Comments on: Watch: SUPERTRAIN! Express to Terror!!

By: Nalano

Nalano — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:41:25 +0000

We had passenger service breaking 100mph in the 1930s, both steam and diesel.

Just another example of how the producers Did Not Do the Research.

By: Neal

Neal — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:52:09 +0000

Does anyone remember a made-for-TV movie called “The Big Bus”? It was about a giant nuclear powered (I think) bus that was set up as more of a comedy. Basically, everything on the bus malfunctioned and hilarity - and thrills! - ensued. I remember only three things about this movie:

1. The bus was able to change it’s own tires while in motion but even that feature may not have worked.
2. A soda machine went berserk and started spraying Coke, Tab and whatever else out of its spouts, filling up the entire compartment. A stewardess almost drowned but the hero rescued her just in time.
3. The bus, which was in two segments, broke in half in the final scene.

By: inframan

inframan — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:14:55 +0000

Supertrain’s design was a direct consequence of a sitcom engineering design constraint, as real as the physical constraints faced by the designers of the Japanese Bullet trains.

NBC’s primary design decision was to build Supertrain as
“Loveboat on Land”. The result:

1. To do Loveboat on land.
2. Must tell 3 stories including several romances with aging cheesy stars
3. Requires at least two evenings
4. Requires at least 36 hours of elapsed “story time”
5. Implies traveling the 2700 miles between NYC and LA in 36 hours
6. Implies a speed of no greater than 77 miles per hour

Thus, faster speed = No time for love = No Loveboat on land

Supertrain’s engineering failure was foretold in its very blueprints.
Sad… very, very sad….

By: RetroJoy - Watch an Episode of the Worst NBC Show of All Time | Daily Debrief

Thu, 14 May 2009 20:05:51 +0000

[...] in 1979, we only had a handful of channels, so you couldn’t be picky like today. Anyway, Infrastructurist points you lucky readers to the pilot episode of Supertrain, which for the time was the most [...]

By: RetroJoy - Watch an Episode of the Worst NBC Show of All Time | Daily Debrief

Thu, 14 May 2009 20:05:28 +0000

[...] Infrastructurist points you lucky readers to the pilot episode of Supertrain, which for the time was the most [...]

By: RetroJoy - Watch an Episode of the Worst NBC Show of All Time | InfoAddict

RetroJoy - Watch an Episode of the Worst NBC Show of All Time | InfoAddict — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:20:53 +0000

[...] Infrastructurist points you lucky readers to the pilot episode of Supertrain, which for the time was the most [...]

By: Judd Volino

Judd Volino — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:46:02 +0000

Does anybody remember the name of another NBC (I think) show from around this time which involved a guy building some sort of super-suit — it was sort of a Bionic Man knock-off.

By: poindexter's status on Wednesday, 13-May-09 22:52:20 UTC - Identi.ca

poindexter's status on Wednesday, 13-May-09 22:52:20 UTC - Identi.ca — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:52:23 +0000

[...] Supertrain - WORST TV SHOW EVER! http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/05/08/watch-supertrain-express-to-terror/ [...]

By: Matthew Yglesias » Endgame

Matthew Yglesias » Endgame — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:44:26 +0000

[...] The SUPERTRAIN backstory for those of you who aren’t aware of all internet [...]

By: T Joey

T Joey — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:20:08 +0000

Kind of reminds me of Love Boat. Nice to see that Hollywood script writers were multi-modal… hehe.

By: James

James — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:33:46 +0000

You can hear an announcement for the “Sunshine Express” from Miami arriving at GCT. I guess in that universe they built a more useful version of the THE or ARC tunnel.

By: admin

admin — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:01:00 +0000

It’s funny — I was thinking the same thing. I wonder what the record for a train crossing the continent was in 1900. I would guess it wasn’t too much more than 36 hours.

-Jebediah

By: Evan

Evan — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:00:17 +0000

36 hours? That’s like 85 miles an hour. Was that even ahead of the times in the 70s?

By: Derek Young

Derek Young — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:02:30 +0000

Wow. It even had the guy from Porky’s in it.