridge crossing the river in face of Gordon's opposition.

Snowkissed

A travel-averse journalist chases her dream assignment where she unwillingly finds herself mentoring a handsome B&B owner who wants to be a tour guide.

The Big Pond

A singing Frenchman meets an American heiress and gets a job at her father's chewing-gum factory.

Chartroose Caboose

Doris and Dub are a young couple with the usual ups and down life. They unexpectedly find friendship and good advice from curmudgeonly Woody Watts, a railroad man who was recently forced to retire.

The Dunning Man

Connor Ryan, out of a job and dumped by his girlfriend, returns to Atlantic City to try to rebuild his life with the last source of income that he has -- a few apartments in a low-rise condo complex that sits in the shadows of AC's newest and most expensive casino. Unfortunately, Connor's tenants don't want to pay him. In order to get his money, Connor has to take on a pair of Chechen animal trainers with underworld ties, a rap star who parties so hard the neighbors can't sleep, and a struggling single mother who steals his heart...

Tracks

Peter, a frustrated suburban teenager, prefers to hang out by the railroad tracks with his friends and get rid of boredom. When the young men throw the switch one day just for fun, a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions occurs. A train derails and Peter is found guilty of murder. In a maximum security prison, the teenager meets brutal felons who make his life hell through threats and physical violence ...

All Aboard! The Sleigh Ride

Filmed in Karasjok, Norway - 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, BBC Four rigs a traditional reindeer sleigh with a fixed camera for a magical journey across the frozen wilderness of the Arctic. Following the path of an ancient postal route, the ride captures the traditional world of the Sami people who are indigenous to northern Scandinavia and for whom reindeer herding remains a way of life. Deliberately unhurried, the rhythmic pace of the reindeer guides us along an epic two-hour trip that takes us over undulating snowy hills, through birch forests, across a frozen lake and past traditional Sami settlements.

The Canadian Rockies by Rail

The Canadian Rockies by Rail takes viewers on a journey through the Pacific Northwest and the Canadian Rockies. The trip on board the Rocky Mountaineer train passes through some of North-America’s most stunning wilderness scenery. The trip includes stops in Vancouver, Kamloops, Banff and Jasper as well as a drive along the Icefields Parkway, often described as one of the most scenic drives in the world.

An Idiot's Guide to Politics

Comedian Jolyon Rubinstein is on a mission. He wants to find out why the Facebook generation is so disengaged from politics. With the general election just around the corner, according to a recent survey less than a quarter of under 25s plan to vote. Is this just apathy and ignorance? Or is something else going on? The film is packed with stunts, pranks and some pretty serious interviews in which Jolyon seeks to find the answers. On the way he takes a fire engine armed with fireproof underpants to Conservative Party HQ ('liar, liar, pants on fire'); visits UKIP HQ to use his lie-detecting test to help Nigel Farage root out members hiding a BNP past; takes a union leader a statue of Ed Miliband as Wallace to thank him for getting Ed elected Labour leader - a present from the Conservatives; and tries to raise £50k to have dinner with the PM - it's the going rate for Tory Party donors, he learns.

Apple Seed

On a cross country road trip to rob his home town bank Prince Mccoy finds himself having to rely on the help of an ex convict hitchhiker named Carl Robbins. Along the way the people they meet and the friendships they build begin to heal the ghosts of their pasts. However, they both have one final crossroad to face in the small town of Apple Seed.

Prelude to Love

A modeling agency provides the perfect setting for many romantic skirmishes between a brother and sister who share its inheritance. At first the two despise each other, but soon, the fine line between love and hate is about to be crossed.

Palomino

After the break up of her marriage, photographer Samantha Taylor retreats to the sanctuary of friend Caroline Lord's California ranch. Samantha falls in love with ranch hand Tate Jordan, and they share a deep and passionate love until Tate finds out that Samantha's ex-husband is popular and wealthy news anchor Warren Taylor. Ashamed he leaves the ranch, Samantha is heartbroken. Samantha breaks her back in an accident and is paralysed, and must learn how to walk - and ride - again. Caroline Lord tragically dies but leaves her ranch to Samantha, who turns it into a riding school for paralysed children. Through this enterprise, she begins to heal from the pain of Tate's desertion, the loss of her friend and her own paralysis. Tate returns to the ranch after hearing of Caroline's death and finds Samantha there. Can they both overcome their own demons and learn to love each other again??

The Great K&A Train Robbery

Cullen has hired Tom to try and stop the robberies on his railroad. Knowing Cullen's secretary Holt is tipping off the gang, Tom works undercover by posing as a highwayman. To help him bring in the gang he enlists the help of the hobo DeLuxe Harry.

Centennial Summer

In 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman who's come to town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial exposition.

Santa Fe

After their service in the Civil War, four brothers go their separate ways, but later find themselves on opposite sides of a final showdown.

Trail Guide

A cowboy (Tim Holt) and his Mexican-Irish sidekick (Richard Martin) lead a wagon train to an unfriendly place.

Whispering Smith

Railroad foreman Murray Sinclair is dismissed by George McCloud, division superintendent, for ransacking wrecks. Sinclair along with his henchmen, retire to his ranch and forays against the railroad. "Whispering Smith," engaged by the railroad to restore order, is hesitant in dealing with Sinclair when he falls in love with Marion, Sinclair's wife, who is separated from her husband and operates a small shop in Medicine Bend. Dicksie, McCloud's sweetheart, overhears Sinclair threaten McCloud, and she rides through a storm to warn him; Smith, with the aid of Bill Dancing, tracks down Sinclair and his men, and Bill kills the villain. Dicksie and McCloud marry and take Marion under their protection.

Night Passage

Night Passage is a digital film on friendship and death. Made in homage to Miyazawa Kenji's classic novel, Milky Way Railroad, the story evolves around the spiritual journey of a young woman, in the company of her best friend and a little boy, into a world of rich in-between realities. Their venture into and out of the land of "awakened dreams" occurs during a long ride on a night train. The filmmaker elegantly depicts each encounter in two-dimensional space with a unique artistic gesture and ingeniously frames the passage as a series of rhythmic image sequensces as seen through the window of a train.

Red Signals

Sabotage on the railroad with trains being derailed and looted. Good coverage of the Santa Fe La Grande Station that was demolished in 1939 due to earthquake damage.

The Promise

After an argument with his father, in which he is accused of stealing, Bill Carmody leaves home. His girlfriend Ethel is mad at him because of his carousing. So he heads out West, but he gets in a railroad accident and saves the life of Appleton, who owns a lumber mill. To reward Bill, Appleton gives him a job, and it doesn't take him long to discern that Buck Moncrossen, the camp boss, is crooked.

Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day

The Yosemite Valley Railroad, which runs through the breathtaking scenery and stunning vistas of Yosemite National Park, is on the brink of failure. The grandson of a Chinese railroad laborer embarks on a romantic, but ultimately doomed, quest to save this railroad from being sold for scrap. His love of trains finds him working as a railroad-man, instead of at his father's profitable business. He manages to locate a wealthy eccentric investor to help him acquire the railroad, but its financial inviability makes this a quixotic reprieve, at best. The film also portrays the anti-Asian racism present in America at the conclusion of World War II.

Sort results by:

X close
Clear filters
...