Western Railroad Discussion > Transformers II.....The movie

Am I the only one that notice the MoPac lettered coal hopper on the Port of Shang-hi china rail line in the beginning of the movie? $200 million budget & micheal bay gave us foamers one good laugh.

no I noticed that myself also

Mike

There's a UP hopper coupled to the MoPac one as well. I think the UP one gets knocked over in one of the battle scenes just a little further in.

I noticed the hoppers right away and even commented to my friend next to me who is also a train fan. We were wondering what USA coal hoppers were doing in "China".

Rio Grande Fan
Denver, CO

The geniuses who make this swill certainly never notice little details like that. To most people of the digital age, "train thingies" are all the same. Kurt.

I noticed it also. Only railfans would ever catch it.

"...We were wondering what USA coal hoppers were doing in "China"."

While this was clearly a mistake to have MP/UP hoppers "in China," I don't think there are many railfans working in the film industry. Most film creative staffs would not know any better and most of the audience would not notice either.

On the other hand, it is not as far-fetched as it would seem. The railroads in China are similar enough to those in the United States that the old Pittsburgh and Lake Erie (P&LE) sold several hundred 70-ton coal hoppers to China in the early-mid 1980's. Not as scrap, as useful railcars. A Trains Magazine news photograph showed them being loaded aboard a ship. They could have been put to work right off the boat.

As you may know, GE has also sold many locomotives to China over the years. They were manufactured on the same assembly line as locomotives you see every day here. Two QJ-Class Chinese steam locomotives are used regularly on the Iowa Interstate as well as a smaller China-built steamer working for a tourist line in the eastern U.S.

Ahhh, Michael Bay, the same man who gave us the corner of an Amtrak P42 in "Pearl Harbor," in the scene where Ben Affleck gets on the train to go to England.

As a bit of trivia, Michael Bay also got his start in filmmaking by filming his model trains crashing when he was a kid. Supposedly, he almost burned his family's house down on one occasion.

The movie industry has been making these gaffes for a long time. Back in the '50's my Dad used to get a kick out of seeing high altitude airplane vapor trails in a Technicolor Western movie, or seeing rubber tire tracks as Ward Bond and a wagon train slowly rolled west. Then there's the modern day movies with a freight train in the background and a steam engine whistling for a grade crossing, and not when there is a steam excursion either.

Con

Another one was the Amtrak P40DC in the Pearl Harbor (2001) movie.

zars Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "...We were wondering what USA coal hoppers were
> doing in "China"."
>
> While this was clearly a mistake to have MP/UP
> hoppers "in China," I don't think there are many
> railfans working in the film industry. Most film
> creative staffs would not know any better and most
> of the audience would not notice either.
>
> On the other hand, it is not as far-fetched as it
> would seem. The railroads in China are similar
> enough to those in the United States that the old
> Pittsburgh and Lake Erie (P&LE) sold several
> hundred 70-ton coal hoppers to China in the
> early-mid 1980's. Not as scrap, as useful
> railcars. A Trains Magazine news photograph
> showed them being loaded aboard a ship. They
> could have been put to work right off the boat.
>
> As you may know, GE has also sold many locomotives
> to China over the years. They were manufactured
> on the same assembly line as locomotives you see
> every day here. Two QJ-Class Chinese steam
> locomotives are used regularly on the Iowa
> Interstate as well as a smaller China-built
> steamer working for a tourist line in the eastern
> U.S.


Yeah, but those G.E.'s sold to China wouldn't have ''UNION PACIFIC'' lettered on them.

What will happen if Alaska RR builds a bridge through Bering to Russia?