In the real world, not much happens during the construction and use of railroads. The job gets done, people move from one location to another, and that’s it. However, plenty goes wrong in movies. From accidents to mishaps, there is never a shortage of misfortunes, and in the Silent Era, such events were portrayed more often on screen because trains were the most common means of transport.
Automobiles weren’t sophisticated enough to make them appealing to cinema-goers while planes had only just been invented years earlier by the Wright Brothers. Railroads were, therefore, the go-to setting for any director looking to make a transport-related movie. Of all the wonderful railroad films that came out during the Silent Era, the following are worthy of viewing because they not only have great production values but also because they avoided any stains that prevented most old movies from aging well.
10 The Runaway Engine (1911)
In 2023, an actor who has 100 movies on their resume would be considered prolific, but in the Silent Era, Hollywood stars were on a whole different level when it came to industriousness. For example, Alice Joyce, aka “The Madonna of the Screen,” starred in over 300 movies from 1910 to 1930. Among her hits was The Runaway Engine — a film that follows a railway station telegraph operator’s attempt to prevent a runaway engine from hitting a train car that is transporting both her boss and her lover (the railroad president’s son).
The protagonist, Grace, risks, losing both her lover and her job if things go wrong, so there is a sense of immediacy all through. The cameras are placed in all the right locations, so the scenes keep switching effortlessly from her face to the approaching engine. And at no time does Grace break a sweat. She gladly times everything to perfection and saves lives, earning the respect of everyone, including her fiancé’s father who didn’t want him to marry her.
Audiences looking for a modern production that’s a little similar to this can check out one of Tony Scott’s critically acclaimed movies, Unstoppable.
9 The Ghost Train (1927)
In the early 1900s, there were very few buildings compared to now, making it harder for criminals to set up an ideal hidden base of operations. Well, the robbers in The Ghost Train come up with a very innovative way to get around this problem. They begin faking strange events at a railway station, making the public believe that the area is haunted. Everyone keeps away, including the police, allowing the robbers to turn the place into their hub for smuggling operations.
Before the robbers’ strategy is revealed The Ghost Train maintains an eerie tone that borders on horror. “The train kills you if you look at it,” one person says, scaring the public even more. And it all feels very believable because of the creative use of lighting and shadows. This is also one of the films to feature the now-cliché sequence that involves a character getting stuck on a railroad as a train approaches.
The Silent Era hit has been remade twice, so far, but none of the modern versions feels as complete as the original.
8 Blood and Steel (1925)
Blood and Steel is one of the earliest films to properly anatomize the complexities of business rivalries and the uncertainties that come with running a corporation. Events center around a railroad president who understandably becomes worried when the workers take too long to complete a line he commissioned. After conducting investigations, he discovers his assistant is colluding with a rival company to stall the project.
Great performances and great stunts are the movie’s two strongest pillars. Helen Holmes — known for doing her own stunts — steps up and delivers whenever the engines start moving, while William Desmond, aka, “The King of Silent Serials,” never wears a smile during the entire duration, hence showing just how grim things are. The visuals feel a little blurry, especially when compared with what’s on offer today, but the low quality is easy to ignore, given how engrossing the story is.
7 The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Great Train Robbery paved the way for the numerous captivating American heist movies that came out years later. In it, outlaws attack a railroad telegraph office to stop an oncoming train. They manage to rob it, but a group of men form a posse and go after them. After a brief battle, they kill the criminals and get back their belongings.
Though The Great Train Robbery was made when Hollywood was still at its infancy stage, it’s not a dull film that’s shot from one angle. It makes use of innovative camera techniques such as panning and the matte effect.
There’s also an iconic final closeup shot which shows the outlaw leader shooting at the camera. Such a scene would be replicated in numerous movies over the years, notably Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, where Joe Pesci’s character, Tommy, does the same thing.
Stream it on Kanopy
6 The General (1926)
The General is undoubtedly one of the most essential Silent films and that’s because it never slows down, trumping most modern productions when it comes to sheer fun. Adapted from William Pittenger’s memoir, The Great Locomotive Chase, the Buster Keaton project follows the railroad engineer Johnny Gray who is forced to pursue a stolen train, not because he cares about the locomotive, but because his lover happens to be inside it.
The movie’s awesomeness stems from the protagonist’s franticness and dedication, which in turn lead to several comical moments. In order to keep up, Johnny uses everything he can get his hands on. He rides a velocipede, a handcar, and even opts for running at some point. Additionally, there are plenty of close calls that make everyone fear for the character’s life. The amalgamation of comedy and thrills, therefore, makes the picture stand out.
Currently, The General is preserved in the National Film Registry. Buster Keaton also acknowledged that it was his favorite project out of everything he ever did.
Stream it on Prime Video
5 The Railway of Death (1912)
Money is one of the key things that break friendships, and at times the outcome is far worse than estrangement. In The Railway of Death, buddies Joe and Burke find a dying man who informs them that he has gold buried somewhere. Such kind of plot is present in one of the greatest Western movies, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but the proceedings are bloodier here. Joe gets greedy and decides he’ll go after the gold himself, so the two men are forced into Hunter vs. Hunted mode.
Because Joe wants to get to the gold before Burke, he hops onto a train and Burke tries to stop him. What transpires is the same kind of scenario that plays out in The General. Burke keeps coming up with ways to try and derail the train, and because of his innovativeness, the action sequences feel more layered.
Most importantly, the film is great to look at, mainly because of the director’s expert use of silhouettes and the reliance on both the first-person POV and bird's eye view.
4 The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926)
During the glory days of rail transport, there were numerous robbers, but there were heroes too, ready to risk everything to stop them. Well, The Great K & A Train Robbery tells the true story of how legendary Kansas lawman, Dick Gordon foiled a robbery. Plot elements are borrowed from Paul Leicester Ford’s non-fiction book of the same name.
Plenty of creative liberties are taken to spice up the proceedings. Dick Gordon’s name is changed to Tim Gordon, and a love triangle that didn’t happen in real life becomes a central part of the chaos. As soon as he takes up the case, the detective finds himself competing with one of the criminals for the love of the railroad president’s daughter. With both men having greater incentive to take each other down, the stakes are raised.
3 Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life (1913)
Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life is the typical damsel-in-distress movie. Legendary actress Mabel Normand plays the damsel, who has a rather interesting name: Mabel Sweet And Lovely. A nefarious figure kidnaps Mabel and ties her to a railroad. He then goes and steals an engine in order to run it over her. This forces one of Mabel’s suitors to go on a mission to rescue her.
Numerous factors help make Barney Oldfield’s Race for a Life a distinctive movie. For example, except for Mabel, none of the other individuals are given names. They only go by descriptions. This helps steer audiences away from the character development, forcing them to focus on the action and the looming danger. Besides that, plenty of effort was put into the camerawork. This is one of the first-ever films to place a camera inside a car, giving audiences a drivers-eye-view.
2 The Block Signal (1926)
In The Block Signal, fans got to see another captivating Boss vs, Employee rivalry. In it, a railroad engineer realizes he is becoming colorblind but in spite of the help setbacks, he chooses to keep going because this is the only thing that he is good at. Upon realizing that his boss’ eyesight is failing, junior engineer, Bert, decides to sabotage him. He misleads him about a signal, causing him to be demoted.
The outcome is sad, but the movie offers important moral lessons. Bert’s desire to be the chief engineer doesn’t translate to instant success. Once he gets promoted, he does a really poor job and almost causes a major disaster. On most occasions, he is shown to be out of his depth. He keeps embarrassing himself and ends up looking worse than he did at his previous job. To ease the workplace tension, the film sprinkles in a few romance and family-related subplots.
1 The Flying Scotsman (1929)
Most dedicated professionals dream of retiring with a flawless record, having never done anything wrong, and The Flying Scotsman’s protagonist, Old Bob, is no different. Unfortunately for the kind-hearted railroad engineer, a former fireman, whom he once reported for doing shoddy work, plans to ruin his last day by making him cause an accident. The fireman’s replacement also happens to have fallen in love with a woman, who, unbeknownst to him, is Bob’s daughter.
Like many other railroad films of the Silent Era, The Flying Scotsman awes through its stunts. The actors who also doubled as stunt performers constantly put their lives on the line. In one memorable scene, Old Bob’s daughter runs on top of a speeding train while wearing high heels. She even makes Hulk-like jumps from one coach to the next.
Though the characters don’t speak, locomotive noise was inserted into future releases of the film, since sound was starting to become more popular. Still, only the original silent version is currently available for purchase as well.
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