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| 9 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1566253733042765000 |
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| 12 | [[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheBraveEngineer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tiedtotracks.png]]]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ->''"I'm afraid she's a little tied up at the moment, but don't fret -- I have a feeling we'll be running into her shortly."'' |
| 15 | -->-- '''Khallos''', ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'', milking the pun and the situation for all they're worth |
| 16 | |
| 17 | The music is high-tempo, the [[DamselInDistress damsel is in distress]], and the [[DastardlyWhiplash mustachioed villain]] is [[EvilIsHammy mugging to the camera]]. Yup, she's been chained to a railroad track, and the 7:10 Express is running right on time. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Despite popular opinion, there are hardly any silent films in which you'll see this exact scenario. And in the ones where it does happen, it's usually played for laughs, making fun of the already well-known trope from the world of theater. When this trope ''did'' appear in silent cinema, it was usually PlayedWith in various ways, and had more variation to it than modern homages would have you believe. Nevertheless, parodies are often done in a {{Retraux}} style that imitates old silent movies. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | This familiar scenario first appeared in the 1867 short story [[http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DACB8727-0003-99&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fgala%2Fgala0003%2F&tif=00672.TIF&pagenum=653 "Captain Tom's Fright,"]] although a more rudimentary form of it was seen on stage in 1863 in the play ''The Engineer''. However, it really entered the meme pool as a result of its inclusion in the 1867 play ''[[http://www.josephhaworth.com/images/Producers%20&%20Managers/Augustin%20Daly/Under_the_Gaslight-Poster-cepia-Resized.jpg Under the Gaslight]]'', by Augustin Daly. (Interestingly, in ''Gaslight'' the victim is a male, not a fair maiden - and is in fact ''rescued'' by [[FairForItsDay the fair maiden]].) By 1868, it reportedly could be found in five different London plays all running at the same time, and remained a theatre staple for decades. Variations of this trope was used in the films ''The Train Wreckers'' (1905) and ''Buster in Nodland'' (1912) before appearing in its most iconic form in the 1913 Keystone Komedy film ''Film/BarneyOldfieldsRaceForALife'', where it was already PlayedForLaughs. It's commonly associated with the 1914 film serial ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'', but [[BeamMeUpScotty this is probably due to confusion]] (no one knows for sure, since neither the full serial nor the script have survived). |
| 22 | |
| 23 | If a DastardlyWhiplash character appears, he'll probably use this trope without shame, befitting of a similarly "outdated" villain. Heck, he'll be proud to show off his knowledge of "the classics." |
| 24 | |
| 25 | As bizarre (and horrible) as it may seem, this trope ''is'' TruthInTelevision. [[AMillionIsAStatistic At least six people]] in the United States were killed between 1874 and 1910 as a result of being tied to railroad tracks. Of course, it was never as common in real life as in fiction, no doubt because [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim there are more efficient ways]] [[PragmaticVillainy of murdering people]]. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Usually, the trains used in this trope would be powered by old-time steam engines, but a few modern uses/parodies would use diesel locomotives instead. It's also a hazard for characters in a MouseWorld, who have enough difficulty with toy trains, let alone real ones. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | For more information, see [[https://www.straightdope.com/21343402/did-anyone-really-ever-get-tied-to-railroad-tracks this page]] at ''The Straight Dope'' website. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | If the hero can't reach the maiden, he may have to engage in some {{Trainstopping}}. See ChainedToARock, which is much, much older, but operates on the same basic principle. Compare RailroadTracksOfDoom. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | ---- |
| 34 | !!Examples: |
| 35 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 38 | * Spoofed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR4e7h-49Tk this Aflac insurance commercial.]] |
| 39 | * Spoofed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdBAt6EqRMg this 1999 ad for Coors light.]] |
| 40 | * Mentioned in a radio ad for [=SoBe=] Power energy drinks. The narrator proposes that the listener might feel strong, but wants to feel stronger, strong enough to stop a train. The narrator then brings up a scenario where a pretty girl is tied to the tracks, and to impress her, the listener could stop the train with only one hand. |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 44 | * Obscure example and variation: The manga sequel to ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'', ''Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', features a villain that captures both [[DamselScrappy Beauty]] and [[TeamPet Dengaku-man]], and he chains them up to the ''end'' of a downward-spiraling train track; Bo-bobo and his group must defeat all of the enemies on each of the trains in order to stop them in time. [[spoiler:Only Softon is able to fully stop one of the trains; at the last minute, Heppokomaru/Gasser is able to destroy all of them and save Beauty.]] |
| 45 | * ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaInTheWanNyanSpacetimeOdyssey'': The story's BigBad, Neko-Jara, have the kidnapped IdolSinger Syami (whom Doraemon had a crush on) chained to the tracks of his amusement park, in order to threaten Doraemon to fix the Devolution Light. Doraemon complies in a desperate attempt to save Syami, [[spoiler:but it turns out Syami was a spy working for Neko-Jara and not in any danger in the first place]]. |
| 46 | * In the fourth episode of the ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' anime, Shinpachi and Kagura (who is "introduced" in said episode) are pushed onto a train track while being stuck in a garbage can. They are saved by Gintoki... who just happened to be around because he managed to find that week's ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' at the station's newsstand. |
| 47 | * The ninja students do this to the teacher Hayato in the very first episode of ''[[Anime/{{Himawari}} Himawari!]]'' |
| 48 | * Played straight in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' when Joseph and Abdul are both magnetized to one of the rails (and each other) by their enemy. Of course, Abdul could have just melted away the rail with his power over fire, but since it would derail the oncoming train, they had to be a bit more clever in their escape. |
| 49 | [[/folder]] |
| 50 | |
| 51 | [[folder:Arts]] |
| 52 | * Colmar railway station in France has an enormous stained glass window displaying one of these scenes. It is not clear why any railway company would think this was a good idea. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 56 | * ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': |
| 57 | ** ''Detective Comics'' #532. The plot in one sentence: Joker ties Batman to a train and Vicki to the track; Batman breaks free and saves her. |
| 58 | ** Bane did this to at least one street-thug as an [[EnhancedInterrogationTechniques Enhanced Interrogation Technique]] (in a slight variation, the victim wasn't laid flat on the railway, but forced to kneel on it, with his arms chained to tunnel-walls to keep his torso upright). Since Bane's [[EvilCounterpart not]] Batman, he makes no move to free the poor guy even after he's got the info he wanted. |
| 59 | * The villains do this to [[TheNthDoctor the Tenth Doctor]] on the 1st issue of the ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoIDW'' Ongoing Comics...then again the setting was Hollywood, 1926. |
| 60 | * ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'': One story's last panel features an insurance salesman trying to sell Snidely Whiplash a special villains' policy by saying it'll cover him if he's struck by a train while tying someone to a railroad track. |
| 61 | * Jonah does this to a corrupt PinkertonDetective (who has just murdered a 13 year old boy) in ''ComicBook/JonahHex'' #13 (original series). |
| 62 | * In the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica story in ''ComicBook/AllStarComics'' #40 (1948), a teenage gang ties one of their members to a stretch of disused railroad tracks as a prank (the idea being to scare him). However, an explosion forces the railroad to reroute a train onto the 'disused' tracks... |
| 63 | ** In a previous JSA story in ''ComicBook/AllStarComics'' #34, the Wizard shrinks Franchise/GreenLantern and ties him to the track of a model train set. The villain even Lampshades the trope. |
| 64 | * In ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook'' #2, there's a page called "From the Top-Secret Casebook of Scooter, Boy Detective", which ends with Scooter watching the hypnotist Creepy [=McBoo=] tying a chicken to the railway tracks and noting "Remain firmly unconvinced that [=McBoo=] is not an evil hypnotist." |
| 65 | * In the Human Torch story in the third issue of ''ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics'', the villains do this to the female side character of the week. A somewhat unusual twist is that there was no train coming and the villain decided to drive a nearby locomotive at her himself. |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'': In "Perils Before Swine", Penelope is being tied "to yet another train track" and sees this as the Hooded Claw not having much originality. |
| 67 | * In ''ComicBook/SensationComics'' #26, ComicBook/WonderWoman is tied to the railway tracks with what she thinks is her magic lasso. It isn't as [[ItMakesSenseInContext her mother has stolen her lasso and replaced it with a copy]]. Once she realises it is a fake, she is able to break loose and [[{{Trainstopping}} stop the train by lifting the locomotive off the tracks]]. |
| 68 | * ''ComicBook/SergioAragonesDestroysDC'' has one pair of tied damsels on the splash panel for his Superman story (keep magnifying glass handy). |
| 69 | * A sci-fi variation (not to mention a rare heroic one) occurs in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan2099'' where Spider-Man is clearly outmatched by a cybernetic bounty hunter, and uses his wits to get the cyborg caught by his metal parts on the intense magnetic field of a maglev track and then hit by an oncoming vehicle. |
| 70 | * Issue 60 of ''ComicBook/TheSupermanAdventures'' has a flashback of Superman showing up to save Jimmy Olsen when he's been tied to a set of train tracks as Toyman rides an oversized toy train that's about to run him over. |
| 71 | * Chicago gangster Bobby Smiles did this to Franchise/{{Tintin}} in ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInAmerica Tintin in America]]''. Tintin is saved not by Snowy (who had been driven off by Bobby and his friend moments earlier), but by [[DeusExMachina a fussy old lady who demands that the conductor of the train do something about a puma chasing a stag]], thereby stopping the train so that Tintin can get the conductor's attention. This wouldn't be so ridiculous if Gladstone Gander was tied up in his place, but each of these events looks horribly out-of-place in ''Tintin'' books... |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 75 | * Creator/CharlesAddams, creator of ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'', parodied this in one of his cartoons in ''The New Yorker''. A pair of thugs are tying somebody to railroad tracks while a woman who lives alongside the tracks looks on and says "I don't mean to interrupt, but there hasn't been a train over that line in 18 years." Addams also did one where a [[DastardlyWhiplash Snidely Whiplash-type villain]] is seen headed down into a subway station with a bound and gagged heroine slung over one shoulder. |
| 76 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''ComicStrip/FootrotFlats''. After the Dog misses the game-winning catch in a cricket match because he falls asleep, Wal ties him to the track for the sight screen and attempts to run the screen over the top of him. |
| 77 | * In the "Sweet Caroline" arc in ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'', one of the attention getting murders committed by Sweet Caroline is to drug a famous actress and tie her to a railway track like a heroine from an old-time melodrama. |
| 78 | * The ''Unofficial I Hate Computers Book'' (with cartoons [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin about hating computers]]) features this trope too -- of course parodied, since it's not a damsel tied to the tracks but, duh, a computer. |
| 79 | * A cartoon in a magazine showed several early 1900s suffragettes driving along and spotting a friend of theirs, an elegant lady who cheerfully waves her parasol at them... as she stands over the DastardlyWhiplash type ''she'' tied to the tracks. The driver comments that this is one of their "more militant sisters." |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 83 | * ''Fanfic/ThisTimeRound'': In the story [[http://www.ttrarchive.com/mastertest1.html "Master Test"]], the Jacobi Master, challenged to prove his evilness, decides to tie Mel to a railway. She complains that he's being unimaginative. |
| 84 | * ''Fanfic/SaikoRocks'': A flashback shows [=SMG3=] doing this to Tari ForTheEvulz. |
| 85 | * ''Fanfic/WitchesWizardsShadowsAndSouls'': A slight variation occurs in the sequel ''Magic Monsters Dominions and Destiny''. Joey and [[spoiler:a mind-controlled Koji]] start an Orichalcos duel on the train tracks while a train is scheduled to show up. Because of the Seal of Orichalcos, they cannot change their location, so they're forced to finish the duel before the train shows up or they both die. [[spoiler:Joey manages to break Koji out of his brainwashing and they work together to end the duel in a draw, saving both their lives.]] |
| 86 | [[/folder]] |
| 87 | |
| 88 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 89 | * A variant of this trope is done in ''Film/ThreeNinjas: High Noon on Mega Mountain'' where the bad guys tie Rocky's girlfriend to the tracks of a roller coaster. What makes it nightmarish is that they just tie her arms to the track and leave her dangling, meaning if Rocky had failed to save her, then the roller coaster would have severed her arms and then she would have fallen to her death. |
| 90 | * As noted above, by the time this was first done in film for 1913 comedy ''Film/BarneyOldfieldsRaceForALife'', it was already a subject for parody, and in fact might have already been a DiscreditedTrope or DeadHorseTrope. |
| 91 | * [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in the 1912 German comedy short ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsFY1qnYFG0 Buster in Nodland,]]'' in which the eponymous KidHero has a dream where a group of equally young cowboys tie him to tracks of a toy train. Fortunately, he is rescued by his "[[PuppyLove girlfriend]]", Henriëtte. |
| 92 | * A variation (without the actual chaining part) appears in ''Film/TheTrainWreckers'' (1905), where a group of bandits knock a woman out and just leave her on the tracks. |
| 93 | * [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in the 1919 silent film ''Film/EastLynneWithVariations,'' ([[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Lynne loosely based on the 1861 novel.]]) Showing the sheer age of this trope, [[https://i2.wp.com/moviessilently.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2-railroad-tracks.jpg?w=600 the magazine ''Photo Play Journal'' already described it]] -- and other parodied cliches -- as Main/TheOldestOnesInTheBook. |
| 94 | --> Old-timers! Look to the right and see what Ben Turpin does with your favorite "mother and chee-ild" [sic] scene! And in the picture below, how he lays flippant hands upon one of the most sacred traditions of melodrama -- the railroad rescue! |
| 95 | * While this may never have happened in the original ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' serial, it ''did'' happen to Violet Standish -- also played by Pearl White -- in the 1917 serial ''Film/TheFatalRing,'' perhaps contributing to the misconception. (Somewhat [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that she wasn't actually chained or tied down; [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/The_Fatal_Ring.jpg/220px-The_Fatal_Ring.jpg the poster merely shows her lying unconscious on the rails.]]) |
| 96 | * Parodied in ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', where one of the many tortures that is done to Gizmo has him tied to a miniature train track. A miniature train then painfully collides with him, but does no lasting damage. |
| 97 | * The [[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace entirely railroad-focused]] adventure serial ''The Hazards of Helen'' (1914-1917) naturally used this trope a few times. Though as the protagonist -- played [[TheOtherDarrin initially]] by [[TheDanza Helen Holmes]] -- was a competent ActionGirl who usually saved the day, this falls more under BadassInDistress. |
| 98 | ** PlayedWith in the 1915 episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrYrQ9VpJHs "The Death Train,"]] where Helen is tied to a railway bridge and then suspended underneath it. Fortunately, she manages to swing back up before the train comes and cuts the rope. |
| 99 | ** PlayedWith in ''When Rogues Fall Out'' -- another 1915 episode -- where Helen is tied up in her own office only to end up in front of an approaching train -- still bound -- during her escape. In the end, she actually gets the train to stop ''herself,'' saving both it and her own life. |
| 100 | ** Helen Holmes' replacement -- Helen Gibson -- would later save a man from a speeding locomotive in the 1916 episode [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTY4Yzg4MDgtMDlhZC00YmYxLThlMGYtOGQ2NzhmOTJmNjMzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDUyOTUyNQ@@._V1_.jpg The Dynamite Train.]] As in ''The Train Wreckers'', he was technically not secured to the track, but knocked unconsious and left there by criminals. |
| 101 | ** [[https://i2.wp.com/moviessilently.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/lass-of-the-lumberlands.jpg Helen Holmes also starred in the (now lost) 1916 serial ''A Lass of the Lumberlands'',]] in which she saved her male companion Tom Dawson (Leo D. Maloney) from such a fate. |
| 102 | * This crops up in ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' where the three candidates for the position of Lancelot end up drugged and [[TheHero Eggsy]] ends up tied to a track by a man demanding to know about Kingsman and Harry Hart. [[spoiler: This ends up being a SecretTestOfCharacter to see how devoted the candidates are. Eggsy and [[LittleMissBadass Roxy]] pass with flying colours, the latter offscreen. [[TheBully Charlie]]... [[DirtyCoward not so much]]]]. |
| 103 | * Played straight, probably for the first time in years, by ''Film/TheMatrix''. Rather than tying Neo to the tracks, immortal Agent Smith just puts him in a chokehold, holding him in place, and makes him watch the oncoming subway train. (Smith, being an [[RespawningEnemies Agent]], doesn't have to worry about dying himself.) Unfortunately for Smith, his goading triggers Neo's BerserkButton, and Neo escapes. |
| 104 | * This happened in one episode of ''The Million Dollar Mystery'', a 1914 serial, where Florence Gray Hargreave ([[TheDanza Florence]] La Badie) saves her co-star Jim Norton (James Cruze), [[https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AunRxv41d-8/W_XC6JpHWxI/AAAAAAAAQiI/gyAZfjChrHsPZfLXgFk2mji616H6PLdewCLcBGAs/s1600/Million%2BDollar%2BMystery%2B%25281914%2529.jpg who has been bound to a railroad.]] |
| 105 | * In ''[[https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0015166/ Nellie the Beautiful Cloak Model]]'' from 1924, the eponymous Nellie (Claire Windsor) gets tied up by the evil Polly Joy (Mae Busch). A rare case of a woman doing this to another woman. This was apparently an attempt at playing the trope straight, but contemporary reports indicate that people had a hard time taking this seriously. |
| 106 | --> '''The Film Daily:''' [[YouBastard It wasn't considerate]] of the Capitol audience to laugh when Claire was tied to the 'L' tracks and the express train came within an inch of decapitating her pretty blonde head. But they seemed to enjoy the thrill of this and other bits, nevertheless. |
| 107 | * Parodied in the movie ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'' where the security guard is tied to toy train tracks by the miniature cowboys in a diorama. The train hits his head and then falls off the tracks. |
| 108 | * The ''1947'' ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' film -- actually a musical biopic about actress Pearl White -- played this trope straight in a DeathTrap montage. The film was VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, and arguably more of a {{Troperiffic}} homage to adventure serials in general [[ShallowParody than a direct copy of the original work.]] |
| 109 | * This trope is referenced in the song "The Happiest Home in These Hills" from ''Film/PetesDragon1977'', with the two sons in the Gogan family singing (among the many awful things they plan to do to Pete for running away) "Tie him screaming to a railroad track". |
| 110 | * ''Film/Sabotage2014'' is a rare ''male'' example: DEA commando Pyro wakes up to find his RV has been dragged into the path of an oncoming train. |
| 111 | * Jill Tuck is tied to a ''tunnel'' in the trailer and teaser of ''Film/Saw3D''. |
| 112 | ** A more literal variant of this appears in the Saw spinoff ''[[Film/Spiral2021 Spiral]],'' where the opening trap features an officer effectively tied to subway tracks [[TongueTrauma by his tongue]]. |
| 113 | * ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004'' has Count Olaf attempt to kill the Baudelaire orphans by leaving them in a locked car parked on the railroad tracks. |
| 114 | * Played nearly straight in the film ''Film/StayTuned'', when Helen is tied to the tracks in the path of an oncoming train that's going to crash into [[StuffBlowingUp a stockpile of explosives]]: "[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill He's going to hit me with a train AND blow me up?!]]" Then again, the movie sends up a ''lot'' of {{Dead Horse Trope}}s. |
| 115 | * [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0797931/?ref_=ttmi_tt According to IMDB,]] this is one of several [[DeathTrap Death Traps]] in which the DastardlyWhiplash [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Villas Canbe]] puts the DesignatedVictim [[MeaningfulName Gladys Villing]] after she rejects his advances in the 1915 comedy ''The Strenuous Life''. The hero, Manly Fellows, eventually gets tired of the constant rescuing and settles down with her mother instead, [[DatingCatwoman while Gladys marries Villas]]. |
| 116 | * ''Film/StuartLittle'' features Stuart lampooning this trope by tying himself to a model railway, with his own tail. |
| 117 | * One of the oldest parodies of this trope was in the 1917 short silent film, ''Teddy at the Throttle''. Gloria Swanson is chained to a railway, and a dog and an effeminate boy save her. Part of the humor derives from the fact that Gloria Swanson's character was clearly badass, even breaking down a door earlier in the film. Her love interest is timid and emotional, and it seems that it would be more likely that she would be the one saving him. The train, after the conductors are alerted by the dog, Teddy, of the girl on the tracks, even stops a few seconds too late. The girl actually has to dig herself a hole with her feet so that she can safely hide in it as the train moves over her. A job well done, supposedly. |
| 118 | * The trailer for the film ''Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'' consists of a postscript scene (not in either the book or the film itself) of Renton (Creator/EwanMcGregor) tied to a railway line, and telling the audience how the other characters caught him and did this to punish him for the final events in the film itself. Possibly done to relate the title to the film and avoid confusion. |
| 119 | * In ''Film/TwinkleTwinkleLittleStar'', Cherie Chung's character (alongside her two PluckyComicRelief sidekicks) are tied to a railway with an incoming train. They manage to escape literally two seconds away from being run over, but [[GivingThemTheStrip Cherie lose her pants in the process]]. Cue the two pervy sidekicks getting [[MaleGaze an eyeful]]. |
| 120 | --> "Wow, pink underpants!" |
| 121 | * However, the above-mentioned ''Under the Gaslight'' was [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004749/ adapted to the screen in 1914,]] and still got away with using the trope, (perhaps thanks to having a GrandfatherClause on its side.) |
| 122 | * An [[http://www.bromley-coppard.com/Stoatsnest/ attempt]] to film such a scene in 1907 ended in disaster when [[FatalMethodActing the train didn't stop in time]]. |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Jokes]] |
| 126 | * Played with in an old joke involving a guy discussing how he found a girl tied to a railroad track and, after untying her, had all sorts of sex with her. Upon being asked by the person he's talking with whether they had oral sex, the guy states, [[BlackComedy "Couldn't. Her head was missing."]] |
| 127 | * There was an old rhyme about a man [[http://chefsaraskitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/there-was-man-now-please-take-note.html now please take note,]] there was a man who had a goat. The goat ate three red shirts off the clothesline, prompting the man to tie the goat to the railroad track. Just as the train was approaching, the goat threw up the shirts, thus flagging down the train. |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 131 | * In the ''Literature/AgentAngel'' (formerly known as ''Angels Unlimited'') series, Miss Bloom is tied to the train tracks whilst filming a movie--with her brother crouching just out of shot with knife, in case a train really does come. |
| 132 | * One chapter of the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'' features a gathering of bad guys including the villains of the old film serials ''The Perils of Pauline'' and ''The Exploits of Elaine'', who have a conversation with each other about how this never works out for them. |
| 133 | * ''Literature/BruceCovillesBookOf Nightmares'': In ''Death's Door'', Death tricks his way into acting as a substitute bus driver, then parks the bus on a set of train tracks, seals the doors and waits for the train to hit it, killing everyone aboard. They're saved when they remember the bus has kick-out windshields as an emergency backup. |
| 134 | * In ''[[Creator/MatthewReilly Contest]]'', Swain kills an alien by latching one end of a set of handcuffs around its incredibly thin neck, the other around a hook in a subway track, pulling it across the rail, and letting a passing subway train slice it in two. |
| 135 | * Used in Anthony Horowitz's ''Literature/DiamondBrothers'' books. The protagonist notes that for all the narrow escapes he's had, he's never going to write a book about how to free yourself when you're very securely tied to a train track, because it's just not gonna happen. He's only saved by an outside party. |
| 136 | * The Literature/{{Discworld}} guidebook ''Mrs Bradshaw's Guide'' (a tie-in with ''Literature/RaisingSteam'') states that the railway abandoned plans for a route passing [[Literature/MovingPictures Holy Wood Hill]] due to a persistent hallucination among the workmen that there was a young woman chained to the tracks. |
| 137 | * One of the pictures in Daniel Cohen's ''Horror in the Movies'' is a woodcut from ''Scenes from the Nineteenth-Century Stage in Advertising Woodcuts'' which apparently depicts the climactic scene from the previously-mentioned ''Under the Gaslight''. Notable features include a sign stating "LOOK OUT FOR LOCOMOTIVE" and the train being about three feet from the action. |
| 138 | * In the Creator/IanFleming novel ''Literature/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' the villain Scaramanga does this to BondGirl Mary Goodnight. Literature/JamesBond is unable to save her [[spoiler:only it turns out to be just a dummy on the tracks, to draw Bond out into the open.]] |
| 139 | * An advertisement for a railroad in ''Literature/OurDumbCentury'' claims that this happens less frequently on their railroad than on competing lines. |
| 140 | * In Creator/CraigShawGardner's ''Revenge of the Fluffy Bunnies'' one of the tapestries in the Citadel of Dread depicts a man in a stovepipe hat gloating at a woman tied to the tracks. |
| 141 | * Played completely straight in Creator/TadWilliams' ''River of Blue Fire'' series. However, since the villain in question is [[spoiler: the bored, sociopathic god of a virtual world]] the women end up run over, multiple times. |
| 142 | * The heroine of Creator/CharlesStross's ''Literature/SaturnsChildren'' is chained in front of a ''city'' that travels across [[MercurialBase Mercury's terminator]] on rails. |
| 143 | * Creator/RoaldDahl uses it -- and not as parody -- when two bullies tie a boy to the tracks in the short story "[[http://www.angelfire.com/md/Topperites/swan.html The Swan]]" (from ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More''). We witness each excruciating second as the boy realizes they aren't joking and don't plan to untie him, anticipates his death, stops to calculate the necessary clearance, realizes he could possibly make it if his head were a bit lower, burrows the back of his head into the gravel, and then keeps his body still and taut as the train rushes over him. (And the train tracks aren't the last torment the bullies inflict on him, either; they end up shooting him in the leg with a rifle.) |
| 144 | [[/folder]] |
| 145 | |
| 146 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 147 | * Unusual example appeared in ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'' - Hanson was handcuffed to a railroad track by the episode's ManicPixieDreamGirl so that he could feel the "rush" of impending death. She did rescue him in the nick of time, of course. |
| 148 | * In the pilot episode of ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'', Brisco and Lord Bowler are tied to the railway tracks by the John Bly Gang. |
| 149 | * Played ''straight'' in the 50s ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS6E12ThePerilsOfSuperman The Perils of Superman]]". Victim was Lois Lane, natch. For bonus points, they also had Perry White [[LumberMillMayhem tied to a log]] [[ConveyorBeltODoom in a sawmill]]. |
| 150 | * In the {{Telenovela}} ''Series/AngelRebelde'', Crystal ties Patricia to the railway as revenge for betraying and lying to her throughout the series. Patricia begs to be let go but Crystal leaves her there to die and drives off in Patricia's car. Patricia is shown giving one final shout before her off screen death. |
| 151 | * ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' |
| 152 | ** In "An Innocent Man", Oliver Queen interrogates a miscreant by chaining him to a railroad track, then shooting free the chain at the last moment so he can dive free. |
| 153 | --->'''Oliver:''' Now, either it's time to tell me the truth, or it's time for the 10:15 to BlĂĽdhaven. |
| 154 | ** In "Draw Back Your Bow", Oliver himself gets handcuffed to the tracks by [[{{Yandere}} Cupid]], who's planning to [[MurderSuicide die along with him]]. Oliver dislocates his thumb to pull his hand free of the cuffs and hauls them both off the track JustInTime. |
| 155 | * ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'': Played completely straight when Gwen's stalker and doppelganger ties her and Jade to the railroad tracks in order to MurderTheHypotenuse and romance Gwen's husband Will. |
| 156 | * ''Series/TheATeam'' once did this to a perp in "[[Recap/TheATeamS3E1BulletsAndBikinis Bullets and Bikinis]]". In order to get Councilman Prescott to sign a paper they tied him to railway tracks at the end of a tunnel. He wouldn't talk at first, but soon he noticed a train approaching from the far end of the tunnel and signed it, only for Hannibal to leave him tied to the tracks. Of course it was then revealed that the oncoming train [[BigShadowLittleCreature was just Murdock on a bike, complete with a high-powered lamp, a fake chimney and a tape player with train sound effects]]. |
| 157 | * Parodied in ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' episode "The Gravediggers", in which Mrs Peel is tied to the tracks of a ''miniature'' railway. |
| 158 | * Used, inevitably in the old Adam West/Burt Ward ''Series/Batman1966'' series. It is claimed that, in keeping with their different status ([[TheHero hero]] vs {{sidekick}}) Batman was chained to a ''larger gauge'' railway than Robin was. |
| 159 | * Played straight (but only the trope!) in an episode of the German series ''Series/BerndDasBrot''. Openly declared in the credits as a homage to the old silent movies. |
| 160 | * ''Series/CassetaAndPlaneta'' has a sketch where they are tied to railroad tracks, but the train stops because of a railroad workers' strike. |
| 161 | * Parodied in a sketch on ''Creator/DaveAllen at Large'': a villain ties the heroine to the railroad tracks and leaves her to be run over by "the Flying Scotsman". In this case, 'the Flying Scotsman' turns out to be a kilted Scotsman with wings strapped to his arms. |
| 162 | * ''Series/TheDoctorBlakeMysteries'': This is what the kidnapper plans to do to his victim if the ransom is not paid in "Lucky Numbers". His wording is how Lucien realises that she is being held in the railway yards. |
| 163 | * In the ''Series/EvenStevens'' episode "Louis in the Middle", Tawny pretends to be tied to a miniature railroad while Alan attempts to run her over with a train in an effort to shake Louis out of his 'hero syndrome' mindset. |
| 164 | * Happens as an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAcNPX4VLj0 imagination]] spot in the Episode 'Lights, Camera, Distraction' of the Disney Show ''Series/{{Jessie}}''. Jessie (Debby Ryan) is trying to finish a movie for a film festival and in one scene Zuri Ross imagines herself as the mustaches twirling villain and Jessie as the Damsel In Distress tied to a railway with a lot of rope. She mentions that she will be saved by her hero (Tony played by Chris Gayla) but Zuri has him too tied to the railroad tracks. The imagination spot then ends after Jessie admits to evil Zuri her plan worked. |
| 165 | * In a fifth-season episode of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', the Gary Green native to 2018 is rescued by the Legends in 1874, causing 2020 Gary to develop a fear of trains. |
| 166 | * The theme re-appeared in television cop drama ''Series/{{Longmire}}'' Season 1 Episode 8, in which a cult leader conspires to send all his 12 young female followers to 'rebirth' by means of running over their drugged bodies with a train passing nearby his compound. 11 of the cultists volunteer by consuming a draught of narcotic and laying down on the tracks, but one of them is unwilling, and is tied to the tracks with barbed wire. The plot is discovered by the titular hero when he realizes the import of a mural on the wall of the cult compound. The damsels are saved from the onrushing train at the last possible moment. |
| 167 | * Subverted in an episode of ''Series/MacGyver1985'': [=MacGyver=] and an old man he is protecting are knocked out and tied to a railroad track by the villain; however, the railroad track is just a film studio prop, and [[FrightDeathtrap the purpose is to scare the old man (who suffers from a heart condition) into having a heart attack]]. |
| 168 | * ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' had an episode where Al briefly hoped Peggy would be "accidentally" tied to railroad tracks but commented that she'd end up flipping the train. |
| 169 | * ''Series/MidnightSun2016'': In episode 4, some miners receive a video of a young man chained to a railway as a train approaches. |
| 170 | * One episode of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' starts off with the "camel spotting" sketch (a [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial thinly disguised]] trainspotter claims to be watching for camels), which is interrupted when several one-shot characters steal the camel-spotter's catchphrase, "you're no fun any more", prompting him to threaten the next person who uses it with being tied up and thrown under a camel ([[DontExplainTheJoke here to be read as "train"]]). [[BrickJoke Later in the episode]], the "embezzlement" sketch ends with one of the characters inadvertently using the phrase, causing him to appear and [[NotHyperbole carry out his earlier threat]]. |
| 171 | * Parodied in a ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' sketch where Miss Piggy was tied to a track by a Snidely Whiplash like character. Wayne appears as the hero, but forgets about saving Piggy when he recognizes the villain as a fellow boy scout from his youth. Instead, Wayne advises the villain on how to tie knots restraining her properly and leave as friends. Luckily, Piggy escapes by rising her to her feet and literally [[BringTheAnchorAlong tearing off the section of track she is tied to]]. |
| 172 | * In "[[Recap/ResidentAlienS2E7EscapeFromNewYork Escape from New York]]" from ''Series/ResidentAlien'', Harry Vanderspeigle mentions this to Asta Twelvetrees, asking why they have to ride on the Amtrak train for two days. He says that if somebody were to tie a lady to the tracks, that if they tied her lengthwise, it could derail them. She tells them that it could, but it won't, "because this isn't a silent movie, Harry." |
| 173 | * Parodied in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''. Sabrina even does the scream-and-struggle seizure, but quickly stops as she realizes that screaming is pretty pointless if you're in a silent movie. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leCLZxxN6KI&t=1m47s Watch]]. |
| 174 | * Done as an opening sketch on the Australian kids science show ''Scope'' on the episode devoted to trains. |
| 175 | * This is done in a ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' episode titled 'The Perils of Penelope'. Penelope wasn't actually bound to any rails, but she was bound to a ladder that was stretched out right in the path of the approaching Anderbad Express Monotrain. |
| 176 | * Played straight in the long-lost 1952 Creator/BobClampett-created children's' puppet show ''Series/ThunderboltTheWondercolt'' (a heroic horse), which featured an episode where Thunderbolt's friends Speedy Turtle and Chipper Chipmunk are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTBQmR8_ZPI tied to the railroad tracks]] by the villain Willy the Wolf, as a train approaches. They try signaling with a mirror, which luckily grabs Thunderbolt's attention. The train is actually treated as a huge menace, complete with the locomotive designed to resemble a World War II fighter plane (complete with the shark-style markings). Thunderbolt arrives at the last minute, stops the train cold (presumably by derailing it), and frees his friends. |
| 177 | * In one episode of Brazilian show ''Series/TVColosso'', a producer working for the fictional network had been tied to railroad tracks. The reason her captors did it to her was to force the train out of the tracks. |
| 178 | [[/folder]] |
| 179 | |
| 180 | [[folder:Manhua]] |
| 181 | * Spoofed in one ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' strip. A stereotypical DastardlyWhiplash-looking villain is busy tying a woman on a set of tracks when Master Q, passing by, asks if he's waiting for a train. When the villain responds with a "''well, duh''" Master Q instead tells him the railroads have been shut down five years ago and the tracks are no longer in use. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Manhwa]] |
| 185 | * In ''Manhwa/LetDai'', Dai does this to Jaehee after he considers him to have spurned his love. |
| 186 | [[/folder]] |
| 187 | |
| 188 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 189 | * The traditional CallAndResponseSong "Bill Grogan's Goat" has Bill tying his goat to railroad tracks as punishment for eating three red shirts off his clothesline. Interestingly, the goat coughs up the shirts and flags the train in time. |
| 190 | * Music/{{Chicago|Band}}'s 1974 TV special "Meanwhile Back At The Ranch" is filled with old silent movie gags. One has a gender flip of this, with guitarist Terry Kath being tied up on the tracks by the villain, Anne Murray. |
| 191 | * Parodied in the song "Along Came Jones", first a hit for The Coasters and later covered by Music/RayStevens. The song tells of a man who is watching TV when he sees three different shows in which a DamselInDistress is held by a villain, and rescued at the last second by the InvincibleHero Jones. In the third verse, the damsel is tied to a railroad track. |
| 192 | * "Brand New Friend" by Music/LloydColeAndTheCommotions: The dysfunctional pair countless times "swore and lied that we'd tie ourself to the railway line", but they were all mouth. |
| 193 | * The Sue Fink song "Damsel in Distress" parodies this and the concept of the DamselInDistress in general. (Video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QyUnTWg0p8 here.]]) |
| 194 | * In the music video for Music/AFlockOfSeagulls' "Heartbeat Like A Drum", a woman is tied down to railroad tracks in the fashion of an old-time film, but surprisingly the train merely passes right over her, showing the whole thing to be an optical illusion. |
| 195 | * Music/NoDoubt's song "Excuse Me Mr." has singer Music/GwenStefani sing about being tied to the tracks waiting for rescue in the song's bridge. In the music video she ties herself up and her bandmates secure her to the tracks as a train approaches. Stefani stands up, unbinds herself, and walks to safety as the song segues into the final choruses. |
| 196 | * The music video for ''Don't Stop'' by Patrick and Eugene has one of the duo play a bad guy who ties a woman to the train tracks, and the other tries to stop him. It doesn't end well. |
| 197 | * Featured in the third part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJg9BALKLwo "Zorro est arrivé"]], a French comedy song by Henry Salvador, based on "Along Came Jones". |
| 198 | * Music/TaylorSwift winds up tied to the railroad tracks by a [[DastardlyWhiplash villain]] in the video for "Mean". She gets away in the end, though. |
| 199 | * The 1930's music hall song ''No! No! A thousand times no!!'' has the DastardlyWhiplash tying the damsel to the tracks after she emphatically refuses (via the TitleDrop) his advances. |
| 200 | [[/folder]] |
| 201 | |
| 202 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 203 | * Snidely Whiplash ties [[DamselInDistress Nell]] to the railroad tracks in one of the animated scenes from ''Pinball/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkleAndFriends'' |
| 204 | * Implied by "Polly Peril" mode in ''Pinball/CactusCanyon''. The player must make five ramp shots to rescue Miss Polly before the train crosses the playfield, but we never sees her tied to the tracks. |
| 205 | -->'''Miss Polly:''' I'm tied to the track and I can't get up! |
| 206 | [[/folder]] |
| 207 | |
| 208 | [[folder:Print Media]] |
| 209 | * Parodied in ''Magazine/TheOnion'''s faux historical retrospective ''Our Dumb Century'', with an ad for a railway company claiming to feature "fewer mustache-twirling villains tying golden-haired maidens to our tracks" than any of its competitors, as such events are quite an inconvenience to passengers. |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 213 | * The No Way Out poster for 2012 had Wrestling/DanielBryan be the victim of this at the hands of former love interest Wrestling/AJLee The coloring of the poster and the costumes of both played up the melodramatic stereotype of the act. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 217 | * Played in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' with the optional [[SummonMagic GF]] Doomtrain. Literally flaming tracks appear after barriers appear on either side of the enemies and the background morphs into unintelligible [[SwirlyEnergyThingy space vortex-y swirly things]]. Then you see his light…um…light up and see him zooming down the tracks at a rate of knots, and seconds before contact is made it zooms in to give you a shot of his demon face before he slams through the enemies, and before long all returns to normal and the enemies receive damage and a huge number of additional status affects. You can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4VjvBaMHJg see all of this here.]] |
| 218 | * ''VideoGame/GunfighterTheLegendOfJesseJames'' have Jesse's girlfriend, Zee, kidnapped by the villain Jack Carson and tied on railroad tracks. One stage is a lengthy battle on a locomotive as Jesse fights his way past Carson's mooks to the front of the locomotive in order to make it stop. |
| 219 | * In one of the cutscenes of ''VideoGame/LineRider 2: Unbound'', Chaz captures Bailey and ties her to a railroad where a train happens to be passing by. Bosh hears Bailey's screams and, taking notice of the situation, runs to the swings he was using and uses them to make some skis for him to use. Thanks to this, Bosh is able to change the sign to redirect the train to the railroad where Chaz happens to be standing on, causing him to be run over and allowing Bosh to untie Bailey from the railroad. |
| 220 | * In ''VideoGame/NancyDrew: The Haunted Carousel'', the villain arranges for Nancy to get her foot trapped between the rails of a roller coaster's tracks, and she must free herself before being splattered by the oncoming train of cars. |
| 221 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDL_GcXoQIQ To get the achievement]] [[DastardlyWhiplash "Dastardly"]] in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', you have to [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential tie up a female NPC and watch her get run over by a train]]. This actually caused a minor kerfluffle over the net because the video that first showed it just happened to use a ''nun'' as the victim, and many people assumed that was part of the achievement. |
| 222 | * This trope makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' where the player has to rescue one of the goblins who is tied to a railway. |
| 223 | ** The player saved more than just the goblin; if Zanik were to have been run over, it would have started a war between the Dorgeshuun and the Dwarfs (who built the train) which was exactly what Sigmund (the villain) planned. |
| 224 | * When you first enter the [[TheWildWest Western]] room of ''VideoGame/StayTooned'', Pixel and Chisel tie Fiddle to a railroad track just outside a tunnel. To save Fiddle, you must build a wall using the bricks next to it to stop the train. The outcome is random; Sometimes the train crashes through the brick wall and runs over Fiddle anyway, sometimes the train goes the other way and runs Fiddle over, and sometimes Scoops saves Fiddle by [[ExtremeOmnivore eating the rope]] (and [[FurIsClothing his fur]]). |
| 225 | * Happens in "The Khallos Express", a 70s Bond-parody level in ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect'' where your sidekick's partner/girlfriend had been captured and tied to the tracks. After beating the boss, they manage to stop the train...nowhere near close to hitting her. |
| 226 | * Starlo does this as one of his trials in ''VideoGame/UndertaleYellow''. Even if it's a fake train, his team are unsurprisingly NOT okay with the whole ordeal and [[spoiler: take it out on Clover, before quitting Starlo entirely.]] |
| 227 | * In the original ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai'', the ''main character'' can end up tied to a railroad track if the player makes some bad decisions early on. It's also possible to get yourself ''killed'' this way by [[TooDumbToLive refusing the rescue attempt]]. |
| 228 | [[/folder]] |
| 229 | |
| 230 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 231 | * ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In the unfinished cartoon "Those Darn Cousins", Homestar's little cousins Preshy and Rafferty torture him when no one else is around. At one point, they tie him to [[http://www.hrwiki.org/w/images/6/60/Unfinished.png railroad tracks.]] |
| 232 | -->'''Preshy:''' I love you, Homestar.\ |
| 233 | '''Homestar:''' I have a hard time believing that. |
| 234 | * ''WebAnimation/Hololive'': In one episode of Fuwamoco Morning, the Pero Sighting (fan made photoshopped pictures of Fuwamoco's mascot, Pero) showed him tied to train tracks, with the train dangerously close. This lead to a few episodes with no Pero Sighting, [[UncertainDoom to the worry of the twins]], until it was revealed he was fine and had just went on vacation. |
| 235 | [[/folder]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 238 | * Inverted in an ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' [[http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/2704.htm sketch,]] with Guenevere rescuing Lancelot. |
| 239 | * ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/041025 along with a few other problems]]. |
| 240 | * ''Webcomic/ChoppingBlock'' describes this as [[http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20000913.html "the back-to-basics approach."]] |
| 241 | * Pops up in the ''Webcomic/GGGuys'' take on ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' with...[[http://www.gg-guys.com/?id=31 unpleasant results.]] |
| 242 | * ''Webcomic/TheHandbookOfHeroes'' comic [[https://www.handbookofheroes.com/archives/comic/railroad "Railroad"]] has Fighter tie his fellow party members to a railroad track in front of a train as a metaphor for an attempt to derail railroading from the GM. |
| 243 | * Played straight in ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', where the three redneck farmer brothers try to dispatch Rocky by tying him up in his own coat and nailing his necktie to the railroad tracks. |
| 244 | -->Rocky: ''"I hope you boys are prepared to be disappointed, because being run down by something called the ''Sunshine Special'' is too ironic to be possible."'' |
| 245 | ** Especially {{JustForFun/egregious}} since [[ComplexityAddiction one of them had a shotgun.]] Though they weren't too bright, it's still {{justified|Trope}}, as one of them explicitly stated they were interested in seeing what would happen when the train hit. Just shooting him wouldn't have been as much fun. |
| 246 | * In [[http://sharkattackcomics.com/comic/24 a Shark attack!]] comic, [[ThreateningShark the eponymous character]] does this to his perennial victim. |
| 247 | * Done semi-seriously in the ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' storyline [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/030203 Girls' Night Out,]] where some ridiculous gangsters tied Torg and Riff to train tracks. Lampshade-hanging ensues. |
| 248 | * A parody of this trope is part of an early scheme in ''Webcomic/TerrorIsland''--Sid requests Liln put on a frilly dress and be tied to train tracks, demanding Stephen save him by grocery shopping. Liln doesn't do it though. |
| 249 | * In an ''Webcomic/TruckBearingKibble'' [[http://truckbearingkibble.com/comic/2008/09/22/doctor-anachronismus/ comic]], an anachronistic DastardlyWhiplash villain ties a woman to a hover-train track. |
| 250 | * ''Webcomic/ValAndIsaac'': In a rare heroic example, [[https://val-and-isaac.tumblr.com/post/190963365142 Vera ties a slave owner]] to a train track and rambles about her family for a while, ignoring their protestations that they can hear the train coming. [[spoiler:After the hovertrain passes harmlessly over them, she points out that a non-hover train is coming in a few minutes and asks if they're ready to free their slaves now.]] |
| 251 | * ''Webcomic/TheWorldIsFlat'' plays with this [[http://theworldisflatcomics.tumblr.com/post/139682854627/mellow-drama-tumblr-twitter-instagram here.]] |
| 252 | [[/folder]] |
| 253 | |
| 254 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 255 | * Parodied in this silly video made by little kids [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDV6CCT2ac here.]] |
| 256 | * Also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVNs5ZSLGQ0 this student film]] is an AnachronismStew homage to the trope. |
| 257 | * PlayedWith on ''Series/TheCallOfWarr''; Gravesite's "Undercover Soldier" script starts with a bunch of scared people chained to the railway tracks, only to be aided by a hero in a fireman's uniform. It then turns out that the people on the tracks and in the train were all criminals, and they die in a massive explosion caused by the "fireman"- who is really the Undercover Soldier. |
| 258 | * The ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' series of survival guides presents: [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/so-youve-been-tied-up-left-dead-train-tracks/?wa_user1=4&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=blog&wa_user4=companion So You've Been Tied Up and Left for Dead on Train Tracks.]] |
| 259 | * ''Website/TheOnion'': [[https://www.theonion.com/report-amtrak-loses-100-million-annually-to-route-int-1845356139 Report: Amtrak Loses $100 Million Annually To Route Interruptions Caused By Mustachioed Villains Tying Kidnapped Damsels To Railroad Tracks.]] |
| 260 | [[/folder]] |
| 261 | |
| 262 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 263 | * This happens to Doc and a couple of guest characters (one of them a child) in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' episode "Fire and Iron". |
| 264 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': In "[[Recap/ArthurS8E9FleaToBeYouAndMeKissAndTell Kiss and Tell]]", D.W. sees a scene on TV at the mall where a woman in this predicament is rescued by a man and she kisses him afterward, which inspires her to try and recreate a similar scenario with [[ImpliedLoveInterest James]]. |
| 265 | * ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheFutureTheAnimatedSeries'': In "[[Recap/BackToTheFutureTheAnimatedSeriesS2E3AFriendInDeed A Friend in Deed]]", Thaddeus Tannen, who extorted the deed out of the Parker family, tied Genevieve Parker to the tracks and insisted Wendell sign over their land to him before he'd untie her. After her husband signs it, Tannen runs off with the deed and leaves her tied up anyway. |
| 266 | * It also appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' where a one-shot villain who specialized in nigh-unescapable death traps to extract information from his victims used a woman tied to the tracks as bait for Batman. [[spoiler:The woman turns out to be a hologram. The villain laughs at Batman for thinking he would have really done it.]] |
| 267 | * Happens to Batman in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "ComicBook/EmperorJoker!". |
| 268 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' episode "I Feel Fine," movie hero Dick Dashing challenges Paul to perform the same stunts he usually does. One stunt has co-star Bridget Buildup tied to a railroad track with Paul trying to untie her before the train gets there. Paul simply holds his hand out to show the train was a cardboard prop. Later in the sequence, Dick Dashing attempts the same stunt, only he and Bridget get flattened by an actual train. |
| 269 | * Shows up in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Miscellaneous Disney Short|s}}'' ''The Brave Engineer'', where Casey Jones saves a woman who was tied up on the tracks by a stereotypical villain character in one of the unending string of delays he faces. |
| 270 | * Happens to Scoutmaster Lumpus on ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' after he is captured by the clowns of Slapstick Mountain. |
| 271 | * In Cordell Barker's cartoon adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheCatCameBack'' (see [[TheCatCameBack trope]]), old Mr. Johnson drives a handcar over no fewer than ''seven'' (if not more) bound women and a ''cow'', before derailing on a beetle. |
| 272 | * Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Silents Please!". [=CatDog=] saves a woman tied to the railroad tracks, but it is revealed that this is part of a filming set. Cat puts her back to the railroad tracks and leaves, while she gets run over by the train. |
| 273 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode "Mellow Drama Falls", the villain is of the DastardlyWhiplash persuasion and not only ties a woman to railroad tracks, but also tries to light a trail of gunpowder on fire and tie Penny to a log that's headed towards a spinning blade. |
| 274 | * A variant in the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode, "Last Train to Cashville"; Fat Cat's henchmen steal a toy train to assist Fat Cat in a bank heist. When the Rescue Rangers track him down, Fat Cat captures Chip, Gadget, and Monterey, ties them up in a leash, and puts them on the train tracks so that the toy train can run them over. However, he soon decides against it, thinking it more fun to feed Chip, Gadget, and Monty to a hungry snake instead. |
| 275 | * Used in the ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' episode "A Mountie Always Gets His Duck" where the villain (A French Canadian with a Scottish accent) ties Duckula's friend's fiancée to a railway line. Nanny inadvertently saves them all by walking directly in front of the train and wrecking it. |
| 276 | * In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'', where the three-headed son of the Chicken from Outer Space attempted to avenge his father's death by destroying Courage, one of his attempts was this, however, Courage managed to save himself by using a track switch, [[InventionalWisdom which two of the heads wondered why they included in the plan]]. |
| 277 | ** Courage also has a fantasy of the Chicken doing this to Muriel in the [[WesternAnimation/TheChickenFromOuterSpace Pilot]]. |
| 278 | * {{Lampshaded}} in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' where the villainess does just this to Darkwing and Launchpad. DW lectures her for resorting to such and old cliché, but is forced to admit that while not terribly original, tying someone to a railroad track is indeed ''effective''. |
| 279 | * Referenced in the ''WesternAnimation/DaveyAndGoliath'' episode "The Caretakers", when Davey and Goliath take a hike on train tracks. But then Davey decides to pretend he's a damsel in distress tied to the tracks and starts making "clackety-clack" train noises, and thus cannot hear [[RailroadTracksOfDoom an actual freight train speeding towards him]]. Luckily Goliath pulls Davey off the tracks just in time. |
| 280 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'', where the villain Snidely Whiplash is found to have this "thing" about tying ladies to railroad tracks. In one episode it's treated almost as [[FreudianExcuse a creepy, fetish-like obsession stemming from his lonely childhood.]] (Incidentally, he at one time not only tied three women to railroad tracks -- including Nell -- but also a man, Horse, Inspector Fenwick... and himself.) |
| 281 | * This is how one ''WesternAnimation/EarthwormJim'' episode opens; Jim and Peter Puppy are tied to a railroad, implied to be a consequence of switching bodies (but not heads) because Peter can't use Jim's super suit very well. Psycrow, meanwhile, is driving an express at them. Jim manages to get back inside the suit, free them, and bend the tracks so they're pointing up. The train is sent flying up, Psycrow falls out ("Maximum suckage.") and Jim and Peter walk off to have their bodies fixed. Then the train falls on Psycrow. Later on in the episode he still has the train on his back. |
| 282 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' episode "Cape Fur", the KillerRabbit sees [=JB=] playing with a toy train in his room, so he eventually ties him up to the railroad tracks and turns the train on. As the train is about to hit [=JB=], he cries for help. The titular Eek hears [=JB=]'s crying, so he goes up to his room and unties him, but unfortunately, Mom comes up and sees both of them, and after untying [=JB=], Eek gets hit by the train, and then his family locks him in a cage for punishment. |
| 283 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': |
| 284 | ** Done in episode "The Good Old Days", a parody of old-timey cartoons. An old-timey version of Vicky is the bad guy, and she has Timmy's Grandpappy tied up. She attempts to put him on the train tracks, but it is crowded with similar villains. ("Beat it, Buster! ''We're'' working this side of the street!") She opts for a ConveyorBeltODoom at [[LumberMillMayhem the local sawmill]]. |
| 285 | ** There was also a scene in the series pilot from ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'', in which Vicky was tied on railroad tracks, with Cosmo as the train, Wanda as the engineer, and Timmy as the old-timey villain (complete with black top hat and mustache!) |
| 286 | ** Timmy, as the Masked Magician, once saved Vicky from railroad tracks and asked her who tied her there in the first place. Since she failed to see the one(s) responsible, she instead listed the people she believed to hate her to that point. The list was so long Timmy wouldn't stay around to hear it all. |
| 287 | ** Parodied in "This is Your Wish", during a clip in which Cosmo ties Timmy and Wanda to a set of train tracks. Fortunately, Cosmo switches the train away from them every time it comes close to running them over. [[spoiler: It later turned out that the track Timmy and Wanda were tied to was never connected to the tracks the train was on the first place... and that it was on some [[QuicksandSucks quicksand]].]] |
| 288 | * Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "Fair Weather Friends", where [[{{Yandere}} Berry]] tried to do this to Mac, only with a toy train set. |
| 289 | * ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'': |
| 290 | ** Tom Slick once entered a train race where the villain had tied Marigold to make Tom stop. |
| 291 | ** A ''Super Chicken'' episode has a melodrama villain actor believing he actually was a villain -- naturally, he takes the damsel actress to all the usual spots -- the railroad tracks, the sawmill, and the dynamite shack. |
| 292 | * WesternAnimation/HuckleberryHound is a truant officer sent retrieve two recalcitrant twin boys. He humors them by letting them tie him to a toy railroad track, only he gets run over by a real train. |
| 293 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' has Heloise having a DreamSequence involving being tied to the tracks, only to be rescued by Jimmy. |
| 294 | * A mass version of this trope is used in Book Four ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' to make AnOfferYouCantRefuse. Kuvira uses [[ExtraOreDinary metalbending]] to attach a group of bandits' wrists to a set of train tracks. Either they take the chance for "rehabilitation" and pledge their allegiance to her, or she'll simply leave them behind. They take the offer. |
| 295 | * Parodied in numerous ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons, including Creator/BobClampett's "WesternAnimation/TheBigSnooze", in which Elmer Fudd (who's dressed as a woman) is tied to the tracks by WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and the "Super Chief" runs right over him -- the "Super Chief" being a long line of little bunnies following Bugs, who's wearing a [[KarmicTrickster feathered headdress]]. Other cartoon-inspired versions include the train running over the bad guy who may or may not even be standing on the tracks, or derailing into a pile of twisted steel, leaving the tied-up person without a scratch. |
| 296 | ** One toon ended with Bugs tied to the tracks by Crusher (the wrestler antagonist) and is just about to be run over by the train...when the film is literally cut abruptly stopping the cartoon. One guess as to who did it. |
| 297 | ** This was also subverted in ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'', when the Evil ACME Chairman, among one of the many classic tricks for D.J.'s father Damian to meet his doom, ties Damian to the railroad tracks, where the streamlined ACME Train of Death is hurtling towards him. If that doesn't kill him, the surrounding dynamite would. (Wile E. Coyote is also driving the train.) However, Damian is saved in the nick of time, and the train eventually crashes (thanks to it running into some dynamite). |
| 298 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'', Peter does this to himself accidentally. During a fight in the subway, he gets knocked into a tunnel wall -- and the impact damages his web-shooter, pinning him there with webbing just as a train approaches. He uses the other shooter to throw a lever that makes the train change tracks. |
| 299 | * Played straight on at least two instances in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon. Since he was a robot, he was electrified to the rail rather than tied. |
| 300 | * Parodied in a segment on ''[[WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse Mickey Mouseworks]]'', in which Peg Leg Pete kidnaps Minnie (apparently in a series of segments parodying the old "damsel in distress" cliches), and ties her to a set of railroad tracks. Unfortunately, Mickey's not that good at untying knots, so before long, both of them are tied to the track, just as railroad crossing signals begin flashing. Pete's driving the train, which consists of a large diesel locomotive and several passenger cars. But right before the train can run over them, Mickey manages to hit a switch conveniently located in front of them, and the train goes up this other track into a tunnel ("I KNEW I shouldn't have put in that second set of tracks!" Pete curses). Mickey and Minnie manage to get off the tracks, still tied up. The train then speeds by again, going the opposite direction, managing to cut the ropes and free our heroes. |
| 301 | * WesternAnimation/MightyMouse actually succumbs to this at the behest of [[BigBad Oil Can Harry]]. Mighty Mouse stops the entire train with his feet as he tries to extricate himself. |
| 302 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Pinkie Pie has an ImagineSpot of this happening to her. Notably, this may well be the first instance of the trope where both victim and perpetrator are actually ''on'' the train. |
| 303 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'': In "Luminians on the Loose", Luthor leaves Jimmy Olsen on the tracks where the express is scheduled to come shortly. |
| 304 | * Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', when Jay poses as a damsel in distress to find out the identity of Samurai X, AKA [[spoiler: Nya]]. |
| 305 | * ''WesternAnimation/NumbChucks'': In "Hunk O Chuck", Fungus is MistakenForDying. To help him cross something off his BucketList, Dilweed kidnaps Burford and dresses him as a woman before tying him to the railway track so Fungus can fulfill his ambition of rescuing a damsel who has been tied to railroad. HilarityEnsues. |
| 306 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop''. It even features in the credits. |
| 307 | * Parodied in a ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' episode set during the silent film era. The Brain's latest scheme involves becoming a silent film star, and he and Pinky make a movie featuring this trope. [[spoiler:However Pinky's cut of the film is [[SoBadItsGood hilariously bad]], [[LeslieNielsenSyndrome typecasting the duo into comedy forever]].]] |
| 308 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'', this was Bluto's very first method of capturing Olive. When he tied her up ''with the tracks'', Olive Oyl would pull her arms out of the constricting tracks to wave and holler, then ''put them back into the tracks''. How does Popeye save her? By ''punching the train into scrap with '''''one''''' blow!'' |
| 309 | ** Also affected in "Cartoons Ain't Human" and "She-Sick Sailors." The former was Popeye's homemade cartoon with a stereotypical DastardlyWhiplash, the latter had Bluto impersonating Superman who does this after his navy cap gives him away to Olive. |
| 310 | ** In "Take It Easel" (Brodax era), Brutus paints a railroad and ties Popeye to it as the 5:15 train roars towards him. Popeye paints a can of spinach and sets things right. |
| 311 | * Happened to ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' with a {{Homage}} to a [[SilentMovie silent movies]] in the episode "Slave the Day". [[spoiler:But [[{{Trainstopping}} a train is eventually stopped]] by [[DumbMuscle Big Billy]] of the Gangreen Gang wrongly saving them]]. |
| 312 | * A ''WesternAnimation/CartoonNetworkGroovies'' interstitial, "El Kabong Rides Again", starred WesternAnimation/QuickDrawMcGraw as El Kabong thwarting a Mexican bandito named El Honcho Macho who has tied his love interest, Baba Looey, and members of a Dia de Muertos band to a railroad track. El Kabong uses a huge metal guitar to smash the train to pieces. For bonus points, since El Honcho was riding the train, he is sent flying. Music by Music/{{Calexico}}. |
| 313 | * Two episodes in ''WesternAnimation/RamboTheForceOfFreedom'' feature this kind of peril. There's at least gender equality because one features a female and one features a man. |
| 314 | ** In the first one, it's played straight. General Warhawk and his S.A.V.A.G.E hold the daughter of a minor nation's president hostage and after changing his mind about what to do to the daughter, Warhawk decides to tie her to a railway, and she's helpless as the train comes to her and would meet her doom if it wasn't for Rambo coming to the rescue by riding his motorcycle to outspeed the train and untie her just in time. |
| 315 | ** In the second one, it's the downplayed version. Rambo himself gets an UnwillingSuspension in the middle of a train railway and a train is on the way to smash him. Too bad for his captors (S.A.V.A.G.E, as usual) [[BadassInDistress they forgot to tie Rambo's legs so he just swung around with sheer force of strength, hang around the railway signpost on his legs, to avoid being smashed to death, before untying himself.]] |
| 316 | * In the second of the WesternAnimation/RogerRabbitShorts, made after the success of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Roger and Baby Herman end up on a roller coaster. Out of nowhere, about half way through the skit, Jessica Rabbit turns up tied to the roller coaster by Droopy wearing a top hat and big mustache. After passing this Roger and Herman even give an AsideGlance because of how random this is. |
| 317 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel'' cartoon "Catty Corned" a particularly nasty dog does this to a scientist's cat whom he thought had swallowed some explosives, and the dog was trying to find ways to set off the explosives with Secret and Morocco thwarting his attempts. |
| 318 | * Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in ''The Itchy and Scratchy Movie'', in which Itchy does just this to Scratchy - however, Itchy discovers that the engineer won't let him in the engine of the train without proper training. So Itchy goes to college, passes his exams, gets his degree, finds a job as an engineer at a railway, and proudly rides the train right over Scratchy (who, being the [[ButtMonkey poor luckless bastard]] that he is, had ''almost'' managed to free himself in the meantime before fate caught up with him). |
| 319 | * The above-quoted ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' episode has Bebop and Rocksteady doing this to Splinter. Of course, Splinter is eventually saved and the train winds up destroyed (thanks to Rocksteady cutting the brakes.) |
| 320 | * In the 1948 ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short "WesternAnimation/KittyFoiled", Tom ties Jerry to a toy railroad track. The mouse is saved by the canary, who bombs the toy railway with a ''bowling ball'', smashing straight through the floor and dispatching the onrushing train into the basement. |
| 321 | * ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': In "The Fugitives", Clover has an ImagineSpot of [[AlphaBitch Mandy]] being tied up on railroad tracks as a train approaches her. |
| 322 | * The ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'' finale, which takes the form of a monochrome 20s cartoon, ends with the dogs leaving the damsel in distress on the track when even after being saved just before all she does is yell for help. |
| 323 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' features a memorable moment where "classic" villain The Red Death knocks out the up-and-comer Blind Rage attempting to blackmail him and wakes him up tied to the tracks of a subway. Red Death then [[ToThePain proceeds to lecture his victim]] [[ReconstructedTrope on the merits of the process]]: Its relatively cheap costs, assured lethality, the terror that comes with the growing anticipation of an oncoming train, plus the minor HopeSpot of last-second escape. [[spoiler:[[UncertainDoom We never see if Blind Rage survived or not, but his odds weren't exactly great.]]]] |
| 324 | * Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' with Jubilee [[BoundAndGagged tied up]] on the subway tracks. [[spoiler:It was only a mental image of Jubilee implanted in ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s mind so he'd get splatted trying to save her, though.]] |
| 325 | [[/folder]] |
| 326 | |
| 327 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 328 | * UsefulNotes/MalcolmX's father was murdered this way, when he stood up to a gang of white supremacists. Even worse, the death was [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch ruled by the police to be a suicide.]] |
| 329 | [[/folder]] |
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