Railroadin'

Railroadin' is an Our Gang short comedy film, the 88th in the series, directed by Robert F. McGowan. It is the second film in the series to be produced with sound.

Plot

The gang is playing around the railroad station, and Joe and Chubby's engineer father lectures them for playing in such a dangerous area. After the father leaves, a crazy man named Loco Joe starts a train with most of the kids aboard, except Farina, who is nearly flattened several times. When Farina manages to climb aboard, the kids unsuccessfully attempt to stop the runaway train, which crashes into a grocery truck. The entire incident is revealed to be Farina's dream.

Production notes

Railroadin' is a partial remake of The Sun Down Limited. The film marks the first appearance of Norman Chaney as "Chubby", having won a national contest to replace Joe Cobb as the Our Gang "fat kid".

Lost soundtrack

Like many early sound films, Railroadin' was recorded using a sound-on-disc synchronization process. The soundtracks for the film were held on separate phonographic records that would be played by a projectionist synchronously with the film. The film's sound discs went missing at MGM in the 1940s, and only the film negative survived. When MGM sold Hal Roach the catalog of Our Gang films produced at his studio, Roach acquired only the picture element of Railroadin'. Because of its lack of sound, the short was never included in any of the Little Rascals theatrical reissues or television-distribution packages.
Home-movie distributor Blackhawk Films produced a silent adaption of Railroadin' with text titles in the 1970s, leading to the film's first release in any form since its original theatrical release. In 1982, the long-lost sound discs for Railroadin' were located in an MGM vault, and the film was finally made available with sound for the first time in decades with a 1983 VHS release issued by Blackhawk. Railroadin' has since been released on DVD as well, but was not added into the Little Rascals television package despite the restoration of sound.

Cast

The Gang

Norman Chaney as Chubby
Joe Cobb as Joe
Jean Darling as Jean
Allen Hoskins as Farina
Bobby Hutchins as Wheezer
Mary Ann Jackson as Mary Ann
Harry Spear as Harry
Pete the Pup as Himself

Additional cast

Ed Brandenburg as brakeman
Carolyn Chaney as Passenger
Dorothy Hamilton Darling as Passenger
Otto Fries as Otto, Joe's father
Jack Hill as Grocery truck driver
Harry Lorraine (American actor) as Loco Joe

Filming locations

The railyard scenes were filmed at Redondo Junction, just south of downtown Los Angeles.