San Fernando Road, Burbank and L.A., 1940s, from train.

[@bigdada018]

Amazing. Thank you!

[@bobbysands6923]

there is a video of this on YT with music and is very haunting. But this footage is just as haunting and eerie. i am not sure why it effects me so. I love it...it brings me to tears but I love it.

[@deanlucas761]

Unusual film. Usually moving trains are filmed from autos pacing them this might be the first time I've noticed moving cars being filmed from a train.

[@paillatphilippe2975]

first part of the film shows a front wheel drive Citroen 11 on the road ; it was a common car in France but very rare in the US where probably less than 100 of them were imported.

[@michaelcraig9449]

@Mister Google Only Renault for a while..

[@jaysverrisson1536]

Very atmospheric and noir-ish! One can imagine Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck plotting murderous shenanigans in one of those shady roadside bars or diners!

[@cathyardans6618]

At 1:00 it looks like a cop has two people with their hands up against the side of a car. It's amazing how dark it looks. It couldn't have been during the war's blackouts, because there are some lights -- just not very many. I lived on Irving right off of San Fernando Rd. in the late '70s, and I don't recognize much of it until it hits what looks like SF Rd & Fletcher Drive. Great film! Thanks for sharing.

[@alanmusicman3385]

No, I think maybe they are trying to push teh car. If that is a cop there, I see no Bike or car he could have got there in. I think probably just the occupants of the car were trying to push it?

[@AndrewPatrickRalston]

At 6:45 there's a brick building that says Cafe. Still there at 5140 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91204. Very cool. I drive this road all the time.

[@michaelcraig9449]

Still there now in 2022? What is the cross st? I used to work in Burbank, then before, at another different machine shop on San Fernando rd. Ex girl friend on San Fernando rd, old boxing gym near Chinatown.

[@IDNHANTU2day]

@@michaelcraig9449 5140 S f road is better than a cross street.

[@markbass7145]

1:07 7649 San Fernando Road, Burbank

[@danielsonlaruso2893]

Fascinating

[@prsearls]

A very interesting film. The light source is very powerful, perhaps a carbon-arc type light. It overpowers the interior lights of the various businesses and homes. This must have been a surprising scene for the motorists driving along the tracks.

[@michaelcraig9449]

Why? Lights had been around for 50 years by that time! Bright big lights were not new in 1940! Heck the first jet was in 1944, first nuke in 1945, first computer in 1947. They had more modern stuff than you would think they did.

[@TopHotDog]

It does not overpower the car headlights.

[@jaysverrisson1536]

@@michaelcraig9449 Electric lights obviously were not new, but a moving train mounted with very bright lights pointed at the adjacent roadway isn't something they would have encountered every day. That said, residents of L.A. were probably somewhat accustomed to occasionally coming upon location filming in progress, including stock roadway footage, which these clips probably are.

[@tattyshoesshigure5731]

Fascinating piece of film! The dramatic way it's been lit reminds me of O.Winston Link''s amazingly lit b&w photographs which featured steam engines and automobiles at night. In fact he used to travel with all his kit in a steam train box car... so I wonder if this footage could have been shot by the man himself?

[@mikedrown2721]

👍👏😊♥️

[@steffanpiper]

Wow. This really is dramatically different. Shocking in a way to watch this.

[@MySpace662]

Looks like curfew was on due to the war.

[@supergub]

At 7:45 that's the bridge over the Verdugo Wash, today the 133 fwy would be in the background

[@davidgrisez]

In this video you can see the old style wig wag railroad crossing signals. Things have sure changed a lot over the years.

[@hollywoodharriet13]

A steam train and some of those cars look ancient. Thanks for posting!

[@Anonymousfrank]

probably very early 40s as those cars would be from the 1930s. Remember, cars were built better then and people kept them for a very long time

[@loumontcalm3500]

40 Ford convertible featured early, along with a Citroen Traction Avant! One of the businesses says “Roscoe”. That was what the community just NW of Burbank was called; renamed “Sun Valley” in 1954, iirc.

[@gunsaway1]

Great video. Love it

[@michaelcraig9449]

Does anyone know, are any or many of these buildings or businesses still there?

[@SenorSmeeth]

I wonder if this was rear-projection footage for "Double Indemnity".

[@rsyungul]

Interesting theory. I"ll have to watch that again and see.

[@SenorSmeeth]

@@rsyungul I just watched that scene in DI and now I'm almost certain that it is. Also, on the slate at the very beginning, it looks like it might say "Wilder".

[@tonyu2298]

@2:32 San Fernando and Vineland.

[@Forddude24]

I think Sunland

[@SuperShecky]

I wonder if this was shot with infrared film. A normal spotlight bright enough to light up the area that way would have been tremendously obnoxious, especially for drivers. Though not impossible. Very curious.

[@Sshooter444]

Gas @ 17 cents/gallon and the cars make me think this is 1940/41.

[@Greatdome99]

This was obviously shot from a special car fitted with very strong floodlights, just for this film.

[@jdnrotterdam2150]

Dark times.. my city was bombarded in those days.. but somehow i’m always interested in the 30s 40s and 50s

[@geezus950]

At around 9:17- 9:24, I might be mistaken but I think that’s the old Van De Kamp’s in Atwater Village

[@andyjay729]

Was this during or after the war? Because during the war strict blackout rules were in effect. Although that may explain why the buildings seem to look so dark.

[@rickg882]

Didn't see any homeless people living in the street or hobo's, unless they were drafted for WW2.

[@SuperShecky]

This area was kind of country and sparsely populated at the time. You wouldn't see many people at all even in daytime that weren't in cars. Go to DT to see the hobos.

[@ramblerclassic400]

Didn't look like any of the cars were newer than 1939 or '40 from what I could see.

[@rfdog5]

Pretty sure I saw Bonnie and Clyde drive by.

[@james5460]

You'd better have enough gas to get home, those stations aren't open all night!

[@garywilloughby6893]

Can you add sound??

[@Yowazuptz]

Lol, just make your own.

[@ArmpitStudios]

Just say these in random places: woo-wooooo chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga ding ding ding DING DING ding ding ding click-clack

[@michaelcurl9817]

Just play the song Chattanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller in the back ground. It will fit perfectly.

[@dalecomer5951]

Why add phony sound?