The Phantom Express

Mystery thriller 'quickie'. A train crashes one night on a rural US rail network. The crew insist they saw another train headed towards them on the same track, and that to prevent a collision they braked sharply; unfortunately their train derailed, killing several passengers. After the crash there is no sign of the other train, and a subsequent board of enquiry can find no record of it. As a result the driver of the crashed engine is sacked. Compounded by a series of other incidents and another sighting of the so called 'phantom express', the network's share prices begin to drop, causing the president of another rail company to make an offer - albeit a low one - to buy them out. The playboy son of the network's boss decides to finally do something with his life, and try to 1) solve the mystery, 2) save the engine driver's job, and 3) prevent his father from having to sell the company at a loss.

No big names, but quite a few familiar faces of the period. The cast act in that unmistakable style of the time, but they're pretty good. It's obviously low budget, and some of the train shots are clearly actually model railways. Some of the sound effects are a little unconvincing too! And at a runtime of just 70 minutes it still manages to feel padded in places. But it's enjoyable, and the gung-ho attitude of the son and his helpers is fun to watch. 6/10.