It's worth remembering that the "bad guys" in this film are Union soldiers.

The expensive box office flop that is almost entirely fictional, yet became a loved movie in its later years and is seen as a railroad enthusiast’s classic

19:30 no worries, those actors probably had plenty of _asbestos fabric_ sewn into their jackets to do that stunt "safely" ! Great video, btw. Buster Keaton is the GOAT

I like how they crush the pilot of the 4-4-0s it's like "How to convert your 4-4-0's cowcatcher to a switching pilot in under a minute!", this is the stuff you can't do today because there aren't many pieces of this equipment left.

At 21:49, you can see they ran the film backwards, which is a clever thing. You can see the smokestack inhaling all that smoke!

23:26 You'd be correct, they did indeed put a dummy in the cab, *however* they didn't tell any of the actors that there was dummy inside the locomotive, so all the reactions to the crash are as real and natural as they could be. They did a similar thing with the water tower at 20:11 were the actress didn't know what the joke of the scene was going to be before hand. (at least so I've heard)

I'm just now realizing just how much most sessions of Derail Valley have the same vibe as buster Keaton; someone needs to make a mod for the cannon and give us a truly Explody Boy.

Fun Fact: The General is actually the first movie that any V&T equipment makes its silver screen debut. The equipment in question was the 16, the Ophir. While the mogul itself would be seen towards the end of the movie during the final stages of the chase, the locomotive was actually used throughout the movie off camera during some of the more ridiculous scenes, such as Keaton getting his foot stuck in that one link, holding the Texas in place while she was spinning her wheels, and making sure certain cars kept on moving for specific shots (including the one howitzer scene). And after the movie was released, the 16 was scrapped, albeit not entirely a surprise as the locomotive was extremely worn out after over 50 years of ops.

You should watch "The Railrodder". it was a film done in the late 1960s in Canada with the National FIlm Board (of Canada), where Buster goes across the country on a rail service vehicle (basically a powered handcart). It is freely available from the NFB and on youtube as well.

I agree with other recommendations to check out Keaton's last film The Railrodder. But let me add the documentary that the National Film Board of Canada made about the making of The Railrodder called "Buster Keaton Rides Again". The documentary gives some great shots of Keaton setting up scenes and gags, as well as his interactions with the professional railroaders that helped make the film. The Great Stone Face was a lover of trains!

If I'm not mistaken the film was filmed in Oregon on a logging railroad, and then backdated a few 4-4-0s

Ohhhh I loved this movie since I was a kid. There's a chance one of the guys who stole the engine was a distant relative of mine! (In the real story). I love Buster Keaton's 'The Railrodder' too, - his last movie 😁

It doesn't portray an accurate representation of historical events. It does portray an accurate representation of Buster Keaton's style though. And here's the fun fact kids who don't know yet or appreciate film for what it is now; that was all live action. There was very few editing tricks they could do back then with physical film and computer graphics absolutely was not a thing back then. So Keaton riding on the front of that locomotive, he did that in person. All the spills and tumbles he takes, that's all him doing that. There's no stunt double and very rarely is there any perspective trickery going on (which would have been the main "effect" they were capable of back then.) So do yourselves a favor and check out some of Buster Keaton's old films and just know that it's some guy doing all of those stunts on camera with very editing and visual tricks available to cover up anything. And if he fails at any time, they have to set it all back up and have him do EVERYTHING from the beginning of that cut.

I’m so glad you did a reaction to Buster’s masterpiece. (You’re right for sure-I remember we used The General as an example in film class for the basics of establishing shots and framing. ) And as to extensive stunts, FWIK Buster did do most of his train handling himself, and really enjoyed it. (16:30 is the train handling of all time.)

22:00 You can see that they first brought the locomotive up there because of the steam entering the cylinder instead of leaving it lol

go to 21:49 in Hyce's video and notice that after the initial run UP the ramp, the rest of this scene was shot in reverse and that film was then played in reverse! Watch the smoke stacks gobbling up their own smoke, even as The General runs from left to right out of the screen you can see the trail of smoke returning to her stack!

That army video with them trying to derail a train, was shot just a hour from me at the old abandoned Camp Claiborne in central Louisiana. I've been to the test site, now completely overgrown by miles of woods. Can still walk the old Louisiana and Gulf roadbed and see the overpass called Big Cut. Lots of railroad history in Louisiana, most of which has been forgotten sadly. (I've lost count of all the back roads I've found that used to be old logging right of ways, paved over for cars and trucks)

Lots of people on here mentioning “The Railroader” but I haven’t seen anyone mention “Our Hospitality” a Keaton movie that features a replica of the Rocket running on some terrible tracks. As for the “General” I love the scene of him sitting on the rods. I think at the time though the real locomotive had a sort of external frame so that shrouds could be put over the running gear.

The world's first ever meme of history and it never gets old 2:44 KaBoooom 11:20 F$cking dies 11:25 ES&D in Real life 13:22 SKRRRRT 16:30 Got stuck on Cumbres pass 16:41 Hyce in Colorado Railroad Museum in a nutshell 18:19 Water tower just said SIKE 20:13 And here comes the comedy 23:11

The coal tressle scene at 21:50 you can see the smoke pour back into the stacks so it was filmed in reverse. I never noticed how obvious it looks until now lol

Fun fact- the KZfaqr "Train of Thought" got drunk once and watched The General on a Livestream.

For the film, they used a logging road, Nick Ozorak and CEG can comment about it and correct any mistakes that I make, and so the film makers used the locomotives on the logging rail road for the movie

This is the right movie for safety breefing : How to do things correctly that you aren´t supposed to do.

All together now: Uphill slow Downhill fast Tonnage first Safety last.

My family once lived and worked in Cottage Grove, Oregon where the General was filmed. My father was ten years old at the time, and he witnessed the bridge scene along with much of the town’s population. My grandfather salvaged the lid to the locomotive’s sand dome from the river, after the wreck but sadly it was left behind when their house was sold in 1951. The filming was a major event at the time. with many of the locals enlisted as extras, and it is a part of the lore of the little town. Another railroading movie, The Emporer of the North was filmed on the same now abandoned logging/excusion railroad. One store on Main Street has a mural emblazend on a east facing wall.

To be fair the guys arguing over how to repair the points are all military men. And it's only when the two presumably railroaders walk up to see what the problem is that they show how simple it is to repair points.

I worked at the Hawaiian Railway Society as a brakeman/flagman and Narrator. We had a handcar that was made for standard gauge but modified for our narrow gauge. I *could* get it on and off the rails by myself but I was a pretty big guy and knew how to throw my weight around to get the wheels off the rails on one end. We rarely did that though and most of the time just used a forklift to put it's 'carriage' on a siding or the mainline, let the kids or adults play with it between runs (with me or someone else supervising and manning the foot brake), and put it on a siding before we went back out with the train. We also had a 'Speeder Shed' next to the main line, but had like a mini turntable on it that could be removed. It was really just a set of rails ground down to a ramp at one end with metal crossbars on a pivot. You'd put it's spikes into the ties, line it up with the shed's rails, roll whatever it was onto the turn table, tilt and pivot and on the mainline before shoving it off and removing the turntable. Didn't get to use that one that often sadly.

BK is one of the greats. A true legend and an amazing entertainer.

My favorite aspect of this movie is that despite being almost 100 years old, it is STILL funny. Like genuinely funny

The movie was filmed in Oregon. The Governor of Oregon lent Buster Keaton 500 Oregon National Guardsmen to portray the soldiers (at least thats what I heard).

As far as I'm aware, the shot with the locomotive falling off the bridge is one of the most expensive shot in movie history.

I remember hearing that during the Civil War, specifically "Sherman's march to the sea" union soldiers would tear up railroad tracks, burn the ties, use the fire to heat section of rail until they were red hot in the middle, and then physically bend the rails around the telegraph poles to set the poles on fire. Destroying the track and rendering the rails unusable, as well as taking out large chunks of the communications system. I could be misremembering specific details of that but I'm pretty sure the bent pieces of rail became known and "Sherman's Hairpins"

I first saw The General in a film class I took in college. To this day, I have no idea how Buster Keaton didn’t get killed at least a hundred times in any film he did. He was an absolute master of his craft.

One of Buster Keaton's last movies was also a silent film, called the railroader. Filmed in my country Canada, and follows Buster as he travels across Canada in a "speeder". Both these films are absolute gold. Thanks for reviewing this.

If I remember correctly both the General and the Texas still survive until now.

Keaton was a world class athlete before he ruined his health with booze and cigarettes. He literally grew up on trains as a travelling vaudevillian. He was a lifelong railfan, turned his last house into one giant model railroad, and drove steam locomotives every chance he could get. There's film of him delivering drinks to his patio by train.

LOVED your commentary - Learned a BUNCH of stuff about a movie that I've LOVED for DECADES! Buster Keaton (Old Stone-face himself) was famous for doing ALL his own stunts - and NEVER used a stunt double - no matter HOW dangerous the stunt was. Many of his stunts EASILY had the potential to be lethal - such as tossing the tie to knock the other tie off the track.... The shot that Buster made of the "Cannon" - a Mortar, really - was NOT FAKED. Knowing just what would happen if that ball hit and damaged the boiler (an INSTANT Boiler Explosion - which would have been lethal for Buster) - Buster actually counted the INDIVIDUAL GRAINS of gunpowder to ensure that the cannonball would land IN the cab, but NOT touch the boiler! If you want to see another of Buster's famous Railroading "movies" (a short, really) made for the National Film Board of Canada in the 1950's - check out "the RAILRODDER" (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rr-dlrFil7OdZ6M.htmlsi=KvDt97dZNL_c4jzL) and the companion documentary - "Buster Keaton Rides Again" (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a65_itloqMuaaXk.htmlsi=_xW98MGsFm8BmhYU) where he actually talks about doing some of those stunts.

This film was shot on an Oregon lumber company railroad. One of the reasons it cost so much to shoot was they had to suspend shooting because of high fire hazard conditions and wait until better conditions. There is a story that while shooting, a fire is started and Keaton actually takes his pants off to use them to help put out the fire. Most, if not all, of this equipment was old and worn out by the loggers when the film was shot. This was not the only time a train or locomotive was destroyed during the shooting of a film; RIO GRANDE, the head-on collision; THE TRAIN, the train wreck at the station; and THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWI, the train going through the blown-up bridge. These were filmed with multiple cameras, live and for real with equipment that was to be scrapped anyway.

There was either something pushing the cannon car, OR the actual car was very very light (made of paper mache, or some such thing). Given the time period, I imagine it was actually a real car, so the 'second loco' is probably more likely. The tie throwing scene is nuts, regardless how they set it up. Buster was a mans' man, man.

One of the greatest silent movies ever made.

I absolutely loved this movie as a kid!! My dad has a 7 1/4" gauge 4-4-0, we even considered renaming it to the "General"!

The thumbnail for this video is quite possibly in the top 10 train related thumbnails I have seen.

I'm watching THE GENERAL right now on KZfaq Blessings and HUGS! 👑💜

Some other neat modifications made for filming convenience: in some shots the camera was set on a flatcar between the locomotive and tender, and in all cabs the rear cab walls were cut out to allow easier framing of the actors' faces in the cabs in the backhead shots. The plate over the driver brakes may have also been added specifically to allow Keaton to ride the rods in that one shot without falling back and getting pinched by the brake rigging.

So the tie throwing scene may honestly not been as tough as it looked. Balsa wood, the stuff they use in model airplanes is EXTREMELY light. Those could have very well only been maybe 30 pounds. I have 1/8 scale live steam and my dad modeled a small logging railroad. We made cars with aluminum wheels and axles, and thin steel frames and aluminum bolsters, and the car itself was a model of a 30 something foot long so in scale it's like 4 foot and change with couplers on it. The logs we used were dried out red pine logs from the property about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Totally dried out, those logs weighed next to nothing... So much so at one particular outing we were trying to get to the loading bays to leave but a couple of rather snobbish old farts were blocking the access to the track in the middle of our reloading. I asked several times for the gentleman to either pull up or back up, but being the dick he was, never moved and just kept on talking like I wasn't there. I was 30 years old at the time, and at the time I was 6 2, 230 pounds and I was seeing RED. So instead of doing something violent I went one better.... I walked over to our now cut in half train, grabbed one of our featherweight log cars by the couplers and picked it up in front of me like a hay bale and more than nudged the guy out of the way as I walked over to the trailer to load the car... and came back for a second car. By this time, the guy that blew me off suddenly realizes I'm carrying what he thinks are 175 pound cars like HO models and my focus is solely on him... he couldn't get off that track fast enough! LOL... all the while I'm telling him No... you stay right there, talk with your buddies, I'll be back to talk with your after I finish loading the cars! What a jack off. But the look on his face was absolutely priceless. I shocked my dad too at the time, but it was worth the laugh in the end!

Hi, There is a movie Buster Keaton did for the Canadian National railroad, I think it was done in the 1960's. He goes from the east coast to the west cost. He does some cool stunts during his trip. I think you would enjoy this film. It isnt too long of a movie. I might be found through the Canadian Film Board. I saw it around 1970, when I was in a youth group. Enjoy! - Myran

Cannon: Momentum is reallly a thing.

This film never gets old. Buster Keaton and vintage steam is a guarantied win in my book. Thanks for your commentary,❤

Apparently, Buster Keaton's wife wouldn't allow him to be in the locomotive cab during the burning trestle scene. They did indeed use a papier mache dummy in the cab.

Buster Keaton is just great inGeneral. Good movie. Great video Hyce.

when you have to push a boxcar you don't know exists but you don't want to damage the engine..

7:10: Dang that was lucky! Thanks for the Blazing Saddles reference. Supposedly for the cannon-ball-in-the-cab stunt, Keaton had to measure out the gunpowder grain by grain.

I know zero about trains, but I love Buster and The General. This was a terrific, super informative watch. Thank you. Cool to see a young person into old trains.

Please do a sequel to this with Keaton’s “Railrodder”!!

Buster was missing several fingers, too, as I recall, which makes his stunts even more crazy. And fun fact, the real Great Locomotive Chase resulted in the first ever awarding of the Medal of Honor in history. Also, my grandpa, who was a gandy dancer on the GB&W from 1942 to 1944 was born in 1926.

"Buster Keaton is just great in general" And in the general. Also: "Buster Hyceler isnt real, he cant hurt you." Buster Hyceler: (The thumbnail)

The US Army experiments were for training resistance saboteurs behind enemy lines in WWII. The introduction says so, and they are using very old equipment (old for the time period). Interestingly, I've heard it said that the General used in the film was the ACTUAL General from the real life event. The film was shot all over the place, though, primarily Oregon. Removing the outer rail (not the inner rail) on the curve is prototypical to what was done in real life. That actually turned out to be a mistake on the part of the real life Andrews Party-you want to take out the inner rail not the outer rail. That was the real Texas, too, iirc. The type of cannon shown is prototypical for rail artillery of the Civil War. It may even actually BE a piece of cannon from then. The shots with Buster Keaton juggling with the cannon were probably green screen (or the equivalent-a giant sheet behind the set with a projector behind it). @10:04 (reaction time) That's a model with projection-you can tell by the coloration of the surfaces. It's pretty definitely painted wood. Regarding the tie scene. A (somewhat) common way to do stunts like this at the time was to do the stunt in reverse and then play the film backwards. The fact that this, and other stunts, was not done that way was one of the reasons why this was one of the most expensive films in history to that date. @23:20 (reaction time) Apparently, once adjusted for inflation, that is STILL the single most expensive stunt/camera shot in history. And the locomotive is still there (in the bottom of a reservoir? in Oregon?). @23:44 (reaction time) I seem to recall reading that that actor's reaction was candid. They didn't tell him what was going to happen, and then filmed him while the train crashed.

Back in the early 40s, my dad was a little kid and his brother was smaller. They found a hand cart on a siding and switched it onto the track and took a little ride. They couldn't get it back onto the siding and a freight locomotive was derailed... it was going very slow and no one was hurt. The FBI sent investigators to the campground but he avoided prosecution. It was probably at least 40 years before he told anyone... Funny thing, Grandpa was in the same WWI unit as Buster Keaton, their names are on the same page of the muster roll. Only one of them ended up in the trenches, however...

Late to the party so Hyce probably won't see this, but my favorite bit of trivia for the making of this film: The actor playing the Union general was never told that the bridge was going to collapse as the engine went across. So the look of utter gobsmacked astonishment in the very next shot was 100% genuine.

Watching this makes me want to see your take on Disney's "The Great Locomotive Chase" as they're both are inspired by the same historical event.

A piece of the rail from that bridge still pokes out of the water at the location where the stunt was shot.

Im suprised you didnt already do this lol 😆

Thanks for adding a detailed technical and operational perspective to a classic movie.

I have seen this movie so many times and missed so many details. My inner locomotive geek thanks you!

12:50 - Welp, I think you found the secret to why a certain *historically accurate representation of railroading* used those switch stands with normal switches; that movie must have been the historical source for how stuff was actually done 🤣 19:40 - Oh so it's not cold smoking you do in a smoke box? Oh. (Yeah limes, I know) Thank you for the reaction video. I loved watching the movie when I was a kid.

At 21:57 when you're talking about the stunts, even sped up, it looks like it was filmed in reverse based on the smoke itself

13:23 you can actually see a tie on the rails that caused the boxcar to derail

The stunt where the cannon car uncouples and Buster's leg holds the drawbar was likely done with a chain below FRAME holding the cars together slightly wider than the drawbars reach. Same trick was done on SILVER STREAK when they uncouple the cars and Prior and Wilder (stunt doubles) jump back from the front portion to the trailing portion, so as to keep a consistent distance between cars so they could jump safely. Since we both love Buster Keaton and trains, you might enjoy this... kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m9aWgrKgybveeH0.htmlsi=4uWhROQRUr6Ezx9v

Buster Keaton's on-screen stunts were very often done quite for real and without a stunt double: he broke a LOT of bones!

His connecting rod stunt begs the question - has the mischievous part of you ever wanted to try recreating that? 😂

The Railrodder was required viewing in Canadian classrooms back in the day! Also it was fun to watch

Lots of stuff about this movie still around Cottage Grove to this day. Actually, the train they sent off the bridge stayed there for many years.

To answer your question about the moving loco and mortar car; most likely they were stationery in front of a blank screen. A film of moving countryside was projected onto the screen from the back side. The technique was called "back lit" projection. It was a technique that was used for a long time until green screen technology was created with the use of technicolor film.

This video is train gold. Thanks for making this, Hyce!

Thank you! That was fun. Now I need to see the rest of it. ❤

This was wonderful to watch! Many thanks Hyce!

That was the most fun I’ve ever had on your channel. 😆

My middle school band played the song “The Great Locomotive Chase” at our spring concert

Come to the SF bay area. A couple operations use harp stands on point switches.

Great video! If anybody doesn't know who Buster Keaton is, they should!

The canon scene on 9:50 looks like a back projection. (The rail car with Buster is standing still in front of a screen while a movie is projected in the screen.)

I love this film! Thank you for the reaction!

I have this movie on DVD, and loved every moment of it. Im glad to see you enjoyed it as much 😅

Thanks. I will never Be able to watch that movie the same again. Lol.

I've heard of this movie of course, but it was very cool to see someone who knows trains break it down and point out all the nerdy stuff in it. Thanks as always for the quality content!

The first time I saw this movie was when I was touring a high school and sat in on a film analysis class. I had a lot of the same reactions, especially the ending.

I've just realized something: 2026, my graduation year, is also the hundredth anniversary of this movie, which happens to have been filmed in my home state of Oregon.

Great analysis. A correction: At 6:46 you point out that "there is a conveniently weird pile of rocks, something hiding a derailer device in between the rail and the guard rail". But at 4:48 a man puts the stones in between the double rail. So it was not the camera crew trying to hide a trick device, but part of the planned sabotage by the villains. When Buster Keaton derails you can see it is the wheels hitting the stones, and not something extra pushing him off.

Buster Keaton did a interview later in his life. Talked a little bit about the making of The General, neither locomotive is from the 1860 era used to make the movie. People in power at the time of making the movie wouldn't let the movie studio use either engine for a comedy about the locomotive chase.

This is Fantastic !!! Thank You Hyce for providing incredible insight - Now I'm going to watch the whole movie with elevated awareness. :)

Hyce, that's an amazing thumbnail image! Thanks for sharing your knowledge, I've seen other commentaries focusing on other parts, but it was nice to hear an insider take on the rail bits. And that bit about the kids wanting to meet the emgineers: these guys were the astronauts of their day, the abbsolute cutting edge of modern technology. Especially for the time when this was set.

Awesome look at the stunts in this! It's no wonder so many of these clips still live on in media today!

Thanks for your interesting videos. Buster Keaton was very much in charge of the film in that he designed and did his own stunts. They were all well planned to be sure that they worked. It didn't hurt that he was very athletic as well.

Here courtesy of the algorithm. Really liked the vid, your presentation and your expertise. Made me curious about those engines and how common it was to have functioning examples of such at that time. From how they were treated, I'm guessing they were due for scrapping, but were they actually in use up till then? Lil constructive criticism - check your mic levels! Coming in a little hot, especially during the intro. Not enough to distract though - I want to know more about this whole movie, so I guess I'll have to watch the whole thing. 😊

The cool thing about these is that they actually had that equipment and were able to just do all that stuff with them. I mean try and make a steam loco movie today and tell someone to just flatspot it or let the actor actually touch ANY real controls. Not to menton just dropping a loco in the river.

Thank you so much for your insightful review of The General. It is clear that after watching it, you developed a tender spot for Buster Keaton. I am confident that you will delight in the rest of his work if you have not already done so. I love Buster Keaton so much it hurts. ❤

Buster Keaton did one last film in the modern day I believe, and I think it was a promotional film for Canadian National. I've seen it and it's great.

Very fun and thank you for the insight and knowledge.

I first became aware of Hyce from watching Railroads online with kAN gaming, it was pretty obvious that he knew what he was talking about at that time. Now i understand that his knowledge was much more extensive. This was very enlightening. Thank you for this upload. I have tried driving a steam train with the observation of of someone who knew what they were doing, and errrm, shall we say it didn't go well. Yeah, apparently you have to look in the direction that you're going.

I've watched the movie about 4 or 5 times and love it. He did his own stunts, and got hurt sometimes.