The Train Man
Jim Clark is Hollywood's go-to man when it comes to trains.
By: Mark Boardman 02/01/2007
Not just any trains. One had to look like a post-Civil War locomotive hauling a special car for special agents Jim West and Artemus Gordon (hoo-rah!). The other engine—manipulated by the evil genius Dr. Arliss Loveless (hssssss!)—needed to somewhat resemble a huge combat tank.
But producers are Hollywood types, and they generally don’t know anything about railroad equipment.
So the movie makers called in the “Train Man.” Enter Jim Clark.
He told them how to bring rough drawings to life. He found the locomotives and the train cars. Clark showed them how to run the equipment (he did most of the work himself). He helped design the train stunts. And he oversaw all the railroad aspects of the flick.
Okay, so the film derailed. At least the trains were great. Thanks to the Train Man.
Jim Clark’s interest in trains goes back to his childhood, when he was interested in all things mechanical. By the early 1960s, he was racing Dodge and Plymouth race cars to make a buck. His rides usually had a train painted on the side, his logo at that point in time. And as he went from race to race, Clark usually stopped at every museum he could—especially those that had railroad exhibits.
That interest eventually got him a job at the fabulous Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City. Along the way, he learned everything he could about trains—how to set them up, how to operate them, how to fix them.
So by the mid 1980s, Jim Clark was ready to become the Train Man. Hollywood beckoned.
Now this wasn’t as farfetched as it might sound. Jim had been in front of the cameras a few times in the 1960s and had his Screen Actors Guild (SAG) card. He’d also done some work as a stuntman. He’d bought a lot of equipment over the years, including locomotives and cars. He’d even owned a couple of short line routes.
In 1985, he bought a company that restored trains for museums and put it on a different track, renting railroad equipment and expertise to movie producers. For the right price, he’d not only find the right locomotive and cars, but he’d also provide the rails and ties—and bring them to the shooting location. He’d help design the stunts (face it, everybody wants to blow up or otherwise destroy a train in their flick) and then carry them out himself. It was a novel idea—and it caught on.
Over the next nearly 20 years, Jim Clark was hired to do the train work on more than 200 productions—including TV shows such as Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and MacGyver. Among his movie credits are Throw Momma from the Train, Eraser, Switch-back, Under Siege 2, Lethal Weapon 4, Money Train and, of course, Wild, Wild West. In 2005, his work was an important part of the Steven Spielberg mini-series Into the West.
See, he really was (and is) the Train Man. And his favorite gigs were (and are) Westerns. “The epitome of the Western image is a train,” Clark says. “You can’t separate the two, historically or in myth and legend.”
Wild, Wild West went beyond myth or legend. It was supposed to be a takeoff on the 1960s TV series, which was a sort of James Bond meets Bat Masterson mutation. The TV show had plenty of gadgets and gimmicks; the movie took that concept over the top.
Comments (1)
Jim Clark is not only the trainman,but a true gentleman,Cowboy at heart and one of a kind! He would give you the shirt off his back.Great guy.Hollywood will never see another like him.He worked with all the greats but was always himself.Humble,loyal and a man who you can trust. A rare quality today.I consider it an honor to call him my friend.
Dennis Keogh(Sean Connery Double)
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