I saw this film in early elementary school around 1962. It scared me to death, especially the little girl getting hit with the rock and broken glass. I used to sneak onto the tracks near our house and climb under and on parked railcars. This film cured me of that.
I grew up next to the big Southern Pacific Switching Yard in Roseville, California from 1955 until I moved away in 1973, the same year as the big Roseville Railyard Explosions in April of that year when ordinance bound for Fort Ord blew up when overheated brakes caught the wooden floors of a car on fire.
As a kid, I used to watch the SP switch in Gonzales, Tx., in the late 60's. The conductor, or brakeman, always told to pick a spot away from the tracks, and don't move from that spot till they were done; I sat in that spot numerous times, and the crew was always appreciative of me doing what I was told to do, and following instructions. Great memories!
I worked with a guy back about 1980/81, and he didn't come into work one morning. We soon heard that he had missed his train, and tried to run after it and climb on the steps. His weight shifted, his legs went under the wheels and were cut off... he died very quickly. When I was younger I often thought how cool it would be to jump a train and go where it took me... luckily I chickened out, mostly because I was afraid of the rail yard workers, and what they would do if they caught me. But I learned later that the actual act of jumping a train was not so easy, and very dangerous.
Nice footage of some beautiful Alco PA diesels in the Daylight paint scheme. The PA was a beautiful locomotive but the diesel prime movers were rushed through development and just did not hold up. Some PAs were repowered but most were scrapped. Doyle McCormick is restoring one of the last surviving PAs
“And that young boy’s name was Buster Keaton. Sure it was funny when he got his foot stuck and the train almost hit him, but he became an alcoholic and was institutionalized for a while. Then he married his nurse, but lost his fortune in the divorce. So kids, if you don’t want to wear a straight jacket and lose all your money, stay away from those train yards!”
That loco on the trestle, the one Dan almost greased the rails for, has some magnificent brakes. aaaaayup, it even sucked the smoke and steam right back in! That's impressive, yes?
Yeah a number of years ago one of the local TV stations in Houston reported on and had tons of film about kids having to climb over or under trains stopped across the tracks for prolonged periods so they could go to or get home from school... mile long trains waiting to get into yards or chemical plants just blocking everything for a half hour to an hour at least at a time.. crazy...
They showed this at my school in Tracy, CA in 1956. I was in first grade. Tracy then was a railroad town and the school was only a few blocks from the railroad yard. As a 6 year old this movie scared the hell out of me when the kid got his foot caught in the track. Of course, that was the idea.
Sir Topham Hatt: [crossly] I am, however, very disappointed in you, Oliver. You should know not to go so fast in the storm. And using the express line? Very dangerous. Once you'll repaired, you'll be shunting in the yard for the next week. I'm sure one of the shunters will love a change of scenery.
9:50 Look above the smokebox door in front of the smokestack. This is one of the few SP Pacifics fitted with an air horn, all of which were a part of the P-6 class I believe. This one looks to be 2456 or 2458. Edit: It’s gotta be 2458 because apparently 2456 got rebuilt into a streamlined P-14 for the Texas and New Orleans.
I don't recall adults of that era being gentle with explaining to kids about the wrongdoings. It was typical of adults back then to be hostile, with the adults harshly scolding the kids for the misbehavior.
Not everyone is the same. This fellow was obviously a nice guy. Heck, he was old enough to be a grandpa so he had learned patience plus he said that he knew these kids from his neighborhood. The only thing that I was wondering was that his trainmaster/yardmaster didn't mind his sitting around with the kids when he was on the clock with work to be done.
6:25 BAD editing there. Smoke is going into the locomotive! 😂😂 8:47 Never really heard accounts of kids throwing rocks at passenger trains. Freight trains yes. Gotta love the ALCO PAs though. 9:30 More bad editing. Guy teleports into the Twilight Zone! 😁
Always "that one"... like dumb@sses dropping rocks and bricks and blocks off highway overpasses onto vehicles below... it's happened, rare, but done...
Cos these kids did not have 58 thsd steam locos 1945 they probably went off to die in the 48. 56.67. 73 91. Or 2001 to2021 oil wars in the mid east. Happy holidays kid.
That cutaway piece showing the on-coming train in that segment, the background looked like the mountains around South San Francisco. The area you astutely pointed out is flatland near the San Francisco Bay.
I saw this film in early elementary school around 1962. It scared me to death, especially the little girl getting hit with the rock and broken glass. I used to sneak onto the tracks near our house and climb under and on parked railcars. This film cured me of that.
I grew up next to the big Southern Pacific Switching Yard in Roseville, California from 1955 until I moved away in 1973, the same year as the big Roseville Railyard Explosions in April of that year when ordinance bound for Fort Ord blew up when overheated brakes caught the wooden floors of a car on fire.
Back to the future nice touch smooth operator I like the style
Dang, that must’ve been bad
The channel Fascinating Horror just covered that event. I was a little kid living in Carmichael at the time.
So interesting to see how life was back in the 1950's
A LOT LOT more FREEDOM, and FAR FAR less crime!!
That toy train resembles the S.P. "daylight".
As a kid, I used to watch the SP switch in Gonzales, Tx., in the late 60's. The conductor, or brakeman, always told to pick a spot away from the tracks, and don't move from that spot till they were done; I sat in that spot numerous times, and the crew was always appreciative of me doing what I was told to do, and following instructions. Great memories!
And now most of that playground equipment is considered too dangerous to play on. Man, I loved those spinning merry-go-rounds!
Today the safety freaks have gone too far, taking the fun out of everything we do! Kids today don't even know what danger is!
@@agems56 Society as a whole sucks thanks to these safety freaks.
Man the organ music is just... beautiful.
“Now you children stay off the railroad tracks….go play cowboys and Indians and drink out of the garden hose.”
best comment
What?? NOOOOOO!!! You just sent them kids to an early death!!
And don't come back in the house before 6!
Those were the days!
I worked with a guy back about 1980/81, and he didn't come into work one morning. We soon heard that he had missed his train, and tried to run after it and climb on the steps. His weight shifted, his legs went under the wheels and were cut off... he died very quickly.
When I was younger I often thought how cool it would be to jump a train and go where it took me... luckily I chickened out, mostly because I was afraid of the rail yard workers, and what they would do if they caught me. But I learned later that the actual act of jumping a train was not so easy, and very dangerous.
Back in the bad old days when kids still went outside and ran and played on balance beams and the steel climbing cage.....😮
8:40 that southern pacific locomotive is huge
I consider it imperative that one remains on the "right side" of the tracks.
I remember seeing these films in schools
Nice footage of some beautiful Alco PA diesels in the Daylight paint scheme.
The PA was a beautiful locomotive but the diesel prime movers were rushed through development and just did not hold up.
Some PAs were repowered but most were scrapped.
Doyle McCormick is restoring one of the last surviving PAs
Great documentary for people young and old
5:04 OMG 😅 If a grown ass man had a bunch of neighborhood kids on his lap at a train yard, heads would roll!
And THAT IS what your mind first went too?? Talking about the degradation of culture and society!!
@@SMichaelDeHart almost heaven
@@West_Coast_Mainline indeed...wild and wonderful, too.
Nah, it was just the girls.
Man, if i had a nickel for every penny I flattened while playing around the railroad tracks.
“And that young boy’s name was Buster Keaton. Sure it was funny when he got his foot stuck and the train almost hit him, but he became an alcoholic and was institutionalized for a while. Then he married his nurse, but lost his fortune in the divorce. So kids, if you don’t want to wear a straight jacket and lose all your money, stay away from those train yards!”
🤣😂
Rofl
That loco on the trestle, the one Dan almost greased the rails for, has some magnificent brakes. aaaaayup, it even sucked the smoke and steam right back in! That's impressive, yes?
hilarious
Yeah a number of years ago one of the local TV stations in Houston reported on and had tons of film about kids having to climb over or under trains stopped across the tracks for prolonged periods so they could go to or get home from school... mile long trains waiting to get into yards or chemical plants just blocking everything for a half hour to an hour at least at a time.. crazy...
They showed this at my school in Tracy, CA in 1956. I was in first grade. Tracy then was a railroad town and the school was only a few blocks from the railroad yard. As a 6 year old this movie scared the hell out of me when the kid got his foot caught in the track. Of course, that was the idea.
Sir Topham Hatt: [crossly] I am, however, very disappointed in you, Oliver. You should know not to go so fast in the storm. And using the express line? Very dangerous. Once you'll repaired, you'll be shunting in the yard for the next week. I'm sure one of the shunters will love a change of scenery.
9:50 Look above the smokebox door in front of the smokestack. This is one of the few SP Pacifics fitted with an air horn, all of which were a part of the P-6 class I believe. This one looks to be 2456 or 2458.
Edit: It’s gotta be 2458 because apparently 2456 got rebuilt into a streamlined P-14 for the Texas and New Orleans.
Those air horns sound terrible compared to the original steam horns!
The company that started the now defunct Sprint phone company.
I don't recall adults of that era being gentle with explaining to kids about the wrongdoings. It was typical of adults back then to be hostile, with the adults harshly scolding the kids for the misbehavior.
Not everyone is the same. This fellow was obviously a nice guy. Heck, he was old enough to be a grandpa so he had learned patience plus he said that he knew these kids from his neighborhood. The only thing that I was wondering was that his trainmaster/yardmaster didn't mind his sitting around with the kids when he was on the clock with work to be done.
The kids playing around in that railroad yard seemed pretty typical for that era.
On single tracks, I often saw people looking both ways right after a train had passed! So funny!
Actually, that a good habit to develop, then you will automatically do it on places with more than one track!
Were stunt children used in this film?
8:44, That Boy who threw that Rock BETTER BE IN PRISON.
Glen likes to cause trouble.
I kept expecting a woman tied to the rails to be saved by a character named Dudley Do-right.
They sure kept the joint -rail track in nice shape then.
Labor was still cheap!
8:47 lesson don’t throw things a trains especially passenger trains
That’s from the footage from Marshall Publishing
Dangerous Playground? They were an awesome band, I saw them open for Jesus Lizard back in 1995.
Very Eraserhead quality to the theme music.
6:25 BAD editing there.
Smoke is going into the locomotive!
😂😂
8:47 Never really heard accounts of kids throwing rocks at passenger trains. Freight trains yes.
Gotta love the ALCO PAs though.
9:30 More bad editing. Guy teleports into the Twilight Zone! 😁
Holy moly video editing in 1950 wasn’t the greatest? almost like they were cutting physical film!
Always "that one"... like dumb@sses dropping rocks and bricks and blocks off highway overpasses onto vehicles below... it's happened, rare, but done...
Pipe organ music would have been more dramatic!
1:05 cab forward steamer
Was the rail officer too far away to catch them, or too fat to run and catch them?
G O L D
👍
The circus music is terrible to have for this.
Cos these kids did not have 58 thsd steam locos 1945 they probably went off to die in the 48. 56.67. 73 91. Or 2001 to2021 oil wars in the mid east. Happy holidays kid.
What the hell are RAYroad tracks???😂😂😂
9:40 Pennsylvania Ave & Chestnut St, Redwood City, CA 94063
That cutaway piece showing the on-coming train in that segment, the background looked like the mountains around South San Francisco. The area you astutely pointed out is flatland near the San Francisco Bay.