Rail Transportation Management Specialists

Railroad Production Services

Maximizing on-screen production values

Leatherheads, Universal Studios. Milwaukee Road #261 and Movie Train. Chicago (IL) Union Station.

Producers, UPMs, Directors: You can count on RTMS to ensure expensive railroad resources safely and efficiently create maximum on-screen production values.

Our professional railroaders are available to consult with any production considering filming on railroads.
Commercials, documentaries, independents, show runners, studios – we welcome all productions.

FYI – Make railroad scenes a top priority. Railroad contracts, insurance coverage, and federal regulations require long lead times. Call RTMS when you first see the word “railroad.”

RTMS will expand a production’s creative options, securing access to previously-inaccessible routes and facilities.

We will help productions select the perfect candidate rail lines.

RTMS principals have federal security clearances to assist production scouts in gaining access to sensitive locations including deep water and inland waterway ports, nuclear generator stations, airports and other critical industrial infrastructure.

FYI – After 9-11, railroads expanded state/federal trespasser prosecutions. We can arrange Legal Access to scout railroad locations.
Unstoppable, Canadian Pacific Ottawa Valley Division, Smiths Falls-to-Sudbury, Ontario.
Unstoppable 20th Century-Fox. Ohio River Valley industries. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
Count on RTMS to find fresh, high-impact

locations enhancing the script’s creative goals.
Industry knowledge + RTMS experience amplifies Production Designer/Art Department creativity, efficiency.

Railroads and rail equipment budgeting is best done with experienced professional railroaders.

RTMS will help negotiate the best pricing/terms for the action your script requires.

FYI – We are not rail fans. Our award-winning production and railroad crew training creates a true Culture of Safety.
October Sky (Universal Studios). Ex-Southern Railway #4501 run by on Norfolk Southern’s Knoxville - Harriman (TN) main line.
Like a rail line? RTMS has access to C-Suite decision makers.

Our reputation makes it easy for railroad CEOs and Presidents to approve production requests.

RTMS will assure the Director and DP have maximum video/audio equipment placement & securement options.

Our expert car & locomotive structural knowledge ensures Gaffers and Grips safely and efficiently install secure lights, cables, and camera platforms.

FYI – The Camera Department team can count on RTMS to guide equipment securement so it survives the dynamic railroad environment.
Unstoppable (20th C-Fox). Camera crews on Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway,

Brewster Yard, Ohio.
Experience + RR industry contacts expedite locating modern and period trains.

RTMS works with Illustrators to infuse maximum high-impact action into storyboard images.

Working with Locations, RTMS will ensure safe, on-schedule and secure work crew access to rail equipment and locations.

Extensive research library (250+ volumes) ensures accurate on-screen images.

FYI – Production Designers and Art Directors rely on RTMS to help capture their creative genius.
Under Siege 2 - In Dark Territory (Warner Bros.) Movie train on Southern Pacific (ex-D&RGW) Minturn - Tennessee Pass (Colorado) main line.
RTMS Movie Trains are ready when you want them.

RR Operations Supervisors, Mechanical & Track professionals keep Movie Trains rolling, productions on schedule.

RTMS will team with First ADs to ensure robust location and set safety plans are created and implemented.

FYI – We will work with the entire production team to create safe, controlled, efficient set operations. Click here to go to Railroad + Production Safety Solutions
Fair Game (Warner Bros) Insert car rigging. CSXT Florida Business Unit,

Homestead Branch, Florida
Wedding of the Rails AC-4400 Locomotives, national commercial. General Electric, Transportation Systems Division. Nevada State Railroad, Reno, Nevada.
RTMS’s highly-experienced certified Engineers and Conductors provide precise Movie Train operations in a production’s most dynamic and demanding environments.

RTMS experts apply the physics of rail equipment and train movements to ensure cameras capture every storyboard and pre-vized image.
In a recent production, the SFX manager did not prepare the rail equipment (cut off shelf couplers between tank cars) as RTMS recommended. As a result, the crash aftermath had to be arranged with crane equipment at a high cost to the production company.
RTMS will collaborate with Directors, 1st AD and 2nd Unit Ads, Stunt, and Special EFX coordinators to safely contribute to the script’s high-intensity action scenes.

FYI – There is no room for amateurs or error when 6 cameras are rolling and helos are flying.
Leatherheads (2006) Universal Studios. 1st Unit camera positions.

North Carolina Transportation Museum, Salisbury, North Carolina.

Rail industry economics and operations expertise allows RTMS to assist with critical budget and expense control.

We will ensure on-time cars, locomotives and supplies arrivals to maintain tight production schedules.

FYI - RTMS can guide UPM’s and Accountants through arcane the world of railroad cost and revenue accounting.
| On Location: Women of the Movement - The Emmitt Till Story (ABC-TV) 2021 |
Movie Train at Durant, Mississippi, depot.

Grenada Railroad.
Rehearsal at Durant Depot. Grenada Railroad.
Durant Depot (night) dressed for Memphis (TN)

Union Station. Grenada Railroad.