Sterling Hayden
Captain John Nelson
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Audience rating
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Synopsis
As the country approaches civil war, sabotage repeatedly interrupts a railroad under construction in Kansas. An army engineer arrives under cover to help keep the work moving. Winning the crew's confidence and dealing with the foreman's daughter become part of a mission to protect a route with growing strategic importance.
Cast
DirectorsRay Nazarro
Behind the scenes
The film uses a fictional railroad struggle to connect Western construction drama with Civil War tensions. California locations included the Sierra Railroad at Jamestown and the Iverson Movie Ranch. Although the screen copyright notice reads 1952, its theatrical release dates from 1953.
Sources and availability
The synopsis and editorial text were written for this collection. The references below were cross-checked to identify the film and its copy; each editorial section identifies its reference.
Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.
The reference concerns the original work. Restorations, colorization, translations and other territories may have different conditions. This site uses the player enabled by the channel.
Availability checked on September 10, 2026.
Photograph credit
Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.
- Sterling Hayden — Affiliated Magazines, New York / Photographer not credited · Public domain
- Eve Miller — Film screenshot (Planet Filmplays Inc.) · Public domain
- Barton MacLane — NBC Television · Public domain
- Reed Hadley — Unknown author · Public domain
