The Silver Streak
| The Silver Streak | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Tommy Atkins |
| Produced by | Glendon Alvine |
| Written by |
H.W. Hanemann Jack O'Donnell Roger Whately |
| Starring |
Charles Starrett Sally Blane Hardie Albright William Farnum Irving Pichel Arthur Lake |
| Edited by | Fred Kundtson |
|
Release date
|
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Silver Streak is a 1934 film loosely based on the record-setting "dawn-to-dusk" run of the Pioneer Zephyr on May 26, 1934. The original Zephyr trainset was used for the exterior shots in the film, while interior scenes were filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood. For the film, the "Burlington Route" nameplate on the train's nose was replaced with one that read "Silver Streak".
One of the movie's promotional items was a small book called "The Story of the Silver Streak" which was illustrated with black and white stills from the movie.
In 2006 Con-Cor International, Ltd. produced a model of the Pioneer Zephyr. A limited number (350 HO scale and 250 N scale) of these bore the nameplates of the Silver Streak from the motion picture instead of the standard Burlington Route nameplates.
In the face of seriously declining railroad passenger travel, engineer Tom Caldwell presents to the president of the CB&D Railroad, B.J. Dexter, a design for a revolutionary diesel-electric train that will increase efficiency and lower costs. Dexter opposes change, however, and the railroad's conservative board of directors agrees with him, rejecting Tom's design. Tom quits in frustration. Sure that Tom's theory is sound, Dexter's daughter Ruth convinces Ed Tyler, a locomotive manufacturer, to look into Tom's design. Tyler is impressed with the concept and initiates immediate construction of a prototype. Soon Tom and his team prepare the Silver Streak for a well-publicized trial run with Dexter and Ruth aboard as passengers.
The Silver Streak fails to attain even half of its projected speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), however, and is even easily overtaken by a steam-powered freight train. An angry Dexter tells Tyler that all the Silver Streak is good for is an exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition to recover his advertising expenses. Tom is baffled by the failure since all the engine components worked perfectly during assembly but Dexter stubbornly insists that the concept will never work. Furious with Dexter's attitude, Tom quarrels with Ruth. Her brother Allen, who supported Tom's idea, tells his father that he is quitting the railroad to take a job as a civil engineer with the Six Companies, Inc. constructing the Boulder Dam.
...
Wikipedia