If you’re shooting a scene on rural railroad tracks, you need to do two things. One, you need to contact local railroad authorities and make double-sure about which trains will be coming along at exactly what time. And two, you need at least two production assistants with walkie-talkies to be watching several hundred yards away in both directions in case a rogue train shows up unexpectedly. If you haven’t done both these things, it’s your own damn fault if something goes wrong. Another sensible idea: if you’re shooting with a bed on the train tracks and you suddenly realize that a rogue train will be roaring through in a minute or less, you get the hell out of there. Forget about the bed and run like hell or jump off the railroad trestle bridge…simple.
