The New Big Trains Rolling (Rev)

Year Published: 1955

Creator: Herman Boxer and Carl Dudley

Description: "The New Big Trains Rolling" is a 1955 industrial film written by Herman Boxer and Carl Dudley, and a revision of a 1949 film "Big Trains Rolling". It features Art Gilmore as a narrator. This film was made for the Association of American Railroads, highlighting the railroads and tehir role in building the nation and its contemporary (at the time) importance in transporting passengers and essential freight.

0:00 The film opens with a tribute to the vastness of the USA.
1:41 Trains as the primary means of moving raw materials, finished products, and people safely and at a low cost.
3:50 How the country and railroads grew up together. Rail pushed settlers forward, opened mines, and turned small villages into major cities.
5:10 Nearly everything Americans eat, wear, or use moves by train at some point. Only railroads have the capacity for high-volume, long-distance transport.
5:52 We follow two young travelers, Carol and Jimmy, as they pack and take a taxi to the station.
6:59 Before departure, we see the Railway Express (package sorting), car cleaning crews, and the stocking of dining cars with fresh food.
7:52 A look at locomotive servicing and maintenance.
8:12 A demonstration of how massive locomotives are turned around using a powered turntable.
8:38 Jimmy and Carol buy round-trip and sleeping car tickets. The film captures the excitement of train time, including the loading of U.S. Mail and baggage.
10:56 The conductor signals the engineer in the cab; the train (featuring Santa Fe markings) gathers momentum and pulls out through the western countryside.
11:22 The children visit the Vista Dome observation car to watch the rushing landscape. The conductor moves through the car to collect tickets.
12:08 A look inside the backbone of the mail service, where railway postal clerks sort mail into pigeon holes and bags while the train is in motion.
12:40 Carol and Jimmy visit the dining car, designed as a restaurant on wheels. Black waiters / Pullman porters serve passengers while chefs in an immaculate kitchen prepare fresh meals.
14:17 Various room types, including roomettes, bedrooms, compartments, and drawing rooms, all featuring the latest conveniences.
15:08 Carol and Jimmy go to bed, helped by the Pullman porter. Carol uses a ladder to reach the upper berth. The scene transitions with a close-up of train wheels spinning on the tracks.
15:37 Half of the nation's trains carry only freight. A montage shows the relationship between rail and a family's food, clothes, and fuel.
16:16 Scenes of grain harvesting and storage in large silos/elevators. Flour bags are moved to mills to become the bread found on grocery shelves.
16:52 Cattle and sheep are rounded up from western ranges, loaded into cattle cars, and moved to packing houses and supermarkets.
17:23 Fruit pickers harvest produce, which is then loaded into refrigerator cars (reefers). These cars use ice or machinery to keep food fresh over 3,000-mile journeys.
17:44 Iron ore is scooped from mines and moved in open freight cars to blast furnaces. Finished steel is used to create the very tracks, wheels, and bridges the railroads depend on.
18:21 Highlights the transport of coal for power plants and schools (including a twilight shot of a steam train crossing a bridge), forest products for lumber, and cotton for textile mills.
19:29 Oil tank cars are shown being moved and used for fueling the trains themselves.
19:44 Railroad tracks extend to seaports, allowing for the direct transfer of goods between freight cars and ships.
20:36 Railroads pay enough in school taxes to educate hundreds of thousands of children. Visuals include children playing volleyball and football in stadiums.
21:10 Carol and Jimmy arrive right on time and are met by their Aunt and Uncle.
21:49 The narrator encourages viewers to explore America. A montage features Chicago, horseback riding, and vacation spots like Yellowstone Falls, beaches, skiing, and sailing.
22:59 The film concludes with a montage: the U.S. Capitol, suburbs, churches, and universities. It links the nation's prosperity to its railroad system and the land of opportunity, ending with a Nickel Plate Railroad train crossing a bridge.

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVkmxEVsZUE

Metadata Source:YouTube