Excusable Destruction of France's Railway Heritage

I'm as much of a railfan as the next guy and I hate to see steam scrapped, wrecked, or left to junk... but I'll make an exception for The Train. The year was 1964 - steam was on the way out, but there was no shortage of steam worldwide; indeed, parts of France were still in steam when the movie came out, and would remain so for a few years after.

Today, of course, I would object to destroying such railway artefacts, as the number of steam engines in the world has tapered dramatically over the past four decades and what's left is worth saving. At the time, however, the engines were but a few of an unremarkable class. (And the freight cars, and that coach too.)

Ultimately, I think the results on film speak for themselves; the film would lose nearly every last bit of the gritty, real effect it had if just models were employed... you just couldn't come up with the astounding scenes that make the movie what it is. (You know, where the engine jumps the rails and throws rocks and steel everywhere, with the spinning wheel ending up right above the camera? Or the wreck panorama, two engines colliding and sliding along the ground, with soldiers and railwaymen running all around on the ground?)

Speaking AS A RAILFAN, I think that the trains lost making the movie were well worth the unique results on celluloid, which do just as much - if not more - justice to history than simply retaining the trains.

(But perhaps I'm just another "Excentric Crank.")