![]() ![]() Idgie is now played as an adult by Mary Stuart Masterson. Large, weepy section of the movie left off HEREĪbout 28 minutes in, the two gals decide to hop a freight at night. Speeding towards and over the camera (and presumably, Buddy) comes the #290. As Buddy fiddles with his boot, you can just see the head of the locomotive fireman peeking out above the running board - probably telling the engineer where to stop (“One more car….Thaaaaat’ll do.”) Great telephoto shot of the 4-6-2 (sporting an auxiliary tender) on a freight, rounding the curve. But…why did the railroad install a guard rail out there in the open like that with no obstruction to guard? (an overpass, a bridge, a switch, etc.)? Buddy has got his foot caught in a guard rail. Note the rail anchors and ribbon rail (which wasn’t around in 1920) that suddenly appear in the last shot. Track conditions change dramatically from shot to shot making me think this scene was filmed in two separate places. Watching from the ramshackle overpass is his admiring little tomboy sister Idgie ( here played by Nancy Moore Atchison) and Buddy’s main squeeze Ruth ( played by Mary-Louise Parker). Evelyn winds up chatting with a nursing home resident (Ninny) who grew up in Whistle Stop and entertains her with stories of the old times.įirst story from Ninny ( played by Jessica Tandy) concerns Buddy Threadgoode ( played by Chris O’Donnell) seen here on the rope swing and on the tracks. Long story short, all the train scenes are in flashback. At Milepost 217, we see Norfolk Southern’s signaled and nicely-ballasted Macon-Atlanta mainline. They have stumbled into the little town of Whistle Stop. Photo courtesy SE Railway Museum website.Īs the movie opens, Evelyn Couch ( played by Kathy Bates) and hubby are lost on their way to visit his mother in a nursing home. Restored in 1989 for excursion service in and around Atlanta, A&WP #290 is seen here “hot” as it would have appeared pulling The Crescent between Atlanta and Montgomery, Alabama in 1926-1954. Isn’t she a beauty? Strutting her stuff for the cameras comes A&WP #290 past the “Whistle Stop” depot. A&WP #290 and the railroad was used not only as a plot point, but can be seen in the background of some interior shots.įried Green Tomatoes anyone? All aboard for the Whistle Stop depot and cafe! Much of the railroad scenes were filmed in and around Juliette, Georgia using a former Southern Railway line (Macon to Atlanta). As of 2022, A&WP #290 is still with us, currently being cosmetically restored for display by the good folks at the Southeastern Railway Museum, Duluth, Georgia. Chick Flick! Why would I bother with such a film, you ask? Why, it’s because one of the “Ladies” is the gorgeous Atlanta & West Point Railroad # 290, a 4-6-2 Pacific, built by the Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio, in 1926. ![]()
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