Covert Affairs on USA

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Did anyone else watch last week's episode of Covert Affairs on the USA cable channel?

The one CIA agent, and the girl, attempt to sneak out of the country by taking an Amtrak train to Montreal. What I noted....

• The Amtrak train number was 4-digits... 3,000-something.
  
• The Amtrak train went from Washington DC to Montreal, by way of a stop at Albany, NY. At Albany, the train split and only 1/2 continued onto Montreal while the other half went to Toronto.
  
• The Amtrak "tickets" were plastic cards with a mag strip on the back. The map strip apparently didn't contain simply one's reservation number, but instead all of your trip's info. The two were able to edit (hack) their Amtrak cards while in route, to change their destination from Montreal to Toronto (screwing up the FBI who were following them too).
  
• For all the exterior shots, the engine nor the cars had any visible "Amtrak" logo nor even any Amtrak blue, even though it was ID'ed as an Amtrak train.
  
• In the dining car, apparently couples were allowed to have tables all to themselves. Plus, the tables were elegantly set with rather large water goblets of glass with cloth napkins arranged neatly in them. And coffee (tea?) was served in dainty gold trimmed porcelain cups.
  

 

[MrFSS]

Did anyone else watch last week's episode of Covert Affairs on the USA cable channel?

The one CIA agent, and the girl, attempt to sneak out of the country by taking an Amtrak train to Montreal. What I noted....

• The Amtrak train number was 4-digits... 3,000-something.
• The Amtrak train went from Washington DC to Montreal, by way of a stop at Albany, NY. At Albany, the train split and only 1/2 continued onto Montreal while the other half went to Toronto.
• The Amtrak "tickets" were plastic cards with a mag strip on the back. The map strip apparently didn't contain simply one's reservation number, but instead all of your trip's info. The two were able to edit (hack) their Amtrak cards while in route, to change their destination from Montreal to Toronto (screwing up the FBI who were following them too).
• For all the exterior shots, the engine nor the cars had any visible "Amtrak" logo nor even any Amtrak blue, even though it was ID'ed as an Amtrak train.
• In the dining car, apparently couples were allowed to have tables all to themselves. Plus, the tables were elegantly set with rather large water goblets of glass with cloth napkins arranged neatly in them. And coffee (tea?) was served in dainty gold trimmed porcelain cups.

The train was pulled by an old switch engine.

The "sleeper car room" was very big, bigger than anything Amtrak has, probably a set rather than a real car.

The track the train was on was in terrible shape.

I agree with all of what you noted above. As is typical in TV and films, there is very little authenticity when it comes to passenger trains.

 

[haolerider]

Did anyone else watch last week's episode of Covert Affairs on the USA cable channel?

The one CIA agent, and the girl, attempt to sneak out of the country by taking an Amtrak train to Montreal. What I noted....

• The Amtrak train number was 4-digits... 3,000-something.
• The Amtrak train went from Washington DC to Montreal, by way of a stop at Albany, NY. At Albany, the train split and only 1/2 continued onto Montreal while the other half went to Toronto.
• The Amtrak "tickets" were plastic cards with a mag strip on the back. The map strip apparently didn't contain simply one's reservation number, but instead all of your trip's info. The two were able to edit (hack) their Amtrak cards while in route, to change their destination from Montreal to Toronto (screwing up the FBI who were following them too).
• For all the exterior shots, the engine nor the cars had any visible "Amtrak" logo nor even any Amtrak blue, even though it was ID'ed as an Amtrak train.
• In the dining car, apparently couples were allowed to have tables all to themselves. Plus, the tables were elegantly set with rather large water goblets of glass with cloth napkins arranged neatly in them. And coffee (tea?) was served in dainty gold trimmed porcelain cups.

The train was pulled by an old switch engine.

The "sleeper car room" was very big, bigger than anything Amtrak has, probably a set rather than a real car.

The track the train was on was in terrible shape.

I agree with all of what you noted above. As is typical in TV and films, there is very little authenticity when it comes to passenger trains.

I have been invovled with a few movies that were produced using "Amtrak equipment" and can assure you that, for the most part, the interior shots are done on a set and not on a train. The production staff can purchase some equipment from Amtrak and build a set to resemble a train, but Amtrak does not want their name on a movie/tv show or anything that could produce a negative impression of the brand. They have a hard enough time getting the exposure they need, without associating with terrorist movies or movies with subject matter that might not be appropriate. The same holds true for movies involving planes. Rarely do you see a name brand on a plane (unless the airline has payed for product placement in the movie). They also shoot on sets, constructed to resemble the interior of a plane. Remember, for the most part these productions are fiction!!

 

[PRR 60]

Covert Affairs is filmed in Canada. The railroad and train used in that episode is the Orangeville Brampton Railway, a short line located outside Toronto. A tourist train, named the Credit Valley Explorer, runs on the OBRY in the summer and uses the equipment shown in the episode.

OBRY

Credit Valley Explorer

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

The production staff can purchase some equipment from Amtrak and build a set to resemble a train, but Amtrak does not want their name on a movie/tv show or anything that could produce a negative impression of the brand. They have a hard enough time getting the exposure they need, without associating with terrorist movies or movies with subject matter that might not be appropriate.

I would certainly believe that to be true. I know that IBM would flatly refuse to allow any of its equipment to be used on a TV show or in a movie (and risking being associated with the "evil" computer).

However, in this one show, the dialog did, many times, refer to "Amtrak" by name.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Remember, for the most part these productions are fiction!!

Just to add to my comments, I did find it interesting that these two characters changed their Amtrak cards from Montreal to Toronto, but the conductor never mentioned when he checked their ticket cards that their "sleeper room" was on a rail car that would be continuing onto Montreal after the split in Albany. :giggle:

 

[Guest]

Remember, for the most part these productions are fiction!!

Just to add to my comments, I did find it interesting that these two characters changed their Amtrak cards from Montreal to Toronto, but the conductor never mentioned when he checked their ticket cards that their "sleeper room" was on a rail car that would be continuing onto Montreal after the split in Albany. :giggle:

Maybe they were taking a taveler roue, Albany-Toronto-Montreal instead of the direct route that the Adirondack takes! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Malrothien]

It wasn't their Amtrak ticket, it was a Nexus card.

 

[MikeM]

Could be worse... remember a few months ago, again on USA, the show Human Target? Their first episode had a high speed train running out of control because the brakes had been sabotaged, the engineer was dead, and the only way to live was to get everyone on the last car of the train and cut it off.

At least when they did trains on "Big Bang Theory" a while ago, they used a quasi-believable coach seating arrangement.

 

[Stellar1]

I didn't see the show, but I was in 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on July 13th when about 50 women came in dressed in white "spy-type" coats, wearing red high heel shoes, red hats, and they carried a red bag with "Covert Affairs" written on it. Apparently it was a promotion for the show. They came into the big hall where all the benches are and broke up into small groups, looking around at everyone with small red binoculars.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

I didn't see the show, but I was in 30th Street Station in Philadelphia on July 13th when about 50 women came in dressed in white "spy-type" coats, wearing red high heel shoes, red hats, and they carried a red bag with "Covert Affairs" written on it.

Cool that they would try that.... but if I was there, I would more think of it as pertaining to the Red Hat Society (who's members get one of Amtrak's largest discounts). :unsure: