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closeMILESBURG — The “Unstoppable” train made its last stop Friday in Milesburg before it heads to Ohio.
CDT/Sara Ganim
Milesburg resident Paula Ghaner and her grandson Norman Paul, 2, walk around the set of the movie "Unstoppable" today so Norman can see the train, helicopters, firetrucks and other emergency equipment brought in for the last day of filming in Pennsylvania. Many other locals got a chance to be extras as onlookers flood High Street for a view. The filming slowed traffic in Milesburg for parts of the day while cameras were rolling. cdt/Sara Ganim
With the stars and crew of the Hollywood production goes the glamour that small towns across central Pennsylvania enjoyed over the past month as the movie was being filmed along the Nittany- Bald Eagle Railroad.
“That’s about the most excitement we’ll have in a long, long time,” said Larry Shilling, standing yards away from the movie set on the porch of his High Street home in front of the Milesburg American Legion on Friday. He grinned. “Once this is over, we won’t exist again.”
Moments later, the movie’s star, Denzel Washington, strolled by Shilling’s porch, heading from the set to his car to relax between takes.
“We’re not even sure what they’re shooting here,” Shilling said. But hundreds of locals turned out to watch ... whatever it was. Some were even lucky enough to squeeze in as extras.
“Is the movie gonna start?” asked 5-year-old Richard Jodon, also watching from Shilling’s porch.
“The train ain’t running away,” he said. “It’s called runaway train but the train ain’t running away.”
In between takes, Paula Ghaner took her 2-year-old grandson, Norman Paul Ghaner, to see the emergency vehicles brought in for the set.
“Oh, yeah, he loves trains,” Ghaner said. “He likes the helicopter. He wants to get on it. I said ‘no.’ ”
There were many sighting of the movie’s stars at bars, hotels and streets in the region during the month that Hollywood was in town. Filming at various locations — Julian, Unionville, Tyrone — caused some traffic delays, but also offered entertainment for local residents.
But few experiences were as memorable as those of one State College man who was lucky enough to be cast as an extra for four days.
He asked not to be identified — he’d signed a confidentiality agreement — but after trying out to be an extra, he was cast as a railroad worker, getting screen time with the movie’s stars Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson and Washington.
The most memorable moments were watching cars explode, seeing the production and have two brief conversations with Washington.
“The first one I had with him was Wednesday, he had walked past me, brushed up against me to get on the train and I was standing next to Chris Pine ... I said to him, something stupid like, ‘you did a pretty good job running that train, you missed your calling.’ He started laughing, put his hand on my shoulder.”
Friday, when things wrapped up, he thanked Denzel and shook his hand. “He said, ‘No, it’s my pleasure.’ ”
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