They spent $5 million on this set and skimped on Star Trek's set. Yeah, NBC really knew when they had a hit!

That’s honestly a cool looking train! :)

Nice to know the Supertrain model still exist! Thanks!

I don’t care what any imbecilic viewer or inept, incompetent, judgemental, self righteous critic says… I loved the show and the train.

I was 12 when this premiered. I watched the opening then was bored out of my mind! I was expecting _Battlestar Galactica_ but instead it was _The Love Boat…_

This program was one of those monumental events that happen in your lifetime. Roots, the miracle on ice and Supertrain. Powerful TV.

I saw the Super Train Model at Bernie Paul’s Flea Market on Tioga Street in Philadelphia. I remember the date, November 4th, 1979. The day Iran took the hostages. Bernie Paul owned AHM Hobbies and a few others. He was a hobby distributor. Very nice guy. My parents knew him as kids.

That’s how to do it. Actually build the thing. No CGI. Nothing was more 70s than this lol

Thanks for posting this, I'm studying filmmaking in college and I love seeing behind the scenes stuff like this!

This was back when NBCIA was just an entertainment entity.

This is what happens when you try to mix Buck Rogers and Love Boat. Cocaine's a helluva drug!

The funniest "what were they thinking?" part, to me, was the idea of a swimming pool: like, taking curves at 200 mph is not gonna cause a big mess in the pool area?

This video is several minutes longer than the entire 1979 Supertrain series run.

It belongs in a museum

That thing should be on display at the Hollywood museum

A good writer can make a soup can interesting. Bad writing will wreak a super train .

I didn't think it was that bad. Yea it re-used tired out plot devices but I would have kept watching it. And I'd definitely take a trip on a train like that!

Whoa NO WAY! I only JUST heard about this show less than 2 mins ago and here is this video about the 1979 cancelled series that was uploaded just 2 months ago! Just Great coincidence and what an awesome model!

Love model railroading. Hate to see these relics deteriorated.

It's so funny to hear the scepticism and concern whenever any of the on air talent talked about the show. Clearly worried this turkey was gonna put everyone at NBC out of work.

Wow I never heard of this before! I know of the love boat so this was trying to be the train version of that maybe!

In an interview Fred Silverman said when he found out how much it cost, went to visit the model, kicked it and broke his toe. Supposedly, it was made out of cast iron and he didn't know that.

I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT SHOW!!!! Damn, I'm old.

For a extra 25 million back then they could have built a real supertrain.

Railroad Supply Company furnished a lot of parts, and the train was a feature in their old print catalog. They were on Victory Bl, near Frank's Restaurant (seen in recent tv commercials), 15 minutes from Los Angeles Live Steamers.

Fantastic! Thanks for all the information in this video. Still love this show!

I remember seeing the first episode Express to Terror when it premiered and then the show disappeared.

I can barely remember this as a child, but I had a big train set in my parents basement. I can remember being really disappointed with this show, as it was not really about the train, and was basically "The Love Boat".

But it did become a great episode of 13 Week Theatre 45 years later!

$5,000,000 in 1979 = $20,900,000. Supposed to go up to 200mph. A Eurostar electric train set costs around £70,000,000 - but you get an ACTUAL train. And back in 1979, Shinkansen was totally a thing.

To their credit, the control board looks relatively legit.

Looove your video, & the model

5:14 - Kind of hard to read the text scrolling by that are superimposed over black and white photos (which makes it hard to read words written in white font) and scrolling too fast.

In our time it's best described as a full speed hate crime on rails!

Unfortunately, this obviously left them with no money for a script editor...

The way one of the board members described Old Man Winfield's vision (effectively calling him a senile old fart) could easily have been applied to the network as a whole. Over at CBS, Flying High was no more successful, but at least the airplanes didn't overshadow the storyline. And the music and visuals didn't beat viewers over the head with 70s references.

I loved this show, I also was 11 and liked trains.

I loved that stupid show when I was a kid. It was basically Love Boat on rails but for me the star was the train itself.

It was a costly learning experience for the networks. The Airport movie series had played themselves out, Super Train was an attempt to ride on the coattails of those TV movie successes and it failed miserably from a financial perspective.

A Modelers Life podcast brought me here. Viva la AML nation!! Dime for scale 🪙

...reminds me much of The Big Bus

I remember some of this television series. It seems it was expensive; similar in cost to the Automan.

Wasn't there a comedy film from the early 80's about a nuclear powered bus? Obiviously this is what they were lampooning. lol

It was honestly ahead of it's time. If this were today that would all be CGI and not props. But if you notice this was very negative with comments all through it.

$5,000,000 of 1979 dollars! For JUST the set.

supertrain is cool as hell.....wish i could have found it........1979 supertrain.....

What a amazing vehicle

Back when effects were real

Actually BATTLESTAR GALACTICA had the most expensive ever on its resume. At least it was good.

The money networks waste is mind boggling.

It's a real Space-Age Shinkansen.

Almost like ARK II

What were they thinking 😆

The fact is, passenger trains are obsolete in America. The country is just too big.

I can recall climbing on the train 🚆 and the model tracks built by Magic Mountain. The toy train spinoff possibilities were obvious at the time......before Nintendo.

I wonder if the Writer of the snowpeircer novel got the idea from the show.

I would love to see what's going on with Supertrain model now. Has it been restored 🤔.

Love Boat on rails........

I didn't think much of the series, and it sure didn't last long...

Tom Scott’s “Citation Needed” brought me here.

Okay.. I want to start building something like this.

I remember this show.....I forgot how stupid it was

uroczy

Please tell me you have video of this find? Discovering the model?

This behind the scenes report probably killed the show before it even aired, with all those unfinished shots they made it look terrible.

I'm, looking for either some drawings to build a small one or top, side and end views of engine and carriages if you know where I can look or contact someone. I am a retired Australian Veteran and model train modeller in retirement..

A lot of things don't translate well to television. Silver Streak was a great movie - it also had Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Probably the best train movie since North by Northwest. I probably saw most episodes of Supertrain on its original run (was there any other) and wouldn't mind seeing them again. It wasn't Silver Streak, wasn't Love Boat either. Kind of expensive copycat project. I don't know if anything could have made it a success. Then again, Unstoppable was a big hit in spite of being ridiculous. Movie should have been over in the first half hour once the second set of locomotives coupled to the first, instead they try to dangle a guy in from a helicopter. Supertrain might have been slightly more accurate in terms of what trains do and don't do. Anyway it reminds me of my partying youth in the 70s. Probably drunk and stoned when I watched it.

It gave Johnny Carson months of material. I'm sure that the NBC bosses hated him going off on it, but they had no choice but to take it as The Tonight Show was about the only thing that was bringing money into NBC at that time and Johnny was being lobbied hard by ABC.

What are your plans for it

So, where is the train model now?

I was wondering if that model was in 2018?

Where is it now? Was it bought?

Looks like a Star Trek Shuttlecraft

Did You really bought it? Upload a vídeo with the layout!

Could've bought an actual train for less, I do believe...Still a cool design though.

Now Supertrain is covered with bird shit.

I thought this was real corny as a kid. First of all the ad said the train rode of 3 tracks it only ran on one. Overall the model itself doesn't look half bad. Hell if I had the money I'd buy it. First they said it was the only one of its kind to exist 4:42 then later on they said there's two different versions -- 5:14. Considering the close ups -- the wide shots & the far shots there had to be more than one version.

Dopiest idea ever

I think that's what they were trying to build here in California, but ran out of money.

何と、実物大のセットまで

Turkey.

Why wasn't it shown on British TV.

I don’t care what anyone says, the movie pilot is corny and cheesy but I loved it as a young man and still love it as an old man.

NBC clone of the love boat

Could have built a real train instead of a fake one for all that money.

This show was so bad it was good.

Wasnt this show released in 1979? If so then that was the end of that disaster super car,boat,plane era and NBC should have known better. At least known better than to sink so much money into a tv show like this. Yeah they had a hit with Knight rider but that was based on the new 1982 Trans Ams which were popular cars thanks to Smokey and the Bandit but this show was a stupid risk. I think the last Airport movie the Concorde came out that year and it sucked. followed by that Paul Newman Irwin Allen movie about the volcano on an island which was really bad.

and it was a spectacular flop!!!

so what happened to the Model?

MOST EXPENSIVE FLOP for NBC

And today the reality is other countries have high speed rail. The US has nothing!! Hell, even Germany has the Autobaun. The US has crumbling conjestive highways. The US is finished. Brics+🇨🇳🇷🇺Saudi Arabia UAE Plus all members 👍❤

As much as I love trains, this was one of the most stupid and unrealistic shows on television.

A multi-million set and a crappy script...

Wow what a horrendously poor idea for a tv show! A total stinker.

The acting was awful 🤣🤣