A first I thought this was an Allied Artists production: overblown script about the building of the titular railroad, Edmond O'Brien in the lead.... but no, it was a Paramount production, one of their A Westerns that seem overblown, despite an appealing cast, including Dean Jagger, personal favorite Zasu Pitts, Sterling Hayden (at the start of his "I'll say the line, but don't expect me to care" phase) and a spectacular railroad crash that used two actual engines. Ka-boom! Cute ingenue Kasey Rogers is spying for bad-guy Hayden (for a competing line) because she thinks D&RG people killed her brother, but she and O'Brien keep making goo-goo eyes at each other when they think the other isn't looking.I wasn't terribly impressed. It looked like a DeMille Western epic from the 1930s, but without the mythic characters, and it's too visually perfect, shot on site in the clean air of Colorado by former cameraman Byron Haskins and ace Technicolor specialist Ray Rennahan, meant to show off the the bright, accurate colors of fresh paint and clean clothes and green leaves that Technicolor could bring to the screen, like a mid-30s Warner Brothers short. I'm more interested in story and character than sheer spectacle, and the story and characters here are standard, while the spectacle (train crash aside) had all been done before. That leaves the outdoor photography around the tracks, and while the natural scenery is frequently beautiful, an hour and a half is pretty long for a travelogue. Despite the talent and effort, it winds up a pompous, overblown B Western.

Rousing locomotor from Paramount (can't call it an oater since there are no horses). The action rarely lets up as two railroad companies compete for most scenic rail line in the mountain west. Jim (O'Brien) works for the D&RG, while McCabe heads up the CC&SJ (Canon City & San Juan). Trouble is McCabe's outfit doesn't care what they have to do to win. Plus, they've got a spy in Jim's camp, so they've got a big advantage. But don't count out the D&RG, since Jim's road gang knows how to fight back, and is headed up by a general, no less.Pudgy O'Brien may look more like a San Francisco barfly (DOA {1950}) than a leader of men, but he's plenty spirited. And get a load of that great mountain scenery. I may be mistaken, but I think the whole time is spent along the rail line, so we get lots of alpine views. Clearly, the producers knew what the draw was. Sure, developments are sometimes either obscure or don't make much sense. But the action quickly moves on, so it's hard to get stuck. The centerpiece head-on between two speeding locomotives remains an eye-catcher, even though the enhancing explosives are pretty apparent.All in all, the 80-some minutes add up to a visual treat, but don't expect much in the way of extended dialogue. The language here is action, not words.(In passing-- There's a commemorative statue of General Palmer, founder of the D&RG, astride a steed in downtown Colorado Springs. Thus his name remains well known in the area.)

This film begins with some very bad narration. Not only is it unnecessary, but the guy's voice sounds very phony and it adds nothing positive to the picture. It also comes off like an advertisement for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway! The film is a completely fictionalized account of the building of the railroad. In this story, forces of evil (a competing railway) are conspiring to stop the railroad from being built. So, it's up to a tough guy (Edmond O'Brien) to make sure the line is built--and O'Brien is more than willing to beat the stuffing out of anyone who gets in his way....or shoot him! He's one of the most pugnacious characters I've ever seen O'Brien play--a man who has all the patience of Bluto! Early in the film, two evil guys working for the competition attack O'Brien*. And, one of them (Sterling Hayden) shoots at O'Brien and accidentally kills his partner in crime--and blames O'Brien. Well, although O'Brien is acquitted in the case, he's lost his confidence and spends the next 15 minutes in the film coming up with excuses NOT to return to his job. Eventually, however, he does and it's back to punchin' and scrappin' to make sure the men do their part. As for the baddies, they dynamite the hills, rob the payroll and do lots of other things to disrupt progress.Now into this mix is a clichéd woman--a woman who KNOWS absolutely nothing but seems to think she knows everything. She and O'Brien instantly HATE each other--therefore you know they'll be in love by the end of the film. Another woman (Zasu Pitts) is in the film...for no discernible reason whatsoever. Pitts, I think, MAY have been intended as comic relief--but all her scenes had nothing to do with the plot and she's more an annoyance than anything else.So it any good? Well, not really. But the film has very nice scenery and my uncle (who watched the film with me) said this line makes a terrific trip--as he's done the trip from Silverton to Durango. So, at least we got to talk about how pretty southwest Colorado is...though we both got a bit bored by the clichés and silly writing in "Denver and Rio Grande".*By the way, although I love Edmond O'Brien films, the idea of him beating up TWO guys (one of which is the humongous and well-muscled Sterling Hayden) at the same time is quite laughable. In fact, I remember chuckling through this silly scene.

There is a promotional film for "America's last narrow gauge passenger train" that includes scenes on the making of this film. The film is titled "Journey to Yesterday" and does not seem to be listed on the IMDb. Starting in Durango, this film follows the tourist train on it's journey to yesterday. At one point it reaches the location where the "Denver and Rio Grande" movie is being made. It has extensive coverage of the actors at work and especially the "day for night" cinematography being used for some of the movie's night scenes. It also shows the preparation work for the filming of the train collision right up to the collision itself. During the 1990's this film was available on video tape but a recent (2009) check of Amazon.com indicates that this tape is no longer available.