# Model trains in movies/TV series



## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

Here's the ones I can think of....
Movies:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The Addams Family (I don't remember if it was in the first, sequel or both.) 

TV:
The Sopranos
One of the gangsters gets into the hobby for a few episodes. And then he gets whacked in a hobby store and wrecks the train layout as he's going down! I believe that episode is titled "The Blue Comet" named after the model train. 
The Addams Family

Any others?


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

There's the movie "Arthur" with Dudley Moore. I believe it ran around his bathtub.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

"Night at the Museum" movie.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

"Thomas the Tank Engine" Movie and TV

/\
l
Really how could you guys not remember that one.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

GC,

We're talking _model_ trains here, right? I don't recall that in Unstoppable, etc.

Cheers,

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

well I got the Thomas the Trains right at least.

what Unstopable movie are you talking about thats not in my above post.


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## jbmombasa (Jan 16, 2011)

Rails & Ties with Kevin Bacon and a whole lot of melodrama


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## RGC (Dec 11, 2010)

Mister Rogers neighborhood.


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

RGC said:


> Mister Rogers neighborhood.


Technically it was a trolly but I'll take it since I love Mr. Rogers.


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## cabledawg (Nov 30, 2010)

Back to the Future III. Doc Brown has one (very crudely built though) running on his table for thier plan to go back to the future.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Captain Kangaroo

The Captain ran a compact Lionel "O" Gauge layout with two levels, like those built by Lionel for dealer displays. 
On one occasion, a 736 2-8-4 speed-ed off a curve on a trestle set. 

"Oh!" the Captain exclaimed, "We have a wreck!"

No one remembers that?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

In 1947 In a movie titled, Christmas Eve, American Flyer trains deliver food on the dining room table.

I can thank my old (young) lady for that one. She loves old TV movies.
Thats her hobby.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Dante's Inferno 1935

Used a Lionel standard gauge steam toy train.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951, used a Lionel steam locomotive.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Four's A Crowd, 1938

You can thank the old (young) lady again.
I searched for this info,


Walter Connolly, portraying an eccentric millionaire, runs a "large garden railroad" illustrated on page 4 of the 1938 Lionel catalog. A Lionel scale New York Central Hudson (700E; introduced in 1937) races Lionel's first scale model, a 17:64 replica of UP streamliner M-10000 (introduced in 1934). Warner Brothers teams Errol Flynn and Olivia deHavilland, but here they seem immature. Flynn comes across as crude and pushy. DeHavilland is annoying and childish, more like a teenager than an adult. Phone calls take a lot of screen time. Lionel never mentions this movie again, not even in its MODEL RAILROADING series of Bantam paperback books (PS). (04/17/2010)


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

While searching for the last one I found this,

The Dukes of Hazard ( Danger on the Hazard express.)


Opening scenes focus on a small Lionel layout. A 681 steam turbine is pulling a freight train. Abruptly a pickup truck shoots forward and knocks a boxcar on its side at a grade crossing. Boss Hogg explains to Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltraine ("Coal Train," perhaps?) that he is planning to use a remote-control pickup truck to loot a train of $2,000,000. A real train, diesel-powered, rolls by twice. First, Bo and Luke Duke inadvertently drive up and foil the robbery. Second, the General Lee, with Bo at the wheel and Luke disabling the robbers and the remote control, jumps over the boxcar. The layout serves as a plot device when the Duke boys discover it and deduce Boss Hogg's nefarious plan. They operate the layout with a black box that is a cross between a transformer and a TMCC controller. (09/06/2007)


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Sweet Music, 1935 A classic 

Used a Steamer & a O scale passenger train.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I found this in my search travels,

Superman Returns, 2006

Huge wooden doors in the Vanderworth mansion open to reveal a first-rate layout of Marklin HO and G (or no. 1) gauge trains. An iconic Santa Fe F-unit "warbonnet" pulls 3 white boxcars lettered "Marklin" across the screen, combining nostalgia and product placement. Sadly, the whole layout is pushed to pieces after Lex Luthor drops a piece of Kryptonian crystal stolen from Superman's Fortress of Solitude into a lake of real water. One quick shot shows a girl standing by a 50's car with its hood up and a wad of cotton to simulate steam or smoke. This description may seem silly, but that little scene conveys drama and character. (08/04/2006)


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Found this too,

So You Want To Build A Model Rail Road. 1955

I never saw this one.

This black-and-white entry in the Joe McDoakes series from Warner Brothers is a hilarious take on all-consuming passion for toy trains. Lionel "O" Gauge trains gradually fill the McDoakes' home. The ending alone is worth the price of admission. This short played in the TCA Museum at Strasburg for years. One day, a woman in the audience kept saying to herself, "How true." Joe McDoakes is played by George O'Hanlon, also credited as writer. He also wrote for the TV show Petticoat Junction in 1963. He is best known as the voice of George Jetson. (05/09/2005)

Want more?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Captain Kangaroo! I watched that endlessly as a kid. LOOONGGG ago. I'm not sure I remember the Lionel train, though. I wish I did.

TJ


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## TONOFFUN80 (Jan 9, 2010)

Ed you snowed in again???

you seem just a wibit board


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## sentinal77 (Jan 2, 2011)

That 70's Show has an episode with model trains. Red was playing with them and I think that they're Lionel.


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

i remember the addams family tv show, gomez had a layout and had train wrecks alot


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## Komodo (Jun 28, 2010)

TV show: ALF Episode night train: there is a o gauge layout in the garage.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Good one, Komodo !!!!

HAAAAA!!!! (As Alf would say!)

TJ


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## Komodo (Jun 28, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Good one, Komodo !!!!
> 
> HAAAAA!!!! (As Alf would say!)
> 
> TJ


thanks, I kill me.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

TONOFFUN80 said:


> Ed you snowed in again???
> 
> you seem just a wibit board




There are more, I thought I would give someone else a chance.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*From the Movie*










Da Da Da Dum Snap Snap


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

T-Man said:


> Da Da Da Dum Snap Snap


I seem to recall it being a straight brig not curved where he crashed the trains.


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

heres one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMxJtMoTnx8 you gotta love it


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

I knew it! it is a straight bridge.


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## BrooklynBound718 (Dec 23, 2010)

The television show, "Silver Spoons" sometimes showed a train riding through the living room of the home.


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

How can I forget this one?
Wallace and Gromet
"The Wrong Trousers."
Check it out for THE BEST chase scene anywhere in film. Seriously, the best. 
(Hint: It features a model train.)


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

crosstie said:


> heres one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMxJtMoTnx8 you gotta love it


Thank you for that. That's awesome!
And at :25 I can see the girder bridge with the Lionel name just like I have. 
And it's using trestles. I was wondering if I could do that with my bridge. 
Now I know!


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## TONOFFUN80 (Jan 9, 2010)

NCIS not really a layout but dr. mallard has a model of the mallard
sitting on a shelf in the morgue


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Komodo said:


> TV show: ALF Episode night train: there is a o gauge layout in the garage.


I loved ALF....I wish they'd put re-runs on TV.


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## CNW 1518 (Feb 21, 2011)

sstlaure said:


> I loved ALF....I wish they'd put re-runs on TV.


That would be a major win


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

X-Men Origins Wolverine
The guy with the mind powers has a train in his trailer.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

big ed said:


> Captain Kangaroo
> 
> The Captain ran a compact Lionel "O" Gauge layout with two levels, like those built by Lionel for dealer displays.
> On one occasion, a 736 2-8-4 speed-ed off a curve on a trestle set.
> ...


Sorry ed...I don't remember that particular accident....but man did I ever get excited when the Capt. would pull out the train table and Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit would don the Engineer attire, which set up a Mr. Moose Knock-Knock joke and all those pingpong ball!!:laugh::laugh::thumbsup:


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*AAAHHAAA....To the Play Room!!!*



crosstie said:


> i remember the addams family tv show, gomez had a layout and had train wrecks alot


Yes Crosstie and Gomez always got a bang out of it.......what destruction!!!
The updated Addams Family with The late Raul Julia is hilarious....Mortia,OH NO..Pugsly..Fathers playing with his trains.....The the covered bridge.....He's got the Diesel.....dead mans curve!!! God give me a SIGN!!! Its on You Tube!!!


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## concretepumper (Jan 2, 2011)

Just watched Clockers the other day. A Spike Lee film about an Inner city kid who loves trains but never been on one. Pretty cool flick!


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

back to the future #3 has a model train set up to demo how they were going to get back to 1985. you know the steam engine is pushing the delorean to ( when this baby hits 88 miles an hour your going to see some serious shi%#@#*&.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

crosstie said:


> back to the future #3 has a model train set up to demo how they were going to get back to 1985. you know the steam engine is pushing the delorean to ( when this baby hits 88 miles an hour your going to see some serious shi%#@#*&.


LOOK HERE ... !!!

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=2219

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I don't know if this was listed already but it had some nice old trains in it.

This one I watched with the old (young) lady. Thanks to her. And I did not fall asleep like I do with most of her movies.:laugh:

It had Love and trains what more for a perfect family movie.

In it was the, 

Old 97 is based on the J-Class 2-8-2 steam locomotives that used to run on the New Haven Railroad. Old 97 was a common nickname for steam locomotives that had the number 97 on them.


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

what about Thunderbirds? they had a lot of model trains that make the Aero Train look tame


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Good one! I had fogotten about the Thunderbird puppets show ... from WAY back!

TJ


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## joe7034 (Feb 3, 2011)

I really don't know if this one counts, but on the RFD network, they run a show called 
"I Love Toy Trains" it show cases Lionel train layouts. They also run a show called 
"Trains and Locomotives" but they are real trains.

Joe


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I've rented the I Love Toy Trains videos for my kids ... good fun. We had some discussion of RFD here:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3684

TJ


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

My kids have the I Love Toy Trains box set....it entertains them quite nicely when we're driving long distances.


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

tjcruiser said:


> LOOK HERE ... !!!
> 
> http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=2219
> 
> TJ


 thanks for showing me that, awesome :thumbsup:


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*People will talk!*

For those O scale enthusiasts this movie will just thrill you. Cary Grant and Jean Crane in "People Will Talk"....about half way through the film she goes to a department store and buys a BUTT LOAD of Lionel Trains and then The boys start playing with them...at break neck speed! Old black and white but just a hoot...besides the trains!! Its on HULU or Crackle I can't remember!


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## log0008 (Jun 5, 2010)

model trains are often of colectable shows!


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## tyconator (May 5, 2011)

Superman Returns has a layout in it. The bad guy does anyways. One very supberd and wikcedly bada** layout!


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## tyconator (May 5, 2011)

Also, on a episode of Tom and Jerry, Jerry writes a comedic book and Tom ties ol' Jerry up to his train track of his trainset and plans to run him over 'til the cananry drops a bowling ball on Tom's train!


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## joe7034 (Feb 3, 2011)

I'm watching a rerun of Dexter from 2009 the getaway, Dexter has John lithgow taped to a table with an O-27 Lionel steam engine around the kill table. Great stuff
Joe


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

It was a rainy, nasty day here in RI today. I was stuck inside the house with the kids. We passed the time watching a few fun DVD's.

Had a blast watching Wallace & Gromit in the The Wrong Trousers ... fun model train chase scene, shown here, but with somebody else's poor-quality dubbed sound. My kids like the part at 2:30 where Gromit grabs a box of extra track, and starts laying down new line while he's whizzing along!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rk1s-aGHO8

And, to cap off our day of intellectual advancement, we also watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ... great fun there. Check out the "breakfast machine" train starting at 1:45 in this vid. I've gotta get me one of those!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVtuIiOWNVc (again, with dubbed voices)

TJ


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

Hey TJ....I'll bet you were humming"Oh,You,Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" to yourself at work today....what a good dad!!:thumbsup: Speaking of fun movies...rent the "Iron Giant"...great fun there!:thumbsup: Especially the Train Wreck!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Oh, yeah ... I'm a humming away ... "Truly Scrumptious ... you're truly, truly scrumptious!"

I happened to read that the real (and fully functional) prototype car used for the movie sold at auction recently. A gent in England had if for 20+ years, and sold it so someone in the US ... around $850k or so ... not quite the $2M they were hoping it would bring. Down market and all ...

"Iron Giant" ... duly noted. :thumbsup:

Cheers,

TJ


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

I second Iron Giant. Excellent movie.


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Mister Rogers Neighborhood, and I remember one episode of 'The King of Queens," where the layout burst in flames! :O - That poor Lionel PRR Steam Turbine, or as it's known as in the episode, "The Boston Bullet,"... Rest in Peace.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

trainguru said:


> I remember one episode of 'The King of Queens," where the layout burst in flames!


Excellent one!!! Jump into video around 7:00 ... flames  around 9:00






(It's amazing what one can find in a few seconds on YouTube!)

TJ


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Actualy, very depressing!


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

my daughter had the first Adams Family on yesterday. great footage of the first blown bridge and train crash...fantastic and sad all at once


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

There's also an episode of Arthur, called George and the Missing Puzzle Peice, where there is an asperger syndrome child named Carl, who's narrow focus is trains. Asperger Children, are a common and key part of the future of model railroading. God bless Marc Brown and PBS, for giving autistic children, model railroaders, and railfans, a pop culture voice!


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I wonder why it's always a Lionel train that gets blown up or torched. Does Hollywood have it in for O-gauge?


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

I know right, for once, I would like to see a live steam model, like a 7 and 1/2" model blow up, and they all head for the hills, in a pump car, vs. speeder chase, with the cops on the pump car!!! Then, the 5:15 bound for Baltimore, comes barreling down the track, and they all get tossed into a haystack, then the guys that blew up the model on accident, escape, while the cops are digging through the hay,trying to find them (it's a big hay stack), and walk of into the sunset. It would need to be a b&w silent to make any sence though, but it would be funny!


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*The Train on Hulu!*

I know this doesn't count...but I'm watching "the Train" on Hulu right now and still after all these years can't get enough of this movie! Especially Burt lancaster at the Yard, Burt working on one of the drivers in the machine shop....and even better Burt at the controls of his repaired engine out running a Spitfire thats stafing he and his crew as they race for Reive Rive to deliver the engine to the Nazis(the tunnel scene is terrificly intense!! My vote for Best Train movie EVER!!:thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

*Trains on HGTV ...*

I was flipping around on the tube tonight, and happened to catch an episode of Cash and Cari on HGTV ... "Cari" is someone who runs estate sales for people, looking for antiques/treasures along the way. On tonight's episode, the seller's home featured a large collection of Lionel O trains ... postwar, some prewar, etc. Nothing mindboggling, but it was nice to see some dedicated air time given to model trains.

And then ...

HGTV rolled into another Cash and Cari episode ... this one featured an old American Flyer / Gilbert (I think) large-scale (standard gauge???) loco ... needed some t.l.c., but sold for $320.

TJ


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

I saw that last night, that woman always has trains! I think she should just start a train layout. Does she even have kids of her own, because if she does... Need I say more?!


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

*Top Gear and Trains!!!!!!!*

Everybody that get's BBC America on their Cable or Satelite, watch Top Gear! There going to build "Autotrains" out of cars and camper trailers!!!  And you should also see the Top Gear: Race to the North. They had Tornado, the largest new steam locomotive built to date, in the preservation era!!!


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

just watched Rio Lobo last night. the script's not that great, but some good train stuff at the begining


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Just read an Blondie comic today. heres the link:

http://www.blondie.com/strip.php?month=9&year=2011&comic=2011-9-16


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

*Epicly Funny Blondie!!!*

That is EPIC! But what's wrong with 7 dining cars??? In my home town, we had a great dinner train, but then the freeway got in the way, and now it's up for grabs in the eastern part of the state now! I bought 2 dining cars at a train show this year, Rivarossi, HW, NYC & B&O, so what's wrong with that? Meanwhile, could there be copyright infringment with the "Lionel" name? - 

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
"Ayeeeee!" says the Fonz


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

THE TYCO MAN said:


> Just read an Blondie comic today. heres the link:http://www.blondie.com/strip.php


LOVE IT! I hadn't seen that in the paper yet today. Thanks for sharing!

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> LOVE IT! I hadn't seen that in the paper yet today. Thanks for sharing!
> 
> TJ



I don't get it?

I see no trains in the Blondie cartoon.

What am I missing?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ed -- the Blondie link changes daily. Here's the link to the strip from that specific day:

http://www.blondie.com/strip.php?month=9&year=2011&comic=2011-9-16

I'll edit the link above, too.


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## kursplat (Dec 8, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> Ed -- the Blondie link changes daily. Here's the link to the strip from that specific day:
> 
> http://www.blondie.com/strip.php?month=9&year=2011&comic=2011-9-16
> 
> I'll edit the link above, too.


:laugh: i'll take "threads that need expiration dates" for $100 alex


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Just watched the TV show The Big bang theory and Sheldon's friend/room mate suddenly likes trains! So, he goes to an lecture on how HO is way better and he likes O! Then he comes home gripin' how the HO guys are backless people and bring home a HO starter set. Then towards the end, he gets into N!


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## xrunner (Jul 29, 2011)

THE TYCO MAN said:


> Then towards the end, he gets into N!


:appl:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Saw that Bang episode ... good fun. Quite the pitch for Bachmann, huh?


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Watched the Wild, Wild West episode "The Night of the Deadly Bed"...in it the bad guy is explaining how his train destroyer is going to work, using an impressively sized working model mockup that looks to be S scale. I half expected him to turn to West and say,_ "Please excuse the crudity of this model, I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it."_:laugh::thumbsup:


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## rrbill (Mar 11, 2012)

One of the old b/w Sherlock Holmes movies takes place mostly on a Brit passenger train. The night shots of the train going by are obviously of a lighted model train; it is going too fast and its movements are jerky. It is shown a good bit in the wee hours.
The movie Silver Streak is shown from time to time on television. It features a real passenger train with a fictional road name. It has very funny parts and the end features a pretty spectacular train wreck involving the lead diesel locomotives remodeling a train station.


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## Kwikster (Feb 22, 2012)

Just trolling around and hit this thread. I loved everything posted here. Toss up on my fav being Gomez blowing up a bridge (saw that happen many, many times) and King of Queens train fire, hilarious!!!!!!!!!!

Did anyone notice Gomez used a ZW transformer?

Carl


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Kwikster said:


> Just trolling around and hit this thread. I loved everything posted here. Toss up on my fav being Gomez blowing up a bridge (saw that happen many, many times) and King of Queens train fire, hilarious!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Did anyone notice Gomez used a ZW transformer?
> 
> Carl


I read something somewhere that they went through a lot of Lionel recording the scenes.
Nothing but the best for Gomez.


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Watched Captain America last night. Has a train scene in it where they capture a nazi scientist. Not a model train, but, still have to share!


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## stevetil (Sep 6, 2011)

Wilford Brimley had a nice little model railroad
in the 1980s TV show Our House.
Pretty cool show that.
But haven't seen it on in ages.


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## lmdave (Apr 20, 2012)

Risky Business (1984) with Tom Cruise, there's an O scale train layout he's playing with towards the end.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Super 8... Real and model trains!
A train wreck, Bonus!
And an alien too! Double Bonus!


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## dablaze (Apr 17, 2012)

in 3rd Rock from the sun the is an episode where Dick figures out that he is pathetic and no woman would want him so he decides to take up model trains and stay home. Kind of rough humor at our expense but a good laugh.

On his next date when his potential lady friend asks Dick what he does for hobbies, he states that he "hangs out with models" 

Craig


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

dablaze said:


> "hangs out with models"


Hey ... my house is _filled_ with all sorts of super hot models!


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

they blow a nazi train to bits in red tails pretty crazy


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## rrbill (Mar 11, 2012)

There is an old b/w movie called "Danger Lights" from the 1930's. It shows scenes on a prototype railroad, the Milwakee Road, I believe. There are very rainy night scenes and good shots of a heavy work train at work. Robert Armstrong, who was the impressario in the original King Kong movie, is in this movie too.


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

i was just wacthing episode 26 of that 70s show when reds mom passes away and red is trying to get his dads old lionel from his gay brother


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## infernisdiem (Nov 12, 2011)

Didn't Robin Williams have a huge layout in Toy


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## crosstie (Jan 3, 2011)

i saw a movie the other day on disney family channel i think called the train master. was a pretty good movie. that man had a heck of a layout


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## Kwikster (Feb 22, 2012)

crosstie said:


> i saw a movie the other day on disney family channel i think called the train master. was a pretty good movie. that man had a heck of a layout


In that one he had a very nice HO scale (IIRC  )and a garden layout both cool. I recall some kids sneaking in and running his trains while he wasn't around.

Carl


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

Nobody so far has mentioned Diff'rent Strokes? The one with Gary Coleman living in a New York Penthouse with Mr. Drummond? I know he had a small Lionel layout in his room in one of the episodes.....

Also the movie Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger features a scene where they show a passenger train on Mars that is clearly a model; trying to pass it off as a real train. 

Not movies but on The Simpsons Reverend Lovejoy is shown on several occasions running an HO scale layout in his basement.....


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Here's a funny one.....

Most of Season 7 of "Trailer Park Boys" is a plotline where Bubbles (one of the main characters) steals the "Patrick Swayze Express" - I believe G-scale F-units from a train show in Maine. His buddies Julian and Ricky then decide to use it to smuggle hundreds of pounds of weed over the Canadian/US border.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNbranvGuoM


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Bobby Bacala of the Sopranos got whacked in TrainWorld, he was buying a mint Blue Comet.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Oh! I new the Sapranos train tie-in, but I didn't know he got whacked in the process. What a way to go, huh?!?


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

And what about the opening scene from "A Christmas Story" where all the little kids are pressing their noses up against the window at the local dept. store? 

Lots of Lionel trains running around a couple of loops there, going into a tunnel. 
One of them is a model of Union Pacific's M1000 streamliner in yellow and brown.


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Stephen King's Sometimes They Come Back, the movie, has a scene where the kid shows Jim Norman a Lionel engine.


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

*Rod on the Tube!*

Our favorite HO-Model Rocker Rod Stewart was on Katie Couric's talk show yesterday. A great tell all interview. It was fun, and when confronted about if he'd have sex, play music, or play soccer (football), he'd choose soccer, he'd said basicly "[none of the above]", and that it was implied that he'd rather model railroad!!! -  & 

This is a score for model railroaders everywhere! He is still the top celeberty I'd want to meet, and well, I'd say look up the clips on her blog. You have to see it to believe it; now if only we could see his LNER East Coast Main Line layout in England... -


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## Sasha (Jul 8, 2012)

*Donovan's Reef.*

My dad used to love a movie called "Donovan's Reef", starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. Funny movie. At the end, we see Lee Marvin lost in the world of his model train setup. He lowers his head down to track level to get the 'real train' effect. He's enjoying himself like a kid on Christmas. Great scene.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

:thumbsup:


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

When I see that pic, I see me as a kid...Woodland Scenics couldn't hold a candle to my imagination...

...wasn't that about the same time he beat the blinkity blank outta Ernest Borginine's character in "Emperor of the North"?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Reef -- 1963

North -- 1973

I saw North for the first time a few months back ... really liked it.

Cheers,

TJ


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

tjcruiser said:


> I saw North for the first time a few months back ... really liked it.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> TJ


My dad told me to watch it, gave a copy to me and my then newlywed bride, telling us how great a movie it was...after that last brutal fight scene, we were like, "Whaaaaaa....?"...just didn't win us over... 

"Ain't no 'boes riding my train." SMACKKKK!!! That rope thing was pretty wicked.


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## gustovski (Jul 7, 2011)

james mays toy stories:hornby and james mays toy stories the great train race both see a model train line going along the route of a closed railway line


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

*I've been waiting for someone to talk about that!*

The first one was a sad fail, but "The Great Train Race", I was UK all the way! To be correct, I was Team Scotsman! James May made it clear, that a Tri-Ang/Hornby Flying Scotsman, can out preform a Gerry freight train. That was the best James May's Toy Story ever!!! - :laugh::thumbsup:


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## gustovski (Jul 7, 2011)

trainguru said:


> The first one was a sad fail, but "The Great Train Race", I was UK all the way! To be correct, I was Team Scotsman! James May made it clear, that a Tri-Ang/Hornby Flying Scotsman, can out preform a Gerry freight train. That was the best James May's Toy Story ever!!! - :laugh::thumbsup:


it certainly was!


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## buickestate (Oct 24, 2012)

in the 1951 film "The Day the Earth stood still" the boy in the boarding house has a lionel train set up in his bedroom


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

Did anyone mention the model railway chase scene in Wallace & Gromit's "The Wrong Trousers" episode? 
They have what appears to be a G scale railroad running on the floor throughout the house; at the end of the show they have a chase scene where Wallace and Gromit are trying to catch a penguin robber. Supreme usage of model trains in a movie.....


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

buickestate said:


> in the 1951 film "The Day the Earth stood still" the boy in the boarding house has a lionel train set up in his bedroom


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Smokinapankake said:


> Did anyone mention the model railway chase scene in Wallace & Gromit's "The Wrong Trousers" episode?


See the YT link in this post (actual video, but with someone else's badly dubbed audio) ...

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=83611&postcount=56

One of the all-time great model treain vids!

TJ


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

You know, where I'm from, our trains don't run on track.
Hhmmm..... I wonder how?


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## buickestate (Oct 24, 2012)

THE TYCO MAN said:


> You know, where I'm from, our trains don't run on track.
> Hhmmm..... I wonder how?


he must be from a land down under


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

OK ... this "trains on TV" moment kind of irked me ...

I was watching The History Channel's documentary series The Men Who Built America last night. In general, the series is well done, though a bit too drawn out. It focuses on the industrial revolution business empires of Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, Ford, etc.

Last night's episode had a scene where J.P. Morgan was discussing the early efforts of in-home electrical lighting with Thomas Edison. Edison was a big proponent of DC power, as opposed to Tesla, who was a big proponent of AC power.

Anyway, while Morgan and Edison were chatting away (presumably around 1878 or 1880), there was an electric model train running around Edison's workshop table. OK ... I buy that ... perhaps Edison had kludge together some early-generation operative model.

However -- and this really irked me -- the model used to film the series was CLEARLY a postwar Lionel loco (a Scout, I think), running on O27 track, with a postwar 1015 transformer. Not even close to the proper period.

OK ... OK ... I'm nitpicking ... it really is an interesting documentary/series. But for us model train geeks, wouldn't have it been nice if they had used a more period-representative train?!?

Oh well ... nitpick ... nitpick ...



TJ


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## DJTrains (Oct 8, 2008)

A good thread. I started one like this a couple years ago on the antique radio forum (about old tube radios) and it's still going today.

As I get the time I'll check each post.

Nice work.


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## G&MRR (Feb 1, 2012)

Searched the thread, but didn't see it mentioned by either the movie's title or the main actor (Chevy Chase), the movie is called "Nothing But Trouble" theirs a dinner scene where the Judge(Dan Akroyd) has a Lionel set inside the table that has condiments on it. Starts at the 4:30 mark- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apjvf9YNzEM


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

<Roll eyes> ... no Academy Awards for that one, I bet. Fun seeing such a young Demi Moore. And I have to say that presto-button dining room table Lionel set was pretty cool.

Better not let T-Man see this, though ... else he'll be making a mustard dispenser tanker car in no time!

TJ


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

On King of The Hill when Peggy tries to sell a house in Arlen Hieghts and falls into a trap, Ted (Kahn's peer) had a train room complete with RR signs, a layout, and 1:1 scale whistle!


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Love it when the guy says I won't sit at a table with a pickle throwing train!


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## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

G&MRR said:


> Searched the thread, but didn't see it mentioned by either the movie's title or the main actor (Chevy Chase), the movie is called "Nothing But Trouble" theirs a dinner scene where the Judge(Dan Akroyd) has a Lionel set inside the table that has condiments on it. Starts at the 4:30 mark- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apjvf9YNzEM


I think I remember this movie when it came out. Despite how many big name stars were in it, it was an absolute bomb. I didn't remember the condiment train though!


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## Steve S (Jan 7, 2012)

Anybody remember the Ellery Queen series from the mid '70s? There was an episode that featured an O scale layout. Here it is on Youtube (skip ahead to the 6:55 mark.)






Steve S


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## N scale catastrophe (Nov 18, 2012)

shaygetz said:


> There's the movie "Arthur" with Dudley Moore. I believe it ran around his bathtub.


Arthur's main train layout was his headboard (I'm stealing that idea) and had a spur line that ran through his bathroom to deliver cocktails.


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## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

Steve S said:


> Anybody remember the Ellery Queen series from the mid '70s? There was an episode that featured an O scale layout. Here it is on Youtube (skip ahead to the 6:55 mark.)


"WOW! Some layout!"

That's exactly what I was thinking! Too bad they don't show it in action.


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## Essex (Nov 29, 2012)

I've been enjoying this thread; lots of memories and things to keep an eye out for. 

Did anyone mention the model train "game" in the arcade scene in the movie Harold & Maude? Toward the end of the movie they go to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. The scene opens with a close-up of a glassed in model railroad that Harold is operating. That railroad is long gone, replaced by video games but it sure was fun when I was a kid growing up there. I think it was O scale and was a sizable layout encased in glass. The track plan consisted of several separate loops with 3 or 4 throttles along each side. You payed a dime and got to operate one of several trains. No switching but you controlled the speed and the fun part was watching several trains going at once and not knowing where yours was really going to go. Must have been a maintenance nightmare. I know it was gone by 1978.


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

Smokinapankake said:


> Did anyone mention the model railway chase scene in Wallace & Gromit's "The Wrong Trousers" episode?
> They have what appears to be a G scale railroad running on the floor throughout the house; at the end of the show they have a chase scene where Wallace and Gromit are trying to catch a penguin robber. Supreme usage of model trains in a movie.....


I already mentioned it back on page 3 or 4.


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

The Station Agent 
A model train in the beginning as part of the set of a hobby shop. 
Great little movie. 
Check it out if you haven't since it features both model and real trains.


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

Toys "R" Us and Keurig uses model trains in their television commercials.

RaY


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## HelmsRacing (Dec 28, 2012)

Although not shown on tv, two and a half men (when charlie sheen was the star) mentions that allens exs new boyfriend has a model train room in her house. Only 1 episode does that. Sorry I'm not good with the names lol.


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## infernisdiem (Nov 12, 2011)

I am watching a league of their own with my wife, and shortly after the "there's no crying in baseball" scene, they pan the field and there is a Lionel Trains advertisement. Thought that was cool


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## THE TYCO MAN (Aug 23, 2011)

Helms, there is a episode where Allen's ex-wife boyfriend, Herb, has a room with a HO layout. Only one episode.


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## HelmsRacing (Dec 28, 2012)

THE TYCO MAN said:


> Helms, there is a episode where Allen's ex-wife boyfriend, Herb, has a room with a HO layout. Only one episode.


Yep! That's the one. "Choo choo" haha


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

*Operation Trainspotter*

http://www.hulu.com/watch/369611

I know these aren't exactly models (unless you count 1:1), but you've got to hand it to the Australians. I love a good spy thriller, and now they have something of some real value to protect!


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## Nevada wheel (Feb 18, 2012)

might of been mentioned..Sheldon (big bang theory) bought a layout, also Carries dad in King of Queens is a big O scale guy


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## KG RAILROAD (Mar 17, 2012)

Three and a half Men on CBS


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## imatt88 (Jan 31, 2010)

In Big Bang, Sheldon has some kind of O scale locomotive sitting on his shelf in his room.

It looks like a Lionel santa Fe F-3, but not sure


Love that show!:laugh:

Cheers, Ian


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## ktcards (Sep 22, 2012)

In then movie Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper has a model train which he opens his mouth to make a tunnel for the train to run through.


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## wsorfan4003 (Jan 14, 2013)

Or where Doc Emmett Brown and Marty Mcfly use a model railroad to model their plan to get.. BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!!


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

I don't recall any trains on the Main Street mockup that Doc Brown built......


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

There are some trains in some new commercials I just didn't catch what the commercials were for! And my mom watches the amazing race reality show, a few weeks ago the contestants had to put together a train set.


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## gustovski (Jul 7, 2011)

Smokinapankake said:


> I don't recall any trains on the Main Street mockup that Doc Brown built......


in number three were they are building the mock up


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## Smokinapankake (Sep 8, 2011)

I've only ever seen the first Back to the Future so was unaware of this.....


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## imatt88 (Jan 31, 2010)

Smoke,

You gotta watch the third one, the ending is great!

Cheers, Ian


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## GK Trains (Aug 10, 2013)

The I love Lucy show


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

imatt88 said:


> In Big Bang, Sheldon has some kind of O scale locomotive sitting on his shelf in his room.
> It looks like a Lionel santa Fe F-3, but not sure
> Love that show!:laugh:
> 
> Cheers, Ian


He buys a HO set and explains "Half the size of O but twice the fun."


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## Gordon the big engine (Aug 31, 2013)

There is model trains in one of the tom and jerry posts directed by Fred Quimby and colored by Tecnicolor.


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## rrbill (Mar 11, 2012)

In a recently seen Perry Mason b/w episode from about 1960, "The Case of the Deadly Toy", an O/027 gauge model railroad with an F3A unit and other cars was shown briefly.


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## Southern (Nov 17, 2008)

not a model but, 
the movie "Airborne" starts out with a F7a, and b SAL passenger train.


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## SteelWheels360 (Dec 31, 2013)

in the opening credits to A Christmas Story, there is a model train (looks like HO) in the store window. and I thought "The Toy" with Richard Pryor there was a model train sequence with a simulated cllision. havent seen that movie in 30 years though so i could be mistaken. sorry if someone already mentioned that.


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## Br 98.75 (Dec 26, 2013)

James Mays toy stories, the great train race and James Mays top toys.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Just saw "The Giant Gila Monster", where they messed up at least one Lionel passenger set and several 1:24 scale car kits. What a hoot...the hero's hot rod even alternated between white and black wall tires thru the movie and, they blew up a Buddy L tank truck pulled by a string to boot.


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## Jim 68cuda (Apr 23, 2014)

How about a Drivers Education film, "Live and Let Live", from 1947 filmed completely with models (automobiles and trains). 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wR1X5hGlA


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Jim 68cuda said:


> How about a Drivers Education film, "Live and Let Live", from 1947 filmed completely with models (automobiles and trains).
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wR1X5hGlA



Awesome...thanks for the link....


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## GuilliversGate (May 19, 2014)

I absolutely love that movie! The train scene is one of my favorites!


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## GuilliversGate (May 19, 2014)

Sorry, was referring to People Will Talk. Awesome movie!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

GuilliversGate said:


> Sorry, was referring to People Will Talk. Awesome movie!


That must be what gunrunner John's house looks like with his carpet layout. 
Though his would not have the accident with all the electrical gizmos he would build to run it.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

That was great. 
Eds house on the weekend!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I apologize if this has already been discussed ...

Twice over the past few weeks, I've seen snippets of some luxury car commercial on television that has had an old, abandoned train station (with steam locos) as its backdrop, along with some English-looking manor home.

I'm guessing that the backdrop buildings / locos are all computer generated, but perhaps not. Has anyone seen this commercial? What car company? Could the derelict train station possibly be real???

Very curious,

TJ


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

What brand were the luxury cars?


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

just caught glimpse of the commercial.

Mercedes benze

looked like one loco had elephant ears


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Of course, the Germans love their locomotives looking like Pachyderms!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks, Cole ... I didn't recall which car brand was featured. Now I know, and I'll do a quick Google to find out some background. Cool commercial, huh?!


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

tjcruiser said:


> Thanks, Cole ... I didn't recall which car brand was featured. Now I know, and I'll do a quick Google to find out some background. Cool commercial, huh?!


yeah, cool commercial. first I thought it might be the jaq commercial with the brits, and then there it was, like five minutes after I read ur post.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks again, Cole. Here's the full Mercedes commercial. I did some Google reading. Apparently, the train station is real ... Elem Utaca 57, Budapest, Hungary ...

http://www.abandonedplaygrounds.com/abandoned-trains-in-the-istvantelek-train-graveyard/

The mansion is also real ... Schossberger Castle in Hungary. (though not so run down in real life).


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Fright Night II!!*

Watched Fright Night II last night and after his psych session Charlie Brewster is leaving the office and his Doctor starts what looks like an HO train set up!!


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## 400E Blue Comet (Jul 11, 2014)

In the show "King of the Hill", there's a scene in an episode where Ted Wassanasong was running model trains.


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## RONNDO (Oct 21, 2014)

There were a couple of episodes of columbo with trains in them.


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## Shadowplayer (Oct 31, 2014)

What is the black and white short where the husband gets crazy obsessed with model trains and the wife is seeking out help but it turns out the guy who she is seeking help from is also into trains?

EDIT: Found it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml1Yf489BnI


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## rrbill (Mar 11, 2012)

I like the "ONEL TRAINS" sign in the background of the hobby shop scene. The movie is from 1955; you can't help but wish it had been shot in color. I imagine that would have been deemed far too expensive back then.
In about 1952 or so, the NW2 switcher shown in the dining room scene cost about $ 25.00 at a local Lionel dealer at Christmas time; it might have been a Santa Fe model. Can anyone make out the roadname on the model in the movie?


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## rdmtgm (Nov 25, 2011)

Last weeks "Marvel's Agents of Shield" featured a large multi- layered layout as a main part of the story. Basically a three dimensional map. I think they were HO scale.


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## Shadowplayer (Oct 31, 2014)

do you have a link?


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## rdmtgm (Nov 25, 2011)

been trying to find a good clip of the train but have had no luck so far


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## Shadowplayer (Oct 31, 2014)

Or a link to the episode at least?


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## rdmtgm (Nov 25, 2011)

you can get last weeks episode on hulu.com


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

rdmtgm said:


> Last weeks "Marvel's Agents of Shield" featured a large multi- layered layout as a main part of the story. Basically a three dimensional map. I think they were HO scale.


Just started watch MAOS on Netflix and last week on tv and sure as shooting thats an HO set up sooo cool!!


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## milehighxr (Dec 22, 2012)

Last nights episode of Grimm, Monroes X-mas trains are running on fasttrack even. Wife just rolled her eyes as I pointed it out:dunno:


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## infernisdiem (Nov 12, 2011)

Shadowplayer said:


> What is the black and white short where the husband gets crazy obsessed with model trains and the wife is seeking out help but it turns out the guy who she is seeking help from is also into trains?
> 
> EDIT: Found it
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml1Yf489BnI


I showed this to my wife, and when she saw the huge layout, her exact words were "If you did that, you would come home to it burning in the middle of the room." Though, the verdict on the table setup is still out lol.


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## infernisdiem (Nov 12, 2011)

G&MRR said:


> Searched the thread, but didn't see it mentioned by either the movie's title or the main actor (Chevy Chase), the movie is called "Nothing But Trouble" theirs a dinner scene where the Judge(Dan Akroyd) has a Lionel set inside the table that has condiments on it. Starts at the 4:30 mark- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apjvf9YNzEM


I just showed my wife this video clip, and she said that she may let me make something like this for our kitchen table lol


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## Bkubiak (Oct 20, 2013)

There is a commercial on right now for a new car with a train running around it and that Steamer Loco has to be the best Smoker I have ever seen, could it be smoking that good or was it doctored up with magic for the commercial?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Beware the cgi.......


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Just saw the opening of the movie "Holiday Affair", made in 1949. The opening credits and first few minutes show, I assume, Lionel trains in a Christmas display at a department store. Robert Mitchum is the salesman. I'm curious to see what else shows up.


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## microbuss (Mar 13, 2015)

About the Addams Family movie?
The diesel loco was a complete FAKE 
was designed to explode 

other movies with model trains are:
Total Recall with Arnold That one was a model on the set of Mars 
Chip n Dale with Donald Duck: Out of Scale & Toy Tinkers
Sierra #3 4-6-0 Need I say more?

ohh in a early B&W episode of The Wild Wild West there was a HO scale train set!
Lone Ranger movie there was a HO set in the business car 

Hopefully Pixar/Disney is working on a Trains movie hehe


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

microbuss said:


> Lone Ranger movie there was a HO set in the business car


Even though that movie is total fiction and not at all historically accurate, I wonder if they really did have toy wind up trains back then.


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

I dunno if this one has been mentioned yet.... 
The Twilight Zone: Stopover in a Quiet Town. 
The train scene starts at about 20:00 but if you haven't seen it already, I suggest you do. It's one of the best. (Then again, all of them were!) 

http://www.tv.com/shows/the-twilight-zone/watch/stopover-in-a-quiet-town-12736/


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

microbuss said:


> Hopefully Pixar/Disney is working on a Trains movie hehe


I think Thomas the Tank Engine likely has the train franchise wrapped up.....


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

don't know if it's been mentioned. seen a rerun of Castle the other day with an O gauge running around christmas tree.


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## SW900L&C (Jun 21, 2015)

*Loco Motives: CSI*

In the Crime drama CSI (Vegas) season 7 had a recurring story (episodes 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 16, 20, & 24 and then wraps up in season 8) about a serial killer who built scale dioramas of the crime scene and sent them to the crime lab. In season 7 episode 10 “Loco Motive” the plot appears to climax when a man who builds model trains is confronted and about the murders and confesses. They confront him in his train room, HO scale ATS&F, I think. It is featured prominently. During the investigation, the CSIs visit a hobby shop which was enlightening to the general public. When ever this plot line popped up, my wife gave me a strange “are YOU a serial killer” look.

The you tube link is below.

[Loco Motives][https://youtu.be/KAqIlWPH6aM]

She also reminded me there is a train set (toy train ) in Toy Story 2.


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## milehighxr (Dec 22, 2012)

Any time I point out a model train, or a Merkur(or it's euro ancestor) in a movie/TV my wife just rolls her eyes, and shakes her head.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

milehighxr said:


> Any time I point out a model train, or a Merkur(or it's euro ancestor) in a movie/TV my wife just rolls her eyes, and shakes her head.


Women in general, but wives in particular, are good at that in all sorts of situations!! :laugh:


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## milehighxr (Dec 22, 2012)

Indeed


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## jimtone (Nov 11, 2014)

Sapronos!


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## Viperjim1 (Mar 19, 2015)

*Trains in movies/ sitcoms*

What about Big Bang theory, Sheldon models HO , but he likes n scale because he can fit it in his mouth.


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## Shadowplayer (Oct 31, 2014)

Viperjim1 said:


> What about Big Bang theory, Sheldon models HO , but he likes n scale because he can fit it in his mouth.


I thought the Z scale was the one he liked because he could put it in his mouth


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

''HO, half the size of O but twice the fun''. It's N scale that he pops into his mouth.


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## microbuss (Mar 13, 2015)

Viperjim1 said:


> What about Big Bang theory, Sheldon models HO , but he likes n scale because he can fit it in his mouth.


true but I think in Sheldon's room there are O scale trains on the back walls :laugh:


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## jimtone (Nov 11, 2014)

Allright then, got it!


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Classic collector Monroe!!*



milehighxr said:


> Last nights episode of Grimm, Monroes X-mas trains are running on fasttrack even. Wife just rolled her eyes as I pointed it out:dunno:


Saw this when the show first hit the Tube and laughed my *** off at Monroe's excitement and nicks utter lack of understanding...train Guys!!:laugh::laugh:


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

The actor who plays Sheldon Copper is actually a big time model railroader in real life. Just like in the show he really is from Texas. 
My favorite Twilight Zone ever is the one about the couple who wake up in a little girls model train layout.


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

The movie "End of The Line with Wilfred Brimley, Kevin Beacon and the great Leon Helm. It's a train movie with one scene where the president of Southland has a large ho scale layout in his office.


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## FJX2000 (Sep 24, 2015)

There is a Thomas the Tank Engine set in the commercial for Ant Man so im sure it is in that movie (have yet to see it)


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## SamM (Nov 5, 2015)

Skimming through the forum, and found this thread. Since it didn't any more attention...



TimTheTrainMan said:


> The Station Agent
> A model train in the beginning as part of the set of a hobby shop.
> Great little movie.
> Check it out if you haven't since it features both model and real trains.


I just saw The Station Agent over the weekend. I must agree - great little movie! Early scenes in a hobby train shop, but the rest of the movie used trains, an old train station, and some wonderful cinematography to hold together a touching film about friendship. Currently available on Netflix streaming

Also, another movie about a train, (briefly) had a model train circling the Christmas tree near the end:

https://goo.gl/photos/dRj7U7a5Jw1Q6vDS9


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

The Station Agent was a great little movie, I enjoy it every time I see it. I bought the dvd at Fry's.


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## A&NRR (Aug 2, 2015)

SamM said:


> Skimming through the forum, and found this thread. Since it didn't any more attention...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 The picture looks like the end of The Polar Express, I watch that one in July when my in-laws come over just to make them wonder who did their daughter marry.


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## DJMartin (Jan 4, 2010)

I've got one more for you all...

There's a commercial out for the Ontario power monopoly, called "More Room to Play", and it features model trains and accessories that my club, Greater Toronto Toy Trains, provided. We first set up Fastrack in the living room, running over chairs and through bookshelves. Then we built a full-on 15'x12' layout in the basement. The premise is that the space saved by switching to a more efficient furnace and water heater can afford you the room to finally build that layout you've always wanted. Yes, of course it can...

See the results here, on our own Youtube channel: 




And here's the link to the official Youtube channel, where you can see the other 2 vignettes that were part of this series, cupcakes and tortilla chips (as of this writing, the train ad is logging in 5 to 10 times as many hits as the other 2): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9DaSRhvCUtOD5t_3RjW0g/videos


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## ShaderMike (Jan 23, 2016)

Most of the final battle in Ant-Man (2015) takes place on an HO-Scale Thomas layout. Below is just a short clip.


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## Guest (Jul 11, 2016)

I read through a lot of this though not all and didn't see these referenced:

In Home Alone there's a G gauge train with human cutouts running to make the burglars think there's people home.

In Christmas Vacation there is a very brief 1 or 2 second shot of what looks like HO trains running when Clark goes to the department store.

In the TV show The Untouchables one of the gangsters has either standard or O gauge running in his home. I don't remember the episode or even who the gangster was but I thought the train was cool.


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## jimtone (Nov 11, 2014)

And the Sapranos had Tony's brother inlaw in O guage heaven in his garage with much grief from the misses! It was a couple of episodes showing the trains but the one I'm describing was when Tony gets shop by his crazy uncle who was awaiting his trial date.


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## time warp (Apr 28, 2016)

1965 - Peter Ustinov, Shirley MacLaine and Richard Crenna.
"John Goldfarb, Please come home" Has Lionel and Ives trains running around in King Fawz' castle. Crappy movie but fantastic old trains.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

watched 'hell on wheels' a while ago, decent series, and there was some info some place? that showed how they made the steam loco, wood, foam, plaster .. and how they made it move


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## janedoedad (Jan 24, 2016)

Walt Disney was a railroad enthusiast. (What, you didn't know that?  )

1951 - Out of Scale

This is a short where Donald Duck isd working on his backyard steam RR and runs into trouble with Chip and Dale. This particular 'short' version is edited down and remastered.


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

Ahhhh, the cartoons of old. They were so much better than that garbage that fills the air these days!

There always was a good cartoon when we went to a movie as kids. I have no idea when that practice stopped, but it sure was fun.


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## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

I've been watching old episodes of The Fugitive on TV. Anyone ever noticed that the train derailment in the opening credits during which Richard Kimble escapes uses a Lionel passenger car? It's kind of comical, but makes sense for the special effects of the day.


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## luvadj (Jul 3, 2017)

"Young Sheldon" on CBS has an O-Scale layout in the garage....Sheldon on "The Big Bang Theory" has shown his trains on many episodes over the years as well as adorning his shelves in his room....


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## Guest (Dec 16, 2017)

eljefe, thanks for the Fugitive intro. That is definitely a model passenger car. 

janedoedad, I really enjoyed the Donald Duck/ Chip and Dale cartoon. Fun stuff, thanks for posting it.


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

Wild Wild West


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

The Fugitive Movie
In the movie the train crash scene was shot using actual trains. It was filmed in North Carolina and they are still there. 
Just outside Dillsboro on the old Murphy Branch of the Southern. ( Now Great Smoky Mountain Railroad)


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

And to get back to the original subject; Leave It To Beaver had a couple episodes with model trains. One was his large Lionel layout he had set up on his bedroom floor, complete with accessories. 
Another was an episode where he and his brother Wally visited a girl just so they could play with her father’s “lectric trains”, as only Beaver could say. 
That was a nice American Flyer layout.


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## CanuckDad (Dec 11, 2017)

The fight scene from AntMan?


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## Krieglok (Sep 7, 2013)

Addams Family....

Tom


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## VegasN (Mar 14, 2016)

Im not sure if anyone has mentioned this or not, but, The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon in a few episodes was trying to determine what scale he wanted, so he bought a few.....by the end of the first episode (featuring trains), he declared he was an "official HO Trainiac.


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## Viperjim1 (Mar 19, 2015)

Ah but don't forget he liked n scale because he could fit in his mouth.


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## Frisco Firefly (May 17, 2012)

GREAT Lionel train layout clip from "People Will Talk"


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## Oldnewchoo (Aug 31, 2018)

I think their argument after was just as good..


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## Roving Sign (Apr 23, 2017)

Maybe its been mentioned - but I caught the "Runaway Caboose" episode of Little House On The Prairie the other day.

It also has a few model train scenes - looked like some clockwork.

But the runaway caboose scenes are cool. They show the inside nicely.

Lots of good train scenes all around.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0633123/

Look like Amazon has it.


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## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

RGC said:


> Mister Rogers neighborhood.


Captain Kangaroo had an h0 train as well. I think it was a "kelogg's" train.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Good Movie as well!*



Frisco Firefly said:


> GREAT Lionel train layout clip from "People Will Talk"
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjoOMCT7hEA


The day at the Department store and the eventual argument between Walther Sleazac and Cary Grant about how many whistles and toots are required on the main line...hilarious stuff and great Train Scene!!:thumbsup:


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

People Will Talk is a pure classic.


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## Frisco Firefly (May 17, 2012)

For the American Flyer Fans

Gilbert Goes Hollywood
http://americanflyerdisplays.org/hollywood/hollywood.htm

Leave it to Beaver - April 16, 1958
http://americanflyerdisplays.org/jalbum-video/litb-matrixslide/index.html


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## TimTheTrainMan (Jan 16, 2011)

Wow! 
I had no idea of the scale  that this post would get to when I first started it years ago and was not expecting to see it continue!
Like a train, keep it rolling and chugging and tugging! 

I dunno if anyone has mentioned this one yet, but on a recent rewatch of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, his son has a model train he plays with in his room.


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## EJ&EKeith (Jan 10, 2020)

Didn’t Francis in Pewees Big Adventure have a model railroad?


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## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

*Sheldon*



microbuss said:


> true but I think in Sheldon's room there are O scale trains on the back walls :laugh:


Because if it's not O scale it's No Scale.


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