Rocky Mountain Express

Rocky Mountain Express is a 45minute IMAX film released in the fall of 2011. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Stephen Low, it features the Canadian Pacific Railways restored 464 H1b Hudson steam locomotive 2816. Shooting began in 2006 and continued intermittently over the next five years, primarily on the main line between Calgary and Vancouver, with the cooperation of the CPR. The film was shot inperforation70mm film, using a helicopter and gyrostabilized camera mount as well as a variety of engine and train mounts.

The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway is an epic tale that begins in the 1880s and stretches over a century, with primary construction lasting from 1881 to 1885. Rocky Mountain Express highlights the aspects of the story that directly relate to the landscape the train is travelling through. The geography is illustrated by CGI maps and the history is told through dozens of black and white archival photographs.The period of exploration and survey is quickly summarized over aerial shots illustrating the enormity of the task at hand and the variety of the landscape. The journey then begins in Vancouver with the departure of 2816 pulling a train made up of several period cars. One of the narrative difficulties was how to combine a linear and literal eastbound journey with a story about a construction project that advanced simultaneously from east and west and continued over decades. The solution was to let the journey dictate the narrative and to move back and forth in the historical timeline as necessary. ........

Source: Wikipedia