North by Northshore

Not the movie by almost the same name

By Ken Buehler

In the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock classic “North by Northwest,” Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason travel the country in this suspense filled spy drama, starting by train on the 20th Century Limited. The movie has them going from New York City to Chicago to Mt. Rushmore. The famous crop duster scene was filmed outside of Bakersfield, Calif. playing the part of Highway 41 in downstate

Made out of authentic train boxcars renovated into lovely guest accommodations, the Northern Rail Traincar Inn is nestled in the wilderness, just 3 miles north of Two Harbors.

Indiana — even though the road signs are the wrong shape for Indiana.

You are the star today in our version of this action packed movie traveling on the North Shore Scenic Railroad in “North by Northshore.”

Oneof the movie’s opening scenes is Grand Central Station in New York as the 20th Century Limited is departing from its red carpeted platform. Your opening scene is on track #1 at the historic Union Depot in downtown Duluth boarding the North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Duluth Zephyr.

There’s a slight difference between the two stations. But the intended results are the same. Roger Thornill (Cary Grant) is getting on a train in New York City’s Grand Central Station and you are in Duluth. Unfortunately for him, Thornhill has just been mistaken for a government agent and is being followed by ruthless spies. You might want to check over your shoulder.

Thetrain sequences for “North by Northwest” were all shot on a soundstage in Hollywood. The magic of the movies. While they did shoot some scenes from the vestibule of a moving train, interior quarters are a little too tight for filming.

On the North Shore Scenic Railroad, you can have dinner in an authentic dining car aboard one of our elegant dinner trains. The railroad museum’s Lake of the Isles dining car is from the same era as the one portrayed in the movie.

Alfred Hitchcock only made one movie for MGM and “North by Northwest” was it. But in almost every movie he ever directed Hitchcock would slip in a personal cameo. In “Strangers on a Train,” we catch him boarding the train carrying a large, double base in an instrument case. In “Birds,” Hitchcock walks out of a pet store just as Tippy Hedren enters.

In “North by Northwest” he misses a bus in New York City.

We hope you enjoy your “North by Northshore” adventure. Thank you for riding with us. Cut! That’s a wrap.

Thegood news is nothing like this will ever happen to you in “North by Northshore.” Nor will you have to climb the faces on Mt. Rushmore. But we do have great scenery along our tracks.

I’m the executive “director” of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum so I guess this is my cameo.