TV/Railroad Accuracy

what ever happened to the dead man switch or is that just a rumour?
i thought all locomotives had those.
as for the firearms in movies
I have tried firing fully automatic weapons c7a1 ( canadian made M16) hard to control,
we called the mags used in movies the hollywood mags, only run out when everyone on the other side is dead.
every bomb or gernade tossed goes up in small mushroom cloud and kills everything with 1000 miles of it, tossed a few myself not much flame or fire, just a lot of metal flying thru the air.

as for train derailments in movies all the cars seem to blow up even if they are flat cars are empty, always a firey crash lol. always a cattle car for a gun fight in or just plain old fight.
movies and trains are fun just not very realistic
 

Canopus

Member
stuart_canada said:
what ever happened to the dead man switch or is that just a rumour?
i thought all locomotives had those.

Some do, most don't. Some don't for convenience of operation.
Passeneger locomotives/mu sets usually have them. For example the London Underground (subway) has them, but in one case the operator who died in the cab actually fell onto the dead man's handle, allowing the train to keep going straight into a dead end.

stuart_canada said:
every bomb or gernade tossed goes up in small mushroom cloud and kills everything with 1000 miles of it, tossed a few myself not much flame or fire, just a lot of metal flying thru the air.

My understanding of that is that it largely depends on the type of grenade. A thermal type explosive in a grenade will give you lots of heat, useful in a confined space as it tends to create more destruction by rapidly increasing the pressure in the room it explodes in, causing walls, doors, etc. to cave in and objects to fly around. These types tend to be more powerful than your average grenade, and are more often found in bombs. A kinetic type explosive (usually termed a "frag" grenade, as it's main attribute is the fragmentation of the shell, which then turns it into a shrapnel weapon) will explode without much heat and light - all you'll get is a flash, some flame, and some smoke, a loud cracklike boom, a small radius shockwave capable of blowing out maybe a door, stud wall or window, and lots of fragments in the air, killing or seriously injuring most the people it hits. That's mostly the purpose of a frag grenade.

And don't forget the old "rule" of all grenades: 3 seconds minimum bounce. I've seen grenades thrown through the air and land *then* explode, or held and dismantled, after more than 3 seconds have elapsed.
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Found another one. I was just watching Wild Wild West and at the point where Loveless confiscates the Wanderer, as it starts to move, the chuff chuff chug sounds do not match the motion of the rod & wheels. Now I will have to go back and watch it again and see if they got it right anywhere in the movie or I just noticed it in the one spot.
 
I'm sure Monk has plenty of B-roll shot in San Francisco, but the show is shot in LA. In the episode 'Monk and the Other Detective' with Jason Alexander, there is a seen that's supposed to be the hills near Oakland. It was shot on the hillside below Dodger Stadium, with Highland Park in the background. A few shots show the UP / Metrolink tracks which head into the former Taylor Yard (below Jason Alexander's arm in the pic), and a former jailhouse, which, by the way, is also a frequent filming location.

Chris
 

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2slim

Member
I've not seen the movie, but recall someone saying that in the movie 'Ray' (about the legendary Ray Charles) there is a scene from the 1950's and in the background is a stack train going by, but maaaayyybbeeeee they were Flexi-vans, Slim,Yea, that's it :D :thumb: :D

2slim
 
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