The Ghost Train[1] is a ghostly apparition of a train that appears in Ghostbusters II.
History[]
On New Years Eve, 1989, while Ray, Egon and Winston went underneath the old New York Subway tunnels to search for the River of Slime that was slowly building up under the city, the Ghost Train made a sudden appearance while the team were on the old railway tracks. In a panic, Ray and Egon quickly took cover while a stunned Winston froze in place while it flew straight through him. When it disappeared Egon believed he identified the train as being the old New York Central "City of Albany" that was accidentally derailed in 1920, killing over 100 people. When Egon asked Winston what the number on the train was, Winston was too petrified to remember the number and claimed that he didn't see the number.
Conflict[]
What Egon says about the 1920 derailment is not based on any actual events. However, during the time frame of the 1920s, there were a lot of train derailings. The Ghost Train features a steam locomotive, a baggage car, a coach, and a caboose. It should be noted that the train itself looks like a train from the mid-1800s instead of from the 1920s. After the passing of the Kaufman Act, steam locomotives were banned from running into New York City after June 30, 1908, due to the smoke making it hard for the engineers to see any signals in the underground tunnels. Trains had to be transferred to electric locomotives at Croton-Harmon, outside of Manhattan.
Behind the Scenes[]
The Ghost Train evolved from concepts that led to the Titanic. Before it was settled, there was an idea for a ghostly subway train with rotting commuters.[2] The Ghost Train was added to the movie after principal photography had wrapped. The train was meant to add more tension, humor, and special effects to that part of the movie.[3][4] ILM was too busy to take on additional work. Apogee - under effects supervisor Sam Nicholson - was hired to create the Ghost Train. Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd did filming with interactive lighting at The Tunnel, a New York nightclub featuring a subway motif - several hundred feet of abandoned subway track. A 10K light was placed behind the actors and three to four air cannons were placed on them to blow their hair around. When the cannons blew Hudson's helmet off, the crew blasted the actors with a bright light in place of the train.[5][6]
There was no time to build a modern-day subway so an existing antique train was chosen. John Swallow, production supervisor, found the train. It was an eight-scale version and measured 25 feet long. The train was shot on a black stage at Apogee using a snorkel lens about an eight of an inch away in clearance all the way down the train. The train was stationary and rigged with steam and reactive lights by Grant McCune. The crew rheostated the lights so they could dial them up as the camera got closer. The resulting imagery of the train was rendered transparent then composited into the live-action plate.[7][8]
Trivia[]
- Coincidentally, in the original film, a reporter commented on how his grandmother would tell him a ghost story about "a spectral locomotive that would rocket past the farm where she grew up."
- A cut level from Ghostbusters: The Video Game took place in a subway and involved the Ghost Train.[9]
- On Cover A of Ghostbusters Issue #16, the Ghost Train makes a cameo in the background.
Appearances[]
Primary Canon[]
Secondary Canon[]
- IDW Comics
- Ongoing Series
- Volume 3
- Ghostbusters International #9
- Winston mentions the Ghost Train on page 4. [10]
- Ghostbusters International #9
- Volume 3
- Ongoing Series
References[]
- ↑ Egon Spengler (1999). Ghostbusters II, Chapter 18: In the Tunnel (1989) (DVD ts. 1:01:18-1:01:24). Columbia Pictures. Egon Spengler says: "I think that was the old New York Central City Albany! Derailed in 1920! Killed hundreds of people!"
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Harold Ramis says: "The idea we were shooting for was that because of all this psychic activity beneath the city, all the dead were returning to New York. We considered several ideas. One had the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying luggage that was also on fire. Another featured a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters. That was the precursor to the ghost train that is now in the film. We also had a cemetery scene where the gravestones were taking off like rockets. Then the idea for the Titanic hit me one day and that seemed to offer the most powerful images."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 23. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Both scenes were among several added to the film after principle photography had officially wrapped--a situation necessitating a return to New York for additional location shooting only three months before the film was set for release."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 23 and 25. Cinefex, USA. Michael Gross says: "We went back to shoot some scenes that we thought would help clarify story points or expand certain portions of the film. More specifically, the ghost train was added because that portion of the film needed more tension, more humor and more effects. It needed to be goosed a bit. The ghost train helped heighten the jeopardy and get across the idea that an evil force was trying to keep the guys away. It also fostered the notion that all these ghostly forces were starting to build up--which, in turn, helped justify the ending more."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "While Available Light and Visual Concept Engineering helped out with animation effects, Apogee was drafted to create the new sequences that had been added to the film after production had wrapped--including the ghost train encounter. For Apogee, this meant going to New York for ten days of plate photography and location work at the Tunnel--a nightclub that features several hundred feet of abandoned subway track."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA. Sam Nicholson says: "To help sell the scene, we used interactive lighting when we filmed the actors for the plate. We put a 10k light right up behind them and then we put three or four air cannons on the to make their hair blow. There was enough wind to blow Ernie's hat off. Then we blasted them with a bright live that was supposed to be coming from the train."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Late in the production schedule, several effects scenes were added to the film – including one in which three members of the Ghostbusters team encounter a ghost train speeding through an abandoned subway tunnel. Since ILM was already swamped with work, Apogee – under effects supervisor Sam Nicholson – was engaged to engineer the illusion. Actor Ernie Hudson was photographed with interactive lighting in a New York nightclub featuring a subway motif. Later an eighth-scale train was shot on a black stage at Apogee – with motion created solely by camera movement – and the resulting imagery was rendered transparent and composited into the live-action plate."
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA. Sam Nicholson says: "John Swallow--our production supervisor--tracked down the train, it was eighth-scale--about twenty-five feet long--and that made it nice for light because we did not have to get into fiber optic snakes or anything that small. We could use 10ks on it and hide the cables in the train. Since we did not have to sync the shot of the train to any specific mark--other than have it pass through Ernie on the plate--we did not need to film it motion control. The train was stationary, but it had steam and reactive lights that Grant McCune rigged up. We shot it on our effects stage against black--with a snorkel lens about an eight of an inch away in clearance all the way down the train. We put the camera on a dolly and had four guys just whip it down the track. Since in the scene the train lights had to intensify as the train approached the Ghostbusters, we rheostated the lights on the model so we could dial them up as the lights got closer."
- ↑ Spook Central "Ghostbusters Fan Fest - Ghostbusters: The Video Game Panel" 33:45-33:53 10/4/19 Panelist says: "There was an Ellis Island level that was cut. Um, there was Ellis Island and a subway level with the Train."
- ↑ Winston Zeddemore (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #9" (2016) (Comic p.4). Winston Zeddemore says: "Been twitchy about goin' underground ever since I got run over by a Ghost Train."
Gallery[]
Primary Canon[]
Secondary Canon[]
