Hello,
I’m a screenwriter currently writing a thriller script that takes place on a train and wanted to do the proper research to do this story justice. Therefore I’m turning to you people.
The story is about an engineer and his team (conductor and brakeman) who run their own train.
In a day and age when transporting cargo via train is done less and less in favor of other modes of transportation, big corporations and criminal syndicates hire this engineer and his train to transport illegal goods. He is hired because he takes his train through dark territories and dead zones - where it can’t be tracked and won’t be seen.
A company hires him to transport a prisoner to another city a few hours away - things go wrong (as they do in movies).
I need your help in clarifying the layout of this train. In general it’d be used to transport freight cars but given the modular nature of trains and the fact that this is a private customizable one, I’m willing to play with the rules a bit.
Here’s what I have so far:
13 cars (perhaps small for a train but they need to be discrete).
1. Locomotive - head of train.
2. Engineering - basically extension of the locomotive.
3. Bunk car - allow the engineer and his team to sleep in shifts on long jobs.
4. Passenger car - generic car for people but not really often used.
5. Dining car - small, sparse kitchen. Nothing fancy.
Here’s where it gets interesting - the company has provided a couple of their own cars.
6. Observation car #1 - full of a specialized team of employees of the company there to watch the prisoner.
7. Containment car - where the prisoner is kept - custom-made.
8. Observation car #2 - full of surveillance and communication equipment to keep in touch with the outside world.
9-10. Security envoy - two custom cars full of weapons, ammunition and an armed private security continent of men to keep the peace during transport.
After those company-provided cars, it goes back to normal cars.
11-12. Cargo cars - to hold luggage, cargo, etc.
13. Caboose - also holds some cargo, back of train.
Does all this hold weight? Does it make sense?
Please feel free to point out problems with anything I’ve written and suggest solutions. Provide insight into how these vehicles and the jobs and rules that go with them work. Teach me about this world. This script needs to be truthful.
Thank you for your time!
I’m a screenwriter currently writing a thriller script that takes place on a train and wanted to do the proper research to do this story justice. Therefore I’m turning to you people.
The story is about an engineer and his team (conductor and brakeman) who run their own train.
In a day and age when transporting cargo via train is done less and less in favor of other modes of transportation, big corporations and criminal syndicates hire this engineer and his train to transport illegal goods. He is hired because he takes his train through dark territories and dead zones - where it can’t be tracked and won’t be seen.
A company hires him to transport a prisoner to another city a few hours away - things go wrong (as they do in movies).
I need your help in clarifying the layout of this train. In general it’d be used to transport freight cars but given the modular nature of trains and the fact that this is a private customizable one, I’m willing to play with the rules a bit.
Here’s what I have so far:
13 cars (perhaps small for a train but they need to be discrete).
1. Locomotive - head of train.
2. Engineering - basically extension of the locomotive.
3. Bunk car - allow the engineer and his team to sleep in shifts on long jobs.
4. Passenger car - generic car for people but not really often used.
5. Dining car - small, sparse kitchen. Nothing fancy.
Here’s where it gets interesting - the company has provided a couple of their own cars.
6. Observation car #1 - full of a specialized team of employees of the company there to watch the prisoner.
7. Containment car - where the prisoner is kept - custom-made.
8. Observation car #2 - full of surveillance and communication equipment to keep in touch with the outside world.
9-10. Security envoy - two custom cars full of weapons, ammunition and an armed private security continent of men to keep the peace during transport.
After those company-provided cars, it goes back to normal cars.
11-12. Cargo cars - to hold luggage, cargo, etc.
13. Caboose - also holds some cargo, back of train.
Does all this hold weight? Does it make sense?
Please feel free to point out problems with anything I’ve written and suggest solutions. Provide insight into how these vehicles and the jobs and rules that go with them work. Teach me about this world. This script needs to be truthful.
Thank you for your time!