Hoosier Line
Hoosier Line is a short film from ca. 1940s released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
Promotional film about Indiana and its railroads.
| Hoosier Line | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | 0 |
Production company | 0 |
| Distributed by | 0 |
Release date | ca. 1940s |
| Language | English |
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More Details
Promotional film about Indiana and its railroads made for the Monon Railroad. Based on the range of locomotives and traffic shown this was probably made around 1954. It features the Purdue Glee Club.
3 reels
Shot List
0849 Begins with the development of Indiana told from Eurocentric perspective.
Opens with historical recreation: man in period costume sings in a tenor about the Wabash river, about "pioneers" moving to Indiana. "Folks hankerin' to be somebody, have things they could call their own and be proud of. Feeling that way they cleared the land and planted it to crops. The womenfolk helped in the fields. Lean-tos gave way to log cabins, cabins to houses of stone, the wilderness disappeared." "It's a place where one man, any man can do things on his own. [Indiana]" Stock shots: locomotives -- a number of shots.
Map showing the development of the U.S. by parcels. Focus on Northwest Territory. Men's choral singing in formal attire. Conductor. Shots of towns in Indiana. Two factories which make prefabricated houses. Assembly line in prefabricated house factory (National Homes, Inc.). Laying rails, ties, and spikes. Firehouse with fire truck leaving. The Capitol. Indianapolis and local landmarks. Good footage of Indianapolis 500. Clark Gable. The logos of the many train lines which intersect Indiana rail lines are shown matted over shots of moving trains. The city of Louisville, Kentucky. Kentucky Derby. Chicago city, landmarks, aerials.
Historical recreation of discussion of laying rails in Indiana. Musical number in period costumes about fun riding the trains.
3:19:09- 3:29:91
A long train makes its way across a low bridge in the green countryside.
4:14:44- 4:29:35
Interesting graphics a map of the U.S. when it was "first settled" (i.e. by Europeans). Various blocks of land pop up in the order in which they were taken "Louisiana Purchase," "Texas," and "Oregon Country."
11:43:91- 11:57:95
Train POV of a Monon Railroad train (also known as the Hoosier Line) gliding along a rural track (there are silos in the distance). We see the nose of the train as we move forward (we're sitting in the driver's seat).
11:58:02- 12:21:58
Nice series of train POV starting with farm land passing us by, next a factory with a large parking lot, and then to a town going by (this last shot is not train POV, but a there is a continuation of forward movement by the camera).
18:36:62- 18:47:22
Nice pan of a busy intersection (stores, cars, and pedestrians) in Indianapolis.
20:54:16- 21:03:55
The Monon train pulls into the train yard where there are tons of other trains. There is a slight view of the industrial, working class area surrounding the train yard.
worth noting: There is a fabulous sequence with all the railroads' logos they flash onto the screen one after another. (21:58:67- 22:24:40)
25:47:70- 26:21:15
Six different shaky aerial shots of Chicago offering a nice overview of the city.
26:39:90- 27:02:62
Good train POV first leaving an urban area (men stand along the tracks), then dissolve to more rural scenery, and dissolve to even more rural landscape.
Monon railroad known as the Hoosier line. Lots of Monon train shots in Indiana landscape. Various songs about Indiana.
05:01:18:01 VS young man in twenties dressed in eighteenth to early nineteenth-century period costume playing harpsichord and singing in high voice by fireplace.
05:04:16:25 Monon train track bridge over calm river; trains crosses bridge.
05:04:31:26 MS man in suspenders standing on railroad track speaks to camera I ve got a personal pride in one little chapter of our American story; and not such a little chapter at that when you come to think about it. All my life I ve worked for the railroad, and railroads believe you me grew up the American way.
05:05:11:13 Animated graphic of US map showing phases of westward expansion; CU northwest territory.
05:07:04:25 VS nineteenth-century period shot of southern Indiana railroad; man helping women into old-fashioned train.
05:07:18:20 Nineteenth-century man in red coat with tails and top hat, woman in blue dress, stand in front of train and break into amazingly ridiculous song and dance about love for trains: Oh its fun to go riding and riding and riding along on the passenger car, woman answers in song It s exciting, exciting, exciting, exciting, like floating along on the stars, together Oh it s fun to go riding, and riding, and riding no journey would ever seem long ; surreal absurdity.
05:10:41:07 Blonde man singing in black tuxedo in front of rest of chorus they opened up a continent, from sea to shining sea ; VS rest of chorus in tuxedos singing song up building American; large circular red and white M sign for Monon railroad above chorus.
05:12:28:08 Conductor on Monon train waiving to man as train pulls out of station.
05:12:41:03 VS from train looking over the Indiana landscape; farms, factories, towns, prefabricated house factory, iron mill.
05:16:43:13 VS male chorus in tuxedos singing song about Indiana with large Monon Railroad logo in background: there s a little bit of paradise that all the world should know, it s the shades of Indiana. Where the sweetest flowers grow ; terrifically corny but loving lyrics about Indiana.
05:19:10:07 VS Spring Mill State Park.
05:20:06:04 VS Indianapolis 500.
05:22:21:27 Workers using laying new railroad track.
05:22:55:04 Great montage of old railroad line logos superimposed over moving train: Atlantic Coast Line, B & O, Burlington Route, Canadian Pacific, C & EI, Chicago Milwaukee St. Paul and Pacific, Chicago and North Western System, Erie, Great Northern Railway, Great Western Railway, Grand Trunk Railway System, Illinois Central, L & N, Missouri Pacific Lines, New York Central System, Nickel Plate Road, RPR, Rock Island, Santa Fe, the Southern, Union Pacific Railroad, Wabash.
05:23:56:09 VS wealthy men and women in suits and coats, nearly all wearing hats, waiting in line outside of a Monon train.
05:24:30:09 VS Kentucky Derby.
05:26:10:27 VS Chicago; fake rainbow special effect over shot of large water fountain in Chicago, audio track song there s a rainbow over Chicago ; aerial shots of Chicago.