The Sun Down Limited

Production Notes[]

Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography:
Editor:
Titles: H. M. Walker
Writer: Hal Roach
Released: September 21, 1924
Studio: Pathe Exchange

Main Cast[]

Supporting Cast[]

The Short[]

Plot: The Rascals have been hanging around the railroad yard at the Greenpoint Train Station, but after Mickey and Joe set off a runaway locomotive, which runs over Farina back and forth several times, they get chased off the yard. The gang soons builds their own dog-powered five-car contraption on an abandoned line of track, earning the wrath of Toughy, who has been running his own train nearby. He and a friend set a piano crate on the tracks, causing a crash. While the train crew clears the tracks, Toughy uncouples the three traliing train cars, so when the engine is running again, it circles the track and rams the back of the train. Mickey and Joe put the train in reverse, which involves a dog on a treadmill chasing a cat in a cage in the opposite direction, and successfully go back around the track and recouple the passenger cars. However, while they are doing this Toughy and his crony remove part of the tracks. Once the gang's train is running again, this sends the gang rolling out into the city streets to cause havoc, rumbling through and past businesses including the Blacksmith Shop, Palms Garage, and Sam Seelig Public Market before inevitably crashing at the bottom of a hill. The kids survive by bailing out before the crash, but Farina emerges in a daze, seeing stars and holding his head.
Quotes:

"Yo' all time followin' us men --" Farina to Powder-Puff
"-- Engineering is a cinch - All y' gotta do is shove one thingamajigg an' pull 'nother --" - Mickey
"There had only been seven wonders of the world - Until now --" - Narration
"Now see - You almost got run over!" - Andy
- "Almos'? Ah' did!" - Farina
"- Go an' build your own railroad - Same as I did!" - Toughy

Notes/Trivia:

This short was later remade as or at least inspired Railroadin'.
The theme of Farina being run over several times would appear later in Railroadin'.
One would think getting rolled over by a train and riding one that rolls to a crash down a public street would make Farina afraid of trains, but he actually ends up riding the rails in Fast Freight.
When Farina gets stuck in the track, Sing Joy is shown wearing different socks. While he's helping pull Farina out, he's wearing black socks. At the beginning of this short, he's wearing white socks.
If one looks closer, it appears that the Farina in the long shots getting run over is actually a puppet popping up and down. The close-ups just seem to be some camera tricks.

Sequence[]

Previous Short: High Society
Next Short: Every Man For Himself