Rail transport in fiction

Films

3:10 to Yuma (2007), the second adaptation of Elmore Leonard's short story, starred Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

The 39 Steps (1935) - Richard Hannay travels on the Flying Scotsman.

The American Friend (German: Der amerikanische Freund) (1977), adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game, features action sequences in the Paris Métro and on a German train.

Back to the Future Part III – the improvised method of propelling the time machine to 88 mph in 1885 was by using a steam locomotive, also Emmett Brown refitted a steam locomotive into a hovertrain as the basis of his new time machine.

Brief Encounter (1945) – romantic meetings in a train station

Boxcar Bertha (1972) - starring Barbara Hershey as an orphan who turns to robbing trains for survival. Martin Scorsese's first feature film.

The Cassandra Crossing (1976) – passengers aboard a transcontinental train face a threat from carrier of plague virus.

Cairo Station (1958) – takes place in a train station.

Closely Watched Trains – The story takes places at a railway station in World War II in Czechoslovakia under the Nazi occupation. The film is based on Bohumil Hrabal's novel, directed by Jiří Menzel.

Creep (2004) - A killer stalks the London Underground.

Dancer in the Dark (2000) - A hypnotic musical number is staged on a slow-moving freight train.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - a comedy-drama by Wes Anderson that is primarily set aboard a luxury train "The Darjeeling Limited".

Death Line (1972) – features a killer on the London Underground.

Dil Se.. (1998) - features a fantasy musical number, Chaiyya Chaiyya, staged on a moving Nilgiri Mountain Railway train.

Double Indemnity (1944) - A murderer stages a fake accident on a train.

Emperor of the North Pole (1973) - A Great Depression-era film about hobos starring Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.

The First Great Train Robbery - based on the Great Gold Robbery of 1855.

From Russia with Love – James Bond novel and film, confrontation on board of the Orient Express.

Give My Regards to Broad Street – A day in the life of Paul McCartney. Master tapes to McCartney's new album are stolen. Featuring London Broad Street station.

The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1969) - a group of train robbers are chased up and down a local railway line by a group of unruly students from a local school.

The Great Train Robbery – feature film based on a true story, also title of a modern film.

Horror Express – Anglo-Spanish horror film set aboard the Trans-Siberian Express, on which passengers are killed off one by one.

The Lady Vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock – the majority of the plot takes place on a train heading for England.

Men in Black and Men in Black II – starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, has aliens living in the subway.

Mission: Impossible – sees a helicopter pursuing a TGV train into the Channel Tunnel which runs between Great Britain and France. In reality this type of train does not travel through the Channel Tunnel, and the tunnel shown in the film has double track whereas the real tunnel has two single bores.

Miss Potter – Sequences for the film Miss Potter starring Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger were filmed at Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Based on novel by Agatha Christie, starring Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman.

Murder, She Said – features extensive railway scenes. Based on the novel 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie.

The Narrow Margin (1952) - a deadly game of cat-and-mouse aboard a train. Remade under the same title in 1990.

Night Mail (1936) - a documentary film about a mail train's trip from London to Scotland.

Night Train (1959) - Polish film by Jerzy Kawalerowicz.

North by Northwest (1959) - Alfred Hitchcock thriller starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.

North West Frontier (1959) – A British army officer transports a young prince to safety aboard an antiquated locomotive.

Oh, Mr Porter! (1937) - Will Hay film about an incompetent station master in charge of a near-derelict railway station in Northern Ireland.

The Olsen Gang on the Track (1975) - A Danish comedy film directed by Erik Balling and starring Ove Sprogøe.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - A Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Leone that deals with a railroad tycoon trying force a widow off her land to make way for his railroad.

The Polar Express - a Christmas story about a non-believing young boy and his adventures with Santa Claus

Robbery (1967) - based loosely on the Great Train Robbery.

Runaway (2009) – National Film Board of Canada animated comedy short about a runaway train.

Runaway Train – escaped convicts on a runaway train.

Silver Streak - a passenger train is both the primary set and plays a pivotal part in bringing murderers to justice.

Speed (1994) - Known mostly for its sequences on a city bus, this film's climax is set on the Los Angeles subway.

The Station Agent (2003) - a man who seeks solitude in an abandoned train station in Newfoundland, New Jersey.

Strangers on a Train (1951) - Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller.

Snowpiercer (2013) - a science fiction post-apocalyptic film directed by Bong Joon Ho about a luxury train that circles around the Earth.

Steamboy (2004) - featured extensive railway scenes (including a chase scene between a train, a "steam automotive" and a steam-powered monowheel) around London and Manchester.

Terror by Night (1946) - a Sherlock Holmes film, with the story revolving around the theft of a famous diamond aboard a train.

Terror Train (1980) - Canadian horror film starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three – 1974 film adapted from the John Godey novel of the same name about the hijacking of a New York Subway train.

The Taking of Pelham 123 - 2009 remake of the 1974 version of the hijacking of the New York Subway train

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) - set on a country railway threatened with closure and sabotage by a local bus service.

Tourist Train (1933) - comic adventures of travellers on Italian railways.

The Train (1964) - French Resistance members try to stop a Nazi colonel from transporting priceless works of art aboard a train to Germany.

Train of Events (1949) - revolves around the lives of several people involved in a train crash.

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) - sequel of the 1992 film Under Siege about mercenaries who hijacked a passenger train in the Rocky Mountains and ex-Navy SEAL Casey Ryback who tries to stop them.

Unstoppable (2010) - tells the story of a runaway freight train and two men who try to stop it. Inspired by the CSX 8888 incident.

Volcano – An extension to the subway meets a lava flow.

Von Ryan's Express is about World War II POW's escaping by hijacking their train.

The Warriors (1979) - many scenes set in and around the New York City Subway.

While You Were Sleeping – stars Sandra Bullock as a subway worker who is mistaken for the fiancee of an injured passenger.

Literature

4.50 from Paddington (book; film and TV adaptations) – a Miss Marple story. A passenger on one train is witness to a murder being committed on another train.

The Adventure of the Lost Locomotive - a Solar Pons story about a disappearing train on the Great Northern Railway.

Anna Karenina (book) – by Leo Tolstoy. Train travel is arguably the most prominent motif of the story.

"The Celestial Railroad" – Short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Dark Tower (book series) by Stephen King – The main character Roland of Gilead travels through a series of caves which were once part of an underground railroad system. The characters also ride on a monorail with artificial intelligence.

The Devil's Horse, The Poison Tree and The Abyss in Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' The Morland Dynasty series feature the development of steam power and the first railways in Britain.

Galaxy Express 999 – From the manga and anime of the same name by Leiji Matsumoto, this train travels the galaxy from planet to planet.

Iron Council (China Mieville)– a fantasy book about the building of a cross-continental railway line.

Railsea(China Mieville)- a fantasy book that features railway tracks that represent oceans and sea called "Railsea" and features giant mole rat called Moldywrape that represent whales and boat-like trains. It parodies Herman Mieville Moby dick.

Jim Stringer: Steam Detective - series of mystery novels by Andrew Martin set on various British railway lines.

La Bête humaine – (novel) by Émile Zola, filmed 5 times, e.g. as Cruel Train

The Little Engine That Could – children's book. Also adapted as an animated film in 1991 (see The Little Engine That Could (film)).

The Locomotive – dynamic poem for children by Julian Tuwim, filmed by Zbigniew Rybczyński

The Lost Special - short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, about the investigation of a special train mysteriously disappearing.

Making Tracks (23 Classic Railroad Stories) (2013), ed. by Jon Schlenker and Charles G. Waugh.

The Moosepath Saga by Van Reid – All six books (thus far) in this series feature travel by rail, entailing adventure, comedy, mystery, and romance in late 19th century Maine.

The Motion Demon – 1919 (book) horror stories by Stefan Grabiński- Engine Driver Grot; The Wandering Train; The Motion Demon; The Sloven; The Perpetual Passenger; In the Compartment; Signals; The Siding; Ultima Thule.

Murder on the Orient Express (book by Agatha Christie, 1934; film) – describes a train journey from Istanbul to Paris aboard the Orient Express during which a murder takes place. Hercule Poirot, riding on the train solves the mystery and justice is served.

The Mystery of the Blue Train (book, TV adaptation) – earlier Poirot story in which a murder takes place on a train.

The Network (book) – by Laurence Staig. An ancient prophecy is realised one Christmas Eve in the London Underground, a dramatic race against time as 3 people are thrown together to prevent a terrifying catastrophe.

Night on the Galactic Railroad (novel, film) - two boys travel on a magical train across the night sky - but there is a deeper meaning to the journey.

Silver on the Tree, the last book in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising cycle - approaching the climax of the story, the main characters travel on a mystical train to the final battle between the Light and the Dark

Strangers on a Train (novel, film) – tells the story of how two strangers meet on a train and decide to exchange murders so they can't be tied to each other.

Taggart Comet (Atlas Shrugged)

The Thirty-Nine Steps – (book by John Buchan, films, one by Alfred Hitchcock) features a sequence where the character Richard Hannay escapes from the Police by jumping from a train. One version uses the Forth Bridge in Scotland, while another is filmed on the Severn Valley Railway.

Via Bodenbach, an experimental novel about a train journey to Berlin by Hungarian novelist Ferenc Körmendi, published in 1932 and widely translated.

The Wind in the Willows - an episode in the novel involves the flight of Mr. Toad by rail and a chase-scene with another train full of policemen.

Television

Atomic Train – television film (1999) A runaway train carrying an atomic bomb into a town.

Dad's Army - several episodes were set at Walmington-on-Sea railway station or on the local railway line.

Digimon Frontier – features several train like Digimon called Trailmon that run on monorails.

Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express – features a train like Digimon called Locomon that is controlled by another Digimon causing it to run wild on the railways. It later evolves into a meaner looking Digimon called Grandlocomon.

The Flockton Flyer - about a family who work on a heritage railway.

Oh, Doctor Beeching! - set on a railway station threatened with closure.

Petticoat Junction - set on a rural railway line permanently threatened with closure.

Two seasons of Power Rangers, Lightspeed Rescue and Mystic Force, feature train based Megazords; the Supertrain Megazord and Solar Streak Megazord respectively. They are based on Grand Liner of Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive and Travelion of Mahou Sentai Magiranger respectively.

Quatermass and the Pit - building work on the London Underground unearths artefacts from a race of extraterrestrials.

Supertrain – A television series on a huge luxury double deckered high speed train.

Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends – TV series originated from The Railway Series by the Rev.W.Awdry

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress – Anime series featuring a locomotive that runs on steam transporting villagers escaping from Kabane.

Kamen Rider Den-O – features the DenLiner, the train that ables to travel time.

Ressha Sentai ToQger - Super Sentai series featuring trains

Other

Astrotrain – A Decepticon triple-changer from the Transformers More Than Meets the Eye character line.

The Crazy Locomotive – by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, 1923 expressionistic 45-minutes play ( Obie Award-winning production at the Chelsea Theatre Center in 1977, Classical Theatre of Harlem). Two engineers push the locomotive to ever-greater speeds causing a head-on collision.

Dutchman (play) by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) is set in the New York City Subway.

The Ghost Train - stageplay by Arnold Ridley about a group of passengers stranded in a haunted railway station. Adapted to film numerous times.

Starlight Express (Andrew Lloyd Webber) – Musical about trains competing in a World Championship railway race.

"Tons of Steel" – A Grateful Dead song about a man and the train he operates.

The Wrecker - stageplay by Arnold Ridley about a steam engine that is allegedly possessed.This later made into the 1929 film The Wrecker however it did not feature the possessed train.

Le Transperceneige - A French Graphic novel about a luxury train that went around a post-apocalyptic ice age later inspired the 2013 film Snowpiercer.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - Features the controllable Spirit Train and the Demon Train as an antagonist.

Half-Life (series) - Several of the games start or end on trams and trains, and feature themes of rail transportation in-game as usable trams or as obstacles and scenery.

Grand Theft Auto - Most of this series of games contains a form of railroading (train, tram etc.).

Alice Madness Returns - In game appears the Infernal Train as the main source of destruction in Wonderland, controlled by the Dollmaker. It can be seen throughout numerous parts in the game, and it is used as a final chapter.