Railroads can’t be wild about ‘Into the Wild’s’ trespassing scenes
However, the film has several scenes that aren’t amenable to railroads’ trespass prevention and law enforcement efforts. In one, the main character played by Emile Hirsch jumps into a box car on a moving train to hitch a ride from the U.S./Mexican border in California to Los Angeles. When the train arrives, he jumps out of the box car while the train is still moving, runs across several tracks and crawls under a stationary train’s car to make his way out of the yard.
Railroads and Operation Lifesaver Inc. are spending millions of dollars on advertisements and outreach programs to inform the public about the dangers of trespassing and approaching a moving train. Hollywood isn’t helping their cause by not only romanticizing a “free” train trip, but depicting a successful trespassing escapade in great detail.
A short time later in the film, the character hops onto another train to make his way north from L.A. After the train makes an unexpected stop — at least to the stowaway — what happens next is a literal black eye to the character and a figurative one to the rail industry. A railroad policeman pulls him off the train and beats him senseless with a nightstick. The officer warns the stowaway that he never forgets a face and will use more excessive force in the future.
I’m not saying railroad police officers don’t ever use force to get their “don’t trespass” message across to offenders — and that a polite officer would be a more dramatic plot element — but railroad safety managers can’t be too happy about a stereotypical nightstick-wielding officer portrayed in a major Hollywood film. Although the “scared straight” implication of the scene might discourage viewers from attempting to trespass, I’m sure execs don’t want railroad police officers depicted as thugs. That’s hardly a positive representation of law enforcement and public outreach.
At least “Into the Wild” got it half right. There are consequences for trespassing as far as the law and personal safety are concerned. Getting it all right rail safety-wise means Hollywood shouldn’t fall back on railroad stereotypes and romanticism to tell a story.
Posted by: 
Jeff Stagl | Date posted: 6/11/2008
Comments
Posted by Dave Smith on 6/11/2008 7:57:32 PM
"Emperor of the North" set the standard, at least in the public's mind, of what a railroad police officer will personify. As great of the movie as that was, it is unfortunate that such a stereotype exists for railroad police forces. I have found most rail cops to be pleasant, up front, people just doing their jobs while exemplifying the professionalism one would expect.
Posted by AJ on 6/12/2008 9:42:14 AM
I work for a railroad, and I can tell you with or without the movie or the existance of operation lifesaver, people will continue to trespass and continue to get killed by trains. I remember in 1993, a movie "The Program" came out and in it was a scene with the football players lying on the center line of a road to prove their bravery. Shortly thereafter, and after several people with questionable intellegence tried to immitate the scene from the movie became dead, the scene was deleted from the movie. It's unfortunate that society has deteriorated to the point that people are compelled to immitate what they see in the movies. Many years ago, the film makers took risks to produce a film depicting a risky activity. Now, risks are minimized with all the special effects, and yet the general population will mimic the movie and risk death or serious bodily injury? I'm glad that when I was growing up in the 1960's, people didn't try to immitate Elmer J. Fudd or Buggs Bunny! I guess nobody's there anymore to tell the kids not to kill eachother. Just in case somebody reads this, IF YOU AREN'T AN EMPLOYEE OF THE RAILROAD, PLEASE STAY OFF THE TRACKS. DON'T IMITATE THE MOVIES. THANK YOU.
Posted by Ralph Eisenbrandt on 6/12/2008 9:46:52 AM
Just what railroad allowed the movie company to film those questionable scenes on their property?
Posted by Ian Temple on 6/12/2008 1:55:05 PM
Lighten up Jeff - nobody believes what comes out of Hollywood bears any relation to reality or use it as role models (except when I fantasize I'm another Rambo or Conan). Seriously- you are much too smart to draw parallels between real life & studio productions. Do you remeber when all the sixty year old heroes in films had beautiful wives in their early twenties & everbody lived in a 12 room mamsion with servants & a chauffeur? That's Hollywood.
Posted by Erik on 6/12/2008 2:36:59 PM
At least the L.A. shot in "In to the Wild" was filmed alongside the Metro Red Line yard and the L.A. River so either Metrolink or BNSF gave permission (I forget who owns the track south of Mission Tower and north of the old Roundhouse. As for the film, remember that this movie is based on a true story. So you have to present what really happened. The young man really did hop trains to get around and apparently he really was savagely attacked by a Railroad employee.
Posted by Doris Kerns on 6/13/2008 12:43:43 PM
I understand what the article is trying to say, and I work in the rail business. But people need to realize you don't take what you see in the movies as concrete. Movies are for entertainment and are an artform. Common sense says, if you crawl under a train and run across several tracks and you get hit, you deserve what you get. We need to be accountable for our actions, which in this society, I don't feel we always are. We are eager to put the blame on someone else.
Posted by Skip on 6/13/2008 12:44:34 PM
It a waste of time to even bother to draw attention to what comes out of Hollywood. It's not reality based. As for setting bad examples for what people could possibly do, no one needs a Hollywood production to set out what is right or wrong. People just do it on their own without regards to the safety of their actions.
Posted by Dan Tanger on 6/15/2008 6:58:12 PM
What I want to know who were the idiots on the railroad(s) on which this was filmed. One can only guess the dollars must have been good enough to black out their comment sense.
Posted by Larry Kaufman on 6/16/2008 10:33:24 AM
Railroads always have been asked to grant use of their facilities to movie makers. The old Southern Pacific actually had a nice bit of cash flow from use of its yards and lines, most notably the Steven Segal flick "Dark Territory" filmed in Colorado. SP required that a trainmaster be present at all times and that he had the authority to order film people off the tracks when a train was due. It charged overtime rates for the trainmaster. Schwarzenegger's "Eraser" was filmed at an SP yard in the LA area. Those who have responded that no one takes movies seriously are quite right. But, most railroads always have tried to get the most egregious unsafe practices out of films just because it isn't a good idea to give stupid people more ideas.
Posted by Dr M Seshagiri Rao on 6/16/2008 11:42:51 AM
I am happy that such scenes are so rare in American movies that it makes news. In the World's largest movie Industry, that is India, scenes glorifying ticketless travel, footboard riding, trespassing Railway lands and such other activities are so common that they are never mentioned in the Press. Many a youngster has died a violent death while trying to renact Railway stunt actions in real life.
Posted by A.J. Smith on 6/16/2008 5:26:56 PM
Good thought piece, Jeff. I was dismayed last night to see, in the final scene of the opening episode of "In Plain Sight," the heroine drove around a lowered crossing gate to get to the airport on time. I think Hollywood producers can help shape the way people think about certain behaviors, and this scene certainly was not helpful.
Posted by Larry Kaufman on 6/17/2008 10:19:26 AM
A. J. Smith and I may have been the only two people to watch In Plain Sight Monday evening. I didn' think the producers in any way glorified running around traffic and gates, and as the train bore down on the twit who at least got out of her car, the real lesson was "if you do this, you could get yourself killed." Not to worry, though, as I figure this program won't get past its initial order of episodes. It just wasn't very good. By the way, the train in the picture was a CSX locomotive -- supposedly in Albuquerque? Clearly, no rail fan producer there.
Posted by Paul Huff on 6/17/2008 10:34:05 AM
Frankly, I have no problem with the kid getting his head handed to him by the railroad police. Perhaps if his "dysfunctional" parents had instilled a more healthy respect for rules, he wouldn not have been in a position to be in trouble in the first place. Who knows, the policeman might just have saved his miserable life.
