Steam & Excursion > The Tough Guys Daylight

I took these shots in April 1986 when 4449 operated on Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain Line in Southern California. Purpose for the trip was filming scenes for Disney's movie "Tough Guys". Word on the street was that security was so tight at Eagle Mountain that it wasn't even worth the trip. To make a long story short, these shots are proof that it was clearly worth the trip.

42 years after 4449 was restored for service on the American Freedom Train, 4449, Doyle and her caretakers keep rolling along, setting the example for the entire steam preservation / operation community to follow.

My hat is off to you all ...

Regards,
Burlington John

---

---

One more ... Doyle and Jim Boyd

---

The movie mockup of 4449 (used in the crash scene) can still be seen in Desert Center, in a building adjacent to and west of the now-closed cafe. It is easily seen by looking in the windows of the building.

John

Josta Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The movie mockup of 4449 (used in the crash scene)
> can still be seen in Desert Center, in a building
> adjacent to and west of the now-closed cafe. It
> is easily seen by looking in the windows of the
> building.
>
> John

Here it is on the set. I honestly think the Hollywood types were upset that we (me and a bud of mine) were more interested in 4449 than them!

Regards,
Burlington John

---

An image search for "Desert Center 4449" found a few photos of the mockup in single story building.

* JB *

Josta Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The movie mockup of 4449 (used in the crash scene)
> can still be seen in Desert Center, in a building
> adjacent to and west of the now-closed cafe. It
> is easily seen by looking in the windows of the
> building.
>
> John

John --
That is soooo incredibly cool that you went out there
with a friend and got to see the 4449 and the mock-up!
Thanks so much for taking those nice photos, as a record
of that wonderful time.

We railfans know that Burt (Lancaster) and Kirk (Douglas)
had nice bit parts, but we know who the REAL star was! <G>

I understand that Disney wanted to crash the real 4449 into Mexico and the city of Portland said no, that the 4449 needed to be returned as sent. the movie poster and train name placard are on semi-permanent display at ORHC. Arlen

Good stuff, John. Was access into the area where they were filming difficult?
I've never really been down there except when I was driving for Greyhound 35yrs ago. (I asked the dispatcher if I could run up for a quick look around and he said, "No". Jeez. Greyhound was a tough outfit!)
SR

Thanks SR, coming from you, that is quite the compliment.

Word on the street was that the movie site was locked down tighter than Fort Knox. While sitting at San Bernardino early one morning, a friend of mine and I decided to take a chance. Access was pretty simple if you knew where you were going. Fortunately there was no active filming going, so security was almost nothing.

The roads were another story. My Camaro was not meant for off-roading. But that is another story. Sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do!

Regards,
Burlington John

Hmmmm...   wonder if I could have made it in with a Greyhound MC-7?   They were surprisingly "capable".  I once drove one into the Great Salt Lake at speed.  Now there's a story for another time!
SR

I just ordered the "Tough Guys" Blu-Ray which will be released on 5/30!

meixel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just ordered the "Tough Guys" Blu-Ray which will
> be released on 5/30!

Thanks for the heads up, I'm afraid my VHS copy is shot!

Regards,
Burlington John

Burlington John wrote --
> My Camaro was not meant for off-roading.
> But that is another story. Sometimes you've
> got to do what you've got to do!

BoilingMan wrote --
> Hmmmm... wonder if I could have made it in
> with a Greyhound MC-7? They were surprisingly
> "capable". I once drove one into the Great Salt
> Lake at speed. Now there's a story for another time!
> SR

A CAMARO on roads like THOSE??? Driving a BUS at
SPEED into the Great Salt Lake???

Gentlemen -- You've GOT to tell us what happened!!
Don't just leave us hanging!!

I dunno...  it's a bus story.  I know going off topic is a sin (venial?), and surely a bus story is the worst (mortal!).  But it is a pretty good story...

The set up is a bit complicated, but I'll try to streamline it.  This was in the winter of 1983.  I was normally a Sacramento based driver, but they cut the size of their extra board and I landed in Reno.  Reno's territory reached east as far as Elko.  One day I drove the second section of an eastbound schedule out of Reno.  Normally I'd have been cut off at Elko and work the next Westbound home.  But the dispatcher put be to bed in Elko to get fresh (8hrs rest).  There was a charter of about 10 buses coming through around midnight- SF drivers who would hand their cars over to Salt Lake City drivers there in Elko.  But SLC was short one driver, so I would fill in, driving to Provo.
Everything went as planned.  I found the City driver I was to relieve, and off I went.  Greyhound buses had engine governors- some topped out at 65mph, some 75, and some in between.  Mine was in between, maybe about 68mph.  On a night like this, an open road and no stops, most of us were "Riding the Nickel" letting our bus do all it could do.  (You placed a nickel upright under the trailing edge of the throttle peddle, forcing it wide open- if anything went wrong, just tap the peddle and the nickel fell over out of the way)  Before long, the faster guys were over the horizon, the slower disappeared in mirrors, and I was all alone heading into Utah well out of familiar turf.  The highway ahead was empty, and all my passengers were dead asleep- it was about 3AM.  In the moonlight I noticed there was open water on both sides of the road, obviously the Great Salt Lake- but how odd that it seemed to be lapping up on both shoulders of the Interstate...  huh. Weird....
And then suddenly, with out warning, the water Closed Over the Road!   
I jumped on the brakes, the nickel fell, everyone woke up screaming, and we came to a stop, just off shore, in The Great Salt Lake.
SR

(That's a pretty good story Margaret, right?)

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/17 23:41 by BoilingMan.

BoilingMan --
Yes, that IS a GREAT story! Thank you!
Pray tell -- what road had you followed to
drive into the Great Salt Lake?? Huge props
to ya for stopping in time to avoid turning
your bus into "The Grey Submarine"! Whew!!
Now -- how did you get out of there? And how
did you manage to calm down the passengers?
Did you get in trouble for that little unplanned
detour? I hope not!

This was the winter of 1983-84 when the Lake waters rose at a rate not seen in decades.  The SP, WP, and I-80 all had to be raised in places.  I was on I-80 and had missed the sign for a detour (Hey- it was 3AM.  Back off!)   I was not really able to completely calm my passengers (I guess it's difficult to un-see a wall of salt water washing over the windshield) although it was more the group leaders that were freaking out-  most of those aboard were students who thought it was kinda amusing.
I was afraid to try turning the bus because I couldn't see the edges of the pavement.  I was pretty sure if I dropped a wheel off into the mud, we'd be our own island nation.  In the distance ahead I could see a string of blinking lights that appeared to be on sawhorses.  I decided to take the chance they marked the road and that the water was no deeper than they were.  The group leaders strongly questioned the wisdom of driving further out to sea, but none was willing to get out and wade around flagging me, so...   
It worked.  I was able to stay "on the hard" (boat talk) and after maybe a mile or so I came to where the new raised roadbed was being constructed.  I don't remember exactly how I got the bus up on the berm, there must have been a ramp of some sort, and it was very unfinished, but I was out of the water.  Another mile and we were on pavement and soon "On the Nickel" as well!  I made the destination in Provo by dawn, and wasn't even the last one in!  I guess the detour added enough mileage that it evened out the time.
The rest of the drivers were Salt Lake guys.  One look at my bus and they knew where I'd been.  They were impressed and bought me breakfast in exchange for my story.
We deadheaded the buses to LC and I spotted mine at the wash rack.  No one said a word to me.  The LC dispatcher put me to bed and said he might be forced to send me on to Green River- they were that short of men!
It didn't happen.  I ended up riding the cushions all the way back to Reno.
SR

BTW:  This was in the very last month or so of my 4yrs with Greyhound.  I loved the job, but this was now post-strike Greyhound and the new management was hell-bent on breaking down the drivers union protections & rules.  In the Spring I jumped ship (nautical metaphor intended) an joined Amtrak.

Wow!! Man -- WHAT a STORY! SO glad you did
not get stuck out there. You were also fortunate,
first of all, to have been close enough to those
barricades to have been able to see them, and,
second, to have been where it was possible to
easily get TO the road from where you were without
sinking in the mud.

And you were also lucky that most of the pax were
students who thought what happened was kinda funny -- whew!

Yeah, I was pretty sure you had worked for Greyhound
around the time Teets took over and ruined a great
company. My sympathies to you and all the other drivers
and employees back then.

Your jumping ship to Amtrak was their great gain, and
Greyhound's big loss.

Thanks, again, for the great story. More stories will be
greatl appreciated, too!

meixel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just ordered the "Tough Guys" Blu-Ray which will
> be released on 5/30!


Ha, that cover art ain't too shabby...

---

Oh? You mean like the time I donned a wet handkerchief and drove through a forest fire?

Yes, it was Teets I was escaping. He really trashed a great outfit with a wonderful heritage. Greyhound, old Greyhound, was the best job I ever had. Amtrak was far more difficult. At Amtrak your accomplishments were your own to mark and celebrate- unfortunately, atta'boys were rare. I always felt I was working to my own standard, and holding down my little corner of things.
SR

meixel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just ordered the "Tough Guys" Blu-Ray which will
> be released on 5/30!

Please explain who/how you "ordered" that Blu-Ray disc through. I've wanted a high quality DVD of that movie, having participated in it, for many, many years.