PORT ALLEGANY — Some scenes for the movie, “Unstoppable,” a
thriller about a runaway train carrying dangerous cargo, starring
Denzel Washington and Chris Pine of Star Trek fame, were filmed at
Carlson’s Store and nearby railroad tracks in Turtlepoint during
three days in September.
Twentieth Century Fox film crews spent Sept. 13, 17 and 18 in
the village filming scenes of a train accident involving a dump
truck and pickup truck pulling a horse trailer.
“Our father, George L. Carlson, bought the business in 1920 and
it has always been a general store,” said George A. Carlson, a
partner in the family corporation. Today, the store sells
groceries, meats and animal feed. It is also home to the
Turtlepoint Post Office.
Jim, another son and partner, added, “Our father remained active
in the store’s operation until he died. We children worked there
while we were in high school.”
The store shut its doors for the three days of filming,
according to Ginny, George’s wife.
“The movie company negotiated with us to close for that time.
Champlin Hill Road that runs in front of the store was also blocked
off to traffic during that same time. However, we did let our
postal patrons in through the feed dock at the side of the building
to get their mail.”
All filming at the store was done outside, Jim Carlson
noted.
A plastic advertisement for a brand of snuff was removed from a
front window of the store prior to the filming, said Jim
Carlson. At the same time, generic ads were placed in the outside
bulletin board that is glass enclosed and usually carries Annin
Township news.
An “extra” from Galeton takes the role of the store’s owner. Two
other extras, playing shoppers, were carrying their groceries and
other goods from the store at the time of the accident. “Props for
their shopping bags came from the store,” said Jim Carlson.
“We’re not sure if the scenes showing the storefront will be in
the final edited version, but part of the building could be visible
during the crash,” Jim Carlson added.
The train accident occurred at the Western New York and
Pennsylvania Railroad tracks next to the store as the locomotive,
owned by the movie company, moved into the crossing at Champlin
Hill Road. Jim Carlson pointed to one advantage of this particular
section of tracks: it is probably the longest straight
stretch between Buffalo and Harrisburg. Then too, since it runs
through a rural area, there was less disruption of service during
the filming.
When the tracks were closed to commercial traffic, a special
effects crew dismantled the crossing signal and replaced it
temporarily with a replica that was knocked over in
the accident.
Ginny Carlson remembers a film crew regularly spraying water in
the area prior to the filming so it always looked the same. In that
way, during the editing process, related scenes that may have been
shot on different days under different conditions, would be
consistent instead of dusty one day and clear the next.
Careful planning went into the scenes that were shot at
Turtlepoint, said Jim Carlson, who has a doctorate in economics and
is a professor at Mansfield University in addition to working at
the store.
“A movie crew visited the railroad crossing about three or four
weeks before the actual filming of the accident and used a mockup
of small cars and vehicles on a board,” he said. “They kept
repositioning the vehicles as to what the director envisioned
happening.”
In addition, test runs were held to determine the
appropriate speed of the locomotive for the accident.
Jim Carlson was certainly impressed with the movie crews.
“They were gracious and interested in our area,” he said.
According to the Internet, 409 days remain before the premier
of “Unstoppable” on Nov. 12, 2010.
