Train-Related Movies - from Family Garden Trains™ and BigIndoorTrains™

This page will contain links to movies with strong train themes. We've enjoyed watching several of these together as a family - others have been recommended to us.

About The General and The Great Locomotive Chase - Two of the movies on this page actually commemorate the same historical event. During the Civil War, Northern spies stole a locomotive that the Confederacy was using, and a small band of Southerners gave hot pursuit. Buster Keaton's version is a classic silent comedy (in my opinion, the best ever made). Keaton operates the pursuing locomotive by himself and performs literally dozens of stunts that could have gotten him killed. Fess Parker's version is a bit more of a family-friendly adventure film, with Disney touches. Still, you'll probably enjoy them both.

Several other good feature movies that featured trains aren't currently available on DVD. In addition, there are several movies that might be worthwhile, but I haven't had a chance to review them yet. So if your favorite movie isn't on our page, let us know and we'll check it out.

About Movies With "Train" in the Title - If you start looking for feature movies that feature trains, you'll discover many, many films that have "train" or related words in the title, but don't really feature trains to speak of. As an example, the "Strangers on a Train" spend more time on a Merry-Go-Round than they do on a train. "Runaway Train" is really a gritty and disturbing movie about a prison break. The fact that most of the action takes place on a train doesn't make this a train movie (and it certainly doesn't make it "family friendly," something we try to look for in our recommendations). Several well-known westerns with "train" in the title don't even show the train until the last few minutes of the movie.

About DVDs versus Blue-Ray: Today, people who want their home theater experience to be as close as possible to a theatrical experience (without the noisy jerk in the next row) are going to very large screens with 1080p (maximum HD) resolution, and Blue-Ray disks. On such an optimum screen, you CAN tell the difference between a DVD and a Blue-Ray disk. On the other hand, if you have a 37" or smaller screen and one of those DVD players that "upconverts" resolution by digitally interpolating lines, the difference between DVD and Blue-Ray is not nearly as dramatic as it seems in the "big box" stores. Also, Blue-Ray doesn't add that much detail to made-for-TV shows, most hand-drawn animation, or most unrestored movies made before 1970, because there isn't that much detail on the screens to begin with. I have a 37" 1080i and a 22" 1080P, and one of those DVD players that "Upconverts" resolution by digitally interpolating lines of resolution - I have to say that on a well-made DVD, the resolution is very nice with both setups. In fact, unless I wanted to sit with my nose to the screen, I doubt that Blue-Ray would significantly enhance my viewing pleasure.

Why We Have Mostly DVD Links: Most of the movies we profile are reasonably priced on DVD, so we have started out providing DVD links first. . At any rate, we're starting out linking to DVD, though we don't have a problem with you buying the Blue-Ray version if you think you'd rather have that. If we get time, we may start providing links to the Blue-Ray version as well later on. But in most cases, if you click on the DVD link, somewhere on the page, Amazon will give you the option of buying the Blue-Ray version instead.

Feature Films that Feature Trains

Videos About Real Railroads

Kid-Friendly Movies With Trains

War Movies With Trains

Model Railroading Videos