Why would you hit the wheels of a train?
September 9, 2010 8:06 AM Subscribe
In Zinnemann's Day of the Jackal, a worker at a train station hits the wheels of a train before it leaves, producing a ping. Why would one do this with a train?
This is probably an obvious question to those who know trains, but it's always puzzled me. It involves a scene in Fred Zinnemann's film version of The Day of the Jackal when the Jackal boards the train in Tulle (according to Wikipedia) to Paris. Just before the train leaves the station, you can see a man walking along next to the train hitting the wheels, probably with a metal rod since it produces a metallic ping sort of sound. (I tried to find this scene on Youtube with no luck.)
I've seen this film many, many times and love it, but each and every time I wonder "Why?" I figure Zinnemann wouldn't just add this to the film, it just seems like something that got caught on the shot of "train about to leave station". So, I assume it has a reason in real life...but I'm at a loss to explain it.
This is probably an obvious question to those who know trains, but it's always puzzled me. It involves a scene in Fred Zinnemann's film version of The Day of the Jackal when the Jackal boards the train in Tulle (according to Wikipedia) to Paris. Just before the train leaves the station, you can see a man walking along next to the train hitting the wheels, probably with a metal rod since it produces a metallic ping sort of sound. (I tried to find this scene on Youtube with no luck.)
I've seen this film many, many times and love it, but each and every time I wonder "Why?" I figure Zinnemann wouldn't just add this to the film, it just seems like something that got caught on the shot of "train about to leave station". So, I assume it has a reason in real life...but I'm at a loss to explain it.
Response by poster: Bless you cali59 and fearfulsymmetry. I knew this had to have a name, but my Google-fu was lacking.
Wheeltapper isn't a fun a thing to say as gandy dancer, but it still shows the railroads have some great job titles.
posted by Fortran at 10:34 AM on September 9, 2010
Wheeltapper isn't a fun a thing to say as gandy dancer, but it still shows the railroads have some great job titles.
posted by Fortran at 10:34 AM on September 9, 2010
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posted by cali59 at 8:10 AM on September 9, 2010 [1 favorite]