Disaster on the Coastliner

Disaster on the Coastliner
a movie poster showing helicopters and two men climbing on the Amtrak EMD F40PH locomotive.
GenreAction
Drama
Written byDavid Ambrose
Directed byRichard C. Sarafian
StarringLloyd Bridges
Raymond Burr
Robert Fuller
Pat Hingle
E. G. Marshall
Yvette Mimieux
William Shatner
Paul L. Smith
Theme music composerGerald Fried
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerFrank von Zerneck
Production locationsEast Lyme, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
CinematographyFred J. Koenekamp
EditorRobert Florio
Running time96 minutes[1]
Production companiesFilmways Television
Moonlight Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseOctober 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)

Disaster on the Coastliner is a 1979 American made-for-television action drama film. It was directed by Richard C. Sarafian and starred Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle, E. G. Marshall, Yvette Mimieux, William Shatner, and Paul L. Smith. It originally aired on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on October 28, 1979.

Plot

A disgruntled railroad employee attempts to cause a collision between two passenger trains.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on a railway line in Connecticut. At his own suggestion William Shatner did his own stunts, including standing on top of a moving F40PH. Years later Shatner called the stunt "the most truly dangerous stunt I ever did" and couldn't imagine "what [he] was thinking" in suggesting it. Shatner compared it to the work he'd done in Kingdom of the Spiders, and wondered which was worse: "standing on top of a speeding locomotive without any kind of safety cable or gluing tarantulas to your face?"[2]: 105–108  Jack Sessums worked on the miniature effects and had his work profiled in TV Guide.[3]

Release

Disaster on the Coastliner premiered on The ABC Sunday Night Movie on October 28, 1979.[4] Although no DVD or VHS has been released in America, the movie's current owner, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, has made the movie available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount plus in the United States. The movie aired on July 27, 2025 on FETV's Sunday Movie Matinee.

See also

List of television films produced for American Broadcasting Company

References

  1. ↑ "Disaster On The Coastliner (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. December 30, 2025. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
  2. ↑ Shatner, William (2008). Up Till Now. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-37265-1.
  3. ↑ Stuck, Nelda M. (December 18, 2004). "Jack Sessums, engineer, film special effects producer, dies". Redlands Daily Facts. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Hal Erickson (2008). "Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
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