MD86534 STREAMLINER TRAINS 1940 PASSENGER RAILROAD EDUCATIONAL FILM “THE PASSENGER TRAIN” MD

This 1940 black and white educational film is the first edition produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica Films Inc. The focus is on making train travel look enjoyable while expounding on the streamliners safety and comfort. It opens at a large railroad station — Union Station in Washington, D.C.– , where 1930s buses, taxis, and cars drop off passengers (:18-:32). Inside the train station, the waiting room has benches for seating (:33-:45). Passengers by their railroad and pullman tickets at windows. Money is shown being slipped under the bars and a ticket given in return (:46-1:03). Passengers show their tickets to a gateman before heading to the streamline diesel-electric locomotive train (1:04-1:33). The engineer looks over his controls while further back, the engineer’s assistant performs maintenance on the many motors and the pipes (1:34-2:00). Each passenger gets to bring one trunk free, which are loaded on the baggage car (2:01-2:10). The train also carried bags of mail, sorted inside the train in a mail room (2:11-2:20). The railway conductor looks at his stop watch, calls “All Aboard” and signals the engineer. The train door is closed and the engineer opens the throttle (2:21-3:00). The train gathers speed on the tracks. The many side tracks are shown, as are the signal switches to indicate which track the train should be on. It indicates top so he put on the brakes, shown operating, before the signal changes to go (3:01-4:00). Inside a coach, the conductor is punching tickets while passengers sit upright or reclined. Overhead are places for bags and purses (4:01-4:25). The conductor walks through the vestibule, which attaches one coach to the next (4:26-4:35). The engineer pulls on the whistle chord to indicate a road crossing. The cross gates are down and cars and kids wait to cross (4:36-4:56). The throttle is closed a bit for the sharp curve ahead (4:57-5:30). The last car is the observation car with windows, easy chairs, and lounges. People chat, read newspapers, write letters at desks, and play cards (5:31-6:10). It passes a steam engine freight train (6:11-6:17). The train passes through the deep cuts in a hillside, through a tunnel at Harper’s Ferry, and over the Potomac River (6:18-7:00). Inside the dining car, the steward seats people and hands out menus. Waiters bring the food from the kitchen, where chefs prepare it (7:01-8:13). The engineer is shown and his view as they pass towns (8:14-8:50). An African American Pullman porter changes seats into beds and pulls down upper berths, attaching a ladder to easily climb up (8:51-9:55). The train headlights approach the camera at night. Inside, another view of the motors is given. The engineer pulls the whistle chord (9:56-10:22).

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