# " THE STORY OF TRAINS " 1940s PASSENGER RAIL & FREIGHT TRAIN PROMO FILM PULLMAN CARS 74352

Financed by the railroad lobby, "The Story of Trains" uses the story of a trip aboard the Pacific Daylight passenger train to present the history of America's railroads. The film was an attempt to remind Americans of the importance of rail transportation, in an era when air travel and interstate highway shipment of goods had begun to erode the public's interest and support. Shot from sea to shining sea, and featuring some of the most beautiful imagery the filmmaker Carl Dudley could present, "The Story of Trains" is at its heart a patriotic movie and a love letter to American railroading. It's full of fantastic images of railroad depots including Union Station in Los Angeles (at the 6:34 mark), turntables carrying massive freight locomotives, one of Southern Pacific's G-4 Locomotives 4443 pulling the Pacific Daylight, harbor activities (18 minute mark) and much more. (Note: this film is similar in tone and style to another one of Carl Dudley’s films "On the Track"). The film opens with a pinstripe New Haven Railroad Alco DL-109 diesel locomotive speeding past (0:08) as passengers recline in modern seats. Ore cars at a mine (0:24) are followed by a montage of steam locomotives and the goods they bring to market. At (2:00) the film transitions to an historical segment, showing a group of people traveling by horse and carriage (1:56). A book titled “Early American Railroads” by John H. White leads us back into another era (2:02), a No. 18 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: History, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/74352StoryOfTrains)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/74352StoryOfTrains?play=1)