20th century fox has been in town for the last month filming a movie called "UNSTOPPABLE". It star's Denzel washington,Chris Pine and a few other big names. It is directed by Tony Scott. Anyway they are making a few "fake" locomotives for a crash seen in the movie. I have been watching them build these two locomotives from scratch for the last month. The inside's of the loco's are simply 2"x2" square tubing. if you notice on the back of the one loco they made a hooking mechanism that is going to hook a huge cable when the train goes by and derail it. there is then going to be a huge explosion and fire after they derail it. Should be pretty neat to see. They also poured 50 truck loads of cement and then covered it with dirt where they are going to crash them. When they are done all the concrete needs to be ripped and disposed of. It is very obvious that money is not an issue while they are filming. They paid ppl that live along the railway $1000 a day just to stay out of site. here is a few pics. The loco's look real but look close. Remember these pics when you see the film next year.
more pics,other work for the set and prepared crash site.
more
cool pics.... I like to look for stuff that looks phoney in movies. I always get the "it's a movie, be quiet"
thats awesome! It will be a must see.... it shall be interesting to see what they do. How much security do they have?
round the clock security. yesterday the were shooting a seen where someone is trying to get on the train while hanging from a cable on a helicopter. The train was actually moving at a good speed to. They parked a nice dually ford pickup with a horse trailer on the tracks and rammed it.The director didnt like the play back so they went and got another one (truck and trailer) and did it again. A couple of my friends actually got parts in the movie. Ya it will be neat to see. I will be taking more pics in the future.
I will probably be one of the I'll wait for the redbox to see movie.... I think the last movie we went to was 40 bucks for 3...21 bucks admit.... 1 pop.. 1 popcorn.. 1 box of candy....19 bucks
Movie "magic"! Thanks, Reuben. That's pretty cool stuff. :notworthy Are you involved, or were you just close enough to get the pictures by coincidence? I don't know when or where, but that movie is supposed to be filming in Pittsburgh too.
ya they are filming in pitt also. We are possibly going to do some work with them but it depends on our schedule. I am supposed to start a penn dot bridge next monday and a acid mine drainage job the same week and if they both start I will be swamped and not be able to do any work for that movie.
yeah ruben thats cool stuff. I have a friend that is getting his harley in the movie, and they are even letting him ride it... Glad to hear work is going well for you.
they just filmed a few scences for a movie around me. shut down a major highway for the day. turned traffic into a nightmare. everybody parked at every overpass... trying to "see a star" i dont get it... but thats just me. 40$ for 3 people to see a movie is a great deal. here 3 tickets would be 33.75$. (48$ if its one of those 3D movies) a soda, popcorn and box of candy would be be about 22$
They filmed a movie here about 40 yeas ago..... pretty much shut down what ever they wanted.... we had a generator trailer parked near our house.... about 6 blocks away from the filming.... bellowing about 15 - 20 hours a day.... now that I think about it must have been a Detriot.. Matinee tickets....and one was a kids..... first run theater Usually we go to a cheapie theater that show movies that are a few years old... but the redbox has kinda taken that out of the picture ..also
ya they closed thewhole east end of town down the other day from 9am-3pm to film. there was some truck drivers that were pretty ticked off. A guy in a log truck told a cop that he was just going to drive through and the cop told him that if he did he was going to be arrested. THe guy was just trying to make a living but at the same time the posted on the tv radio news papaer road signs etc that it was going to be closed. I was talking to the special effect guy today and he said the plan is to film the train wreck and explosion seen on monday. He had the caple they are going to use to derail it in the back of his truck and it most have been three inch's thick. he said I hope it works because it is going to be right at the tensil strength thresh hold of the cable. I may just make sure I am in the neighbor hood on monday to watch. If I am I will be sure to take pictures.
Looks like they have a piece of square tubing in the undercarriage that will come down to lift the wheels off the track and assist the de-railment. That will be fun to watch for sure.
you know I saw that and wondered what it was. there is several throughout the undercarriage of the loco's and I would bet that is what they are. VERY OBSERVANT FELLOW YOU ARE!!!!
weather permitting they are going to crash the train tommorrow. i took more pics this evening but I am to tired to down load and post them. I am hoping to video the de-railment and post it on here.
Um they forgot the most important thing on a train the horns, where are the horns!!!!!
Look very close...the horns are there. They did not film the crash seen today but they filmed the seen leading up to the crash. they had to move the fake train out of site and to my surprise it ended up about a mile and a half down the track from where it was at which is just across the road from my house. The seen fimed today including all kinds of emergency equipment,cop cars,ambulance's,fire trucks,and several helicopters. I had my CB on in my pick-up and heard a few passing truck drivers talking. Seems they thought it was all really happening and I cut in and told them it was actually a movie production. My brother is a Pa state trooper in the movie and one of our employee's is a fire men. My bro told me he had to stand about ten feet from the tracks while the train sped by at over 45mph with a helicopter about 20 feet above the ground chasing after it. He said they had to do several takes and everytime they did it it was huge rush. He also said it was very hard not to duck everytime the helicopter buzzed by. I know this is all kind of off subject for this forum but I thought everyone would be interested.I here are some more pics and if you guys want I will post more as I get em, If you all want me to. They are filming here for the next few weeks so I will prob get some good ones. The cop cars,firetrucks,ambulance's,and red ford trucks are all props for the movie. In one seen Denzel Washington runs out of a little country store jumps in the front of one of those red ford dually's truck,right over the seat into the back and a stunt driver slides over into the driver seat and takes off like a mad man. The trucks must be really tuned up because they take off at an amazing rate of acceleration!!
They are supposed to be headed to a little town south of me called Brewster. There is a large train yard there, they are supposed to film part of the movie there. The dates are coming up, or have already passed. Interesting how they film in so many different places.
MY brother and friend/employee in pics. Ambulance says Stanton,pa. Is there a stanton,pa?
There is a Stanton. http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Stanton&state=pa
Keep em coming, Reuben. If it begins to look too off topic we can move it to TGIF, but it really is interesting. :thumbsup
spoken by the extreme makeover guy! LOL
That tandem axle Ford is interesting, see if you can get more shots of that please! This is an interesting topic, stay with it, thanks for sharing!
Ya that truck is actually parked right up the road from my house for the weekend.
I love show fokes! miley cyrus came through town here two weeks ago today. Had 250,000 worth of stage gear that needed repair immediately. Didnt care what it cost as long as it was back in time to be part of the next show. Also the best part, THEY PAY CASH! I could care less about the kid but her cash is green and spends just fine.
Reminds me of the time I was hiking in Moab Utah and came over a hill to look down on a giant spaceship! Turned out to be a Tim Allen Movie set. cool pics!
The crash seen I was working at my house today so I was able to leave several times and head up the road to check out the filming and de-railment. When it came time for the derailment security ran everyone off because the director said they could be seen in the back ground. I talked to security and the let me hide with two of my employees in the bushes.(I had to promise to stay hidden until he said we could come out). I had my good canon camera with the big zoom lens on it so I was able to get some really good shots. The first picture is a picture of the real loco's on the left and the fake loco's on the right. Oh and I found out that the did in fact but A cat truck engine and tranny in the loco so it could move under it's own power. I have a few pics of the porche camera car. Few test runs and filming with the real train and several of the actual crash seen I am going to upload all that I can. I will tell say I am a huge aircraft fanatic and that helicopter pilot was dang impressive.The pilot actually was in several movies, one being all the mission impossible movies I have lots of pics so When I post the last set I will let all know.Because I held the camera button on burst mode Wait to the last set to comment so everyone gets the whole effect .
the last few feet before the excitement and then lots of rapid shots .. sit tight all
the start of the crash...lots more to folow please wait for comment
still more to come...keep waiting it worth it
check out the jerses barriers in the back ground..still more to come
still more coming
One more set and the the crash seen is over....
the last pics.....It was pretty dang neat to say the least!!!!!
I know someone who will be the first in line to get a ticket at the movies...Reuben! Great pics man.
wow great pics reuben:notworthy:notworthy
cool pics... guess I feel guilty now setting here drinking my 1.00 candy bar and pop
I cant believe that chopper pilot is down in those trees like that!!! I have worked with many Forest Service and Flight for Life pilots and some of the stuff they can do is simply amazing. Very nice positioning for the shots I might add. Seems like you have some money invested in that camera.
SWEEEET!! did the guys from your local FD get to be in the movie?? awesome pics!!
Great coverage Reuben.You obviously have some great camera equipment and know how to use it.This is a very interesting thread.I wonder if the director might wish to buy your pics?Ron G
EXCELLENT! brilliant thank for taking the time to set up and make some great images thanks .
Wow those are some cool photos! I was sorta half expecting a huge fireball when the train crashed...
I thought that too spitzair, it's not often you see anything wreck on film without a fireball!
They are blowing it up tomorrow(wed). From what i understand it is going to be a HUGE!!! explosion. THey said they are going to move everyone at 400 yards away for the explosion so I will be digging out a bigger lens yet.least aThey are filming by our house today. They are just down the road road filming a golf course scene with the governor(actor) today. As I am typing this I looked Out the window to see the train go by with them filming. The helicopter swooped into my yard yesterday evening sideways about 60 knots while they were fiming and my kids about hit the deck. They were just thrilled to see that but not as much as their dad was!! i just love aircraft. as a matter of fact we considered renting a plane tommorrow to get aerial pics of the explosion
Now rubens that would be a treat mind you you shouldn't spoil us,but dam they would be nice,what would the director say if you and the aeroplane get in shot at the wrong time??
Because of the mountains we would have to maintain an altitude that would keep us well out of the camera's line of site.
I got the explosion on both my phone and camera... looks awesome ...i will post pics as soon as I get time.....
Here are some pics of the train explosion. They completely repositioned the loco's from where they were when the crashed them on monday.They were in the same spot just one was upside down and the other was flipped 180 degees.... I have a video on my phone but I have no idea how to upload it on to here.I emailed it to my computer and saved it under video's butafter that I am lost. I can usually figure it out but I am stumped. first group of pics more to follow
I have some more yet after these
you can see the explsion knocked the one loco back unto its side
last group of pics
:jerry:drinkup wow..... now if i just had a box of mike and ikes great photos
Once again Rubens you have accomplished some beautiful shots ,my sincerest thanks for taking the time and sharing with us I really appreciate it.
news copter Aircraft Description Serial Number 2874 Type Registration Corporation Manufacturer Name EUROCOPTER Certificate Issue Date 07/26/2007 Model AS 350 B2 Status Valid Type Aircraft Rotorcraft Type Engine Turbo-shaft Pending Number Change None Dealer No Date Change Authorized None Mode S Code 50677407 MFR Year 1995 Fractional Owner NO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Registered Owner Name HELIBLACK LLC Street 16644 ROSCOE BLVD City VAN NUYS State CALIFORNIA County LOS ANGELES Zip Code 91406-1103 Country UNITED STATES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airworthiness Engine Manufacturer TURBOMECA Classification Standard Engine Model ARRIEL 1SER Category Normal A/W Date 12/19/1995 black copter and air ambulance i can't make out the number
Rueben, you need to upload your video to a host like www.youtube.com and then link to it here. thanks for the update!
The black helicopter is also an AS350B2 Astar, the rounded exhaust and strake down the right side of the tailboom give it away. Looks like the Registration is N61TV but not positive. The Air ambulance is a Bell Huey, either a UH1H or the civilian version, a 205... Can't make out the registration on that one either...
I thought it was n671v... fixed wing.... n61tv is a detroyed as350.... unless maybe it's a prop... Quick Rueben get the camera out.... it may meet the same fate as the fake engines
Great pics! are the firefighters from your town, or are they actors? Thats a sweet pumper, is that local or a prop? Appears to be a 4 wheel drive unit!
Ya I checked out all of the birds already. THe bell UH_H1 huey(N19CF) is owned by ALBERT C HANSEN of Jean, Nev And the State police Heli,(N67TV) and the news heli ((N324V) are owned by... http://www.helinet.com/fleet_charter_N324V.php Check out their production credits.They have been in a lot of tv productions. And YA one of those "N" number was a previous fixed wing "N" number that was destroyed with one fatality The pilot of the news heli is Named Frederic North. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636005/ He has flown in many many big name movies,planet earth series,mission impossible movies,fast and furious, and many other ones. He is known as being the best heli pilot in the world,and after watching him I beilieve it. He was wearing worn out blue jeans the day of the de-railment,you would never know he is a pilot by the way he is dressed.
They are actually the real deal and yes that is a local four wheel drive truck.
i have know idea who posted this On you tube......but I found it....the woman in the video sounds like she has inhales a little of that smoke. YouTube - Tony Scott Unstoppable Movie staring Denzel Washington train explosion Emporium, PA October 7, 2009
drove by the site of the train wreck and explosion site today and they are cuttingit up into 4'x4' pieces and throwing it in dumpsters
So it is done and dusted.
the filming is officially done here....rumor has it they are filming in tyrone Pa now.then pitt,then ohio...It was neat to see but honestly I am glad they are done. They have no problem closing roads down when they want for as long as they want. Money talks
I saw a TON of those Haddad trucks leaving Pittsburgh last week w/ a new DOT # taped over the other ones I figured it was a filming crew. Nice area around Tyrone, just went thru there a few days ago. Ironwood
The film crews typically have a bunch of sites going on at all times. It may take 3 weeks to set up a scene, but only 2 days to film it. The director, actors and main film crew move from scene to scene. Set up guys have specific days when they will show up. i used my old Northwest model 18 on a film scene last year. Took about 3 weeks to set up. Filming was done in a few days, and off they went to the next site.
The special "FX" guy said it took two months and a million dollars to get seventeen seconds of film..(the de-railment and explosion)
Reuben, Your brothers friend Zac (which Im sure you know from working on your brothers house) deals with them movie people every day down here since he works for the railroad. I guess he is constantly out with them when they are filming around here. Im not sure if he was all the way up there for that bit by you or not.
Fascinating post - I'm a photographer myself, but I never cease to be amazed by the effort and cost of making a blockbuster movie ! I usually work with one assistant and one vehicle....BTW Great action pix
Very cool post, the frieght train that rolls through during the explosion. I would assume that was also part of the scene?
Very Nice ... When's it supposed to come out?
Talking of movies: I made one which includes a JCB I joined this forum because I thought you would enjoy seeing some photos and a short movie about a JCB loader, used in an unusual way. So apologies for hijacking this thread, as it's mostly done now. It's got a sort of Halloween theme of sorts so better get it up before the weekend passes... In London, England, there's a square devoted to Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar. They ran out of money building it back in Victorian times, and never put a statue on the 4th plinth. So over the years there have been guest statues and temporary art installations. For the last 3 months, the place has been offered to the general public to go up and do whatever they like for an hour. The connection here is that JCB UK lent them a couple of 535-95 loaders to get the participants up onto the statue platform see feature here: http://www.yellowwheels.com/2009/10/halloween-special-yw-chauffers-trafalgar-4th-plinth or http://bit.ly/3a4y4H enjoy!
never been a denzel fan
They have been between Mileburg and Port Matilda, PA since leaving Emporium. As of today they moved to Tyrone. Wednesday is the last scheduled day for work to be done. They then go to Pitt and finish it off. The filming has already been done in Ohio. Did that in August. For the best list of stuff done while in PA so far. Go to Youtube and search for AWVR Unstoppable
those are really cool pics. when is the film set to be released?
Scheduled release date is 11-12-10....subject to change. I plan on going to Tyrone within the next 3 days to get the last of my vids. Pitt is to far to drive just to get some more. That and most of what they will be doing in Pitt is inside studio filming.
Today, and tomorrow is the last of the filming, which is in Tyrone, for around here. Correction to an earlier post I made. They did film earlier this year(in August) in Ohio. I was just informed that after they leave Tyrone they ARE going to Bellaire, OH.....then to Pitt to finish it up. I have not been able to get back down to the Tyrone area. However, tomorrow I will. Fitting since it is their last day for filming around here, and the last chance I have of getting something new. Check youtube....AWVR unstoppable....for all I've been able to get and put together. Side note: AWVR is the fake railroad company in the movie. Allegheny West Virginia railroad.
You seem to know alot about the movie...could you confirm that the movie is infact based off of a CSX incident in Ohio where the engineer jumped from the train to throw a switch and before he got off the train he thought he had set all three of the brake systems but mistakenly set the throttle in the 8th notch positon and it took off? Also where are you located.....I was just wondering if you were near me. I might actually know you especially being that you have an interest in heavy equipment
Reuben, those are some great shots! I live just 10 minutes from Brewster where they shot at the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad. My neighbor in fact is a dispatcher there and got to meet most of them. It is based off the 2001 CSX mishap where a train with 47 cars traveled 66 miles through 3 countys at 50 mph carrying thousands of gallons of the hazardous material molten phenol acid, a toxic ingredient of paints and dyes. Nice stuff. I guess it was stopped when it hit an up hill and slowed down to 10 mph where someone jumped on it and stopped it. I was working out of town that week but I guess it was total chaos trying to run real trains through with the addition of people sneaking around trying to get a peep. They basically closed down the whole town. Like you said its amazing how money talks!
Rueben. I only know as much as I do from talking to different guys making the movie and searching the internet. But, yes it is based on the crazy eights incident....CSX engine 8888.....that left the Toledo yard without its engineer. I wanted to contact you personally. However, the site will not let my send you an email. Wanted to talk to you regarding your photos. As far as my location.....if I said Turtlepoint, and alot of military trucks....does that mean anything to you?
Very cool! Thanks for sharing.
lol ya I got ya......Close to Busty Hearts strip joint....I am sure that place ups your property value
And the kicker is.........I've never been in there. Drive by it who knows how many times a week. I just got an email letting me know that tomorrow...11-06-09...they are filming in Howard, PA. They have yet again changed what they are doing. Don't get me wrong, they don't tell everyone what there next move is, but they were to be moved to Bellaire, OH by now. The weather did set them back some. So who knows this may have been something on the list that hadn't got done. Short notice, not to far of a drive, and I'm not really doing anything tomorrow, so I may go get some more videos. Plus my source tells me that Denzel, and Chris will be doing alot of work on the outside, in plain view around the locomotives. Who knows.
I would careless about Denzel and Chris Pine,The guy I would love to sit down and talk to is Fred North the Helicopter pilot.He is known at one of the best helicopter pilots in the world...Check out his web site...... www.fred-north.com
Xcellent thread but not a lot of plant though and in all my years I never saw a digger fly,though I saw many a young operator try to get them in the air without wings.
I wish you would have let me know that Rueden. See this vid. YouTube - AWVR...Unstoppable...More filming in Tyrone, PA 7 of 9 The guy piloting the second chopper to land came over to talk to me and the other guy standing there filming. Don't know if that was Fred, of if he was flying the first one that landed. I don't know what Fred looks like, but this guy had blond hair and had to be in his 50's. I would have filmed the chat we had and asked him something for you. They are all gone now. They have a few days of filming in Bellaire, OH and then the rest is in studio work in Pitt.
amazing what they do for a movie..cant wait to see the final product!
Thanks for all the pix and vids BTW I put the final installment of my JCB story online http://www.yellowwheels.com/2009/11/yw-chauffeurs-trafalgar-plinther-episode-3 or http://bit.ly/4BZMmB
TV is now carrying commercials for "unstoppable". It must be opening soon.
just saw the it, 10 out of 10, absolutely awesome movie! the only thing is, it isn't Denzel that drives the pickup, those trucks are awesome as well.
I have not seen it yet...my brother did though and said it was really good. Because he know the area he said it was neat to see how they filmed the train going both north and south on the railroad tracks here but in the movie it was only headin in the southern direction. He also said the explosion looked kinda fake in the movie but I assure you the explosion was real...The flames were well over a hundered feet in the air!!! I hope to go see it this week. I plan on lookin at all of my pics I took of them filming the movie before I go to see how much they edit.
I didn't think the explosion looked fake at all, but really cool. I looked up the 'Crazy Eights' Incident, which the movie was based on, they didn't change too much in the movie (besides the usual hollywood stuff). I won't say anything else so I don't wreck it, but im sure you will love it. Edit, btw Reuben, I don't think I said it before but thanks for all the awesome pics you posted! I might have overlooked 'Unstoppable' if it hadn't been for this thread!
Still haven't seen it....has anyone else
I saw it last week and it was a good movie. Well worth the $8.50 to go see. I read the facts about the incident that insipired the movie before going http://kohlin.com/CSX8888/z-final-report.htm so i kinda knew what to expect. By no means was this a documentry of what actually happened, but so far as hollywood goes, they did make a great movie out of what actually happened. I really loved seeing this thread before i went to see the movie. I watched extra close to see how they transformed what we saw here into what was in the movie. They did alot of work in the editing room. I was amazed at the copter work in the movie, can you imagine a real news copter right down on the ground like that flying along a train? here is what i posted about it over on the railroad forums http://www.yardlimits.com/forums/
It opens here this weekend........................
I think this fake, not sure how to tell if it's true. There are several youtube's like it, if you Google; "30 MPH crash test, truck, SUV." The dump truck/cement truck reminds me of a PNW logging truck or a SW Asia truck. I can't believe the lack of damage to the large truck, which is why I think it's fake. The Ford's and Toyota's seem stronger than other models. I'd rather see 60 MPH head-on crash tests, the "wall" trick would simulate multi vehicle wrecks but I think head-on's would be more probable. CGI ??
Video game.
Thanks Shimmy. I see it now, BeamNG.drive The average Joe would think it was real for real. Time's change !! No, Those Viral BeamNG Crash Test Videos Aren't Realistic Content creators are using BeamNG to create videos of crash tests. Some believe the videos are real and use them make car-buying decisions. www.thedrive.com
BeamNG is a very interesting physics "simulator" game. It's been out for quite a while and I picked it up the first time I saw a car crash video kind of similar to this. You can do, or simulate, a lot of crazy crashes, including messing with gravity, so you can drop a car from a distance up and see the effect the gravity of the moon would have on it, then compare it to various planets and the sun, etc. The work they've done on it since it came out is pretty amazing. It was a buggy, barely working program when it first started, to now it often looks/feels very real. If you have a decent computer and any interest it's pretty fun for 25 bucks. The link below is for the game with some more videos of it in action. If you have tons of time and inclination (talent) I think you can create your own vehicles and scenarios as well. It's a really impressive "game." Thinking about it I wouldn't be surprised if there is a pro version used for movies, to bring it back to the thread at hand. BeamNG.drive on Steam A dynamic soft-body physics vehicle simulator capable of doing just about anything. store.steampowered.com
This week a Boeing 737 got stuck in the mud, and a Boeing 777 had a wheel fall off after take-off. Now I'm wondering if MSM is using BeamNG.drive to spin stories ? Can you believe anything main stream new media says anymore ? Think of the political stories or election results you could fake.