The Train Man
Jim Clark is Hollywood's go-to man when it comes to trains.
By: Mark Boardman 02/01/2007
Clark found the locomotive for the good guys’ train in the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore—an 1856 engine that hadn’t worked in 40 years. After he got the okay to use the piece, he and his crew had to restore its working parts—and create a few: this model did not originally come with brakes, for example, which just wouldn’t do for the movies. The renovation took some six months and cost around a half-million dollars, and was accomplished at the Strasburg Steam Engine shops in Pennsylvania. Then the engine was trucked all the way to Santa Fe.
As for Dr. Loveless’ (hssssss!) train, Clark suggested that the producers take a Southern Pacific caboose with a bay window and build on top of that base to create a bizarre tank-like engine.
Of course, modern movies use a number of devices to create a credible story. Those include miniature models and computer graphics, and the Train Man learned how to coordinate those effects with the full-sized wood and steel contraptions. It all makes it easier to
pull off unbelievable stunts—although producers still demand the impossible. In one case, Clark was asked to have a real train run off a trestle where the tracks had been destroyed. That would have been suicide for the train engineer, who just happened to be Jim Clark. He pointed that out; they let him try something else.
“It all comes down to preparation,” Clark explains. “You have to plan everything out to the smallest point. That way you can have an exciting shot that’s still safe for cast and crew.”
Planning has its limitations, though. The Train Man was working on the TV series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. The shot called for an actor to ride a horse at full speed toward a moving train and then pull himself aboard. The producers wanted the horse to be left in the dust—so Clark was supposed to open the steam throttles and speed away. Somebody forgot to tell the horse, however. The trusty steed galloped past its iron counterpart—take after take after take. “We finally had to exhaust that horse before the train could beat it,” recalls Clark. “You just never know how some of these things will play out.”
The Train Man’s business played out in 2001 when he sold all the equipment. But movie and TV-types still call, and he consults a couple of productions each year. He owns one of the most extensive railroad research libraries around. He helps out at some transportation museums. And he still loves to ride the rails.
For the Train Man, the journey continues, per usual, right on track.
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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