History Main / NitroExpress

* ''Film/TheWagesOfFear'' (''Le Salaire de la peur''), a classic 1953 French film. When a South American oil well owned by an American company catches fire, the company hires four European men, down on their luck, to drive two trucks over mountain dirt roads, carrying the nitroglycerine needed to extinguish the fire. Remade as ''Violent Road'' (a.k.a. ''Hell's Highway'') in 1958, and ''Film/{{Sorcerer}}'' in 1977.

* Done with blasting oil on ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie''. Also had to keep it cool to keep it more stable.

* In the film ''Film/YoungTomEdison'', while on a train Tom shows an army captain his latest invention, which he calls "Tom Edison High Powerful All-Explosive #1." After listing the ingredients, the captain tells him that [[ReinventingTheWheel it's nitroglycerin]]. They pull the emergency stop cord, and while the train is on a bridge Tom has to carefully lower the jar with the nitro in it down into the river.

* In Chapter 15 on ''Series/TheMandalorian'', Din Djarin and Mayfield have to help deliver a shipping of rhydonium, a substance noted for exploding when jostled, or even when moved too quickly for too long, over rough roads and while being attacked by "pirates" who wish to blow up the shipment.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': "Nitro" has the IMF infiltrating a terrorist group planning to use a [[MolotovTruck truck full of nitroglycerine]] as an assination weapon. Much tension is derived from the transportation of the unstable substance.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E21HollowPursuits Hollow Pursuits]]", several malfunctions are caused, including any ability to slow the enterprise before it reaches a speed too high for it's structure to hold together. Turns out the issue is a container containing a substance called invidium which leaked on the hands of an engineer.

* Referenced in ''Convoy'' by Music/CWMcCall. The convoy's unofficial leader, Rubber Duck, asks a chartreuse minibus driven by 'eleven long-haired friends of Jesus' (that is, Hippies) to put their bus in behind a 'suicide jockey'. "Yeah, he's hauling dynamite, and he needs all the help he can get!" Considering that the convoy is, by then, doing 98 [=MpH=] and crashing through roadblocks and the like, his worries are understandable - under those conditions, even dynamite (which was specifically designed to be a more stable alternative to nitro) can't be considered particularly safe.

* During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, this is the job that tended to get fobbed off to the Chinese migrant workers. ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-style slapstick does not ensue, as shown in this [[https://youtu.be/EE3ISzalVuo]].

* During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, this is the job that tended to get fobbed off to the Chinese migrant workers. ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-style slapstick does not ensue, as shown in this [[https://www.historica-dominion.ca/content/heritage-minutes/nitro?media_type=41& Heritage Minute]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]". The Doctor and Sarah Jane hatch a plan to blow up Sutekh's [[ItMakesSenseInContext rocket-pyramid]]. They come upon a store of blasting gelignite (a variant of dynamite)[[note]]A lovely scene, but unfortunately the whole point of gelignite as an improvement on dynamite is that it ''doesn't'' sweat.[[/note]] in the Poacher's stores, leading to one of the best Doctor/Companion exchanges in the show's history:

* In the 1970s mini-series ''Captains and the Kings'', protagonist Joseph Armagh starts making his fortune in Pennsylvania by driving 20-mule teams loaded with nitroglycerin to oil wells. The job is very well paid because drivers don't last long and are unwilling to join up. He leaves the job after several weeks, being one of their longest-lasting drivers.

Nitroglycerine is an unstable substance, prone to [[HairTriggerExplosive explode at the first serious physical shock]], and handling it is a nerve-wracking experience. What better way to ramp up the tension level in a story than to have the protagonists be forced to transport some a long distance through a hostile environment?

This trope describes a plot where the heroes are required to move nitroglycerine (or some other unstable, highly explosive substance) across bad terrain (rough ground, winding roads, etc.). A common substitute is dynamite -- while the whole point of it is that it's much more stable, it has a [[RuleOfDrama narratively convenient]] downside of "sweating" nitroglycerine after long periods of storage.

There is a series of "Nitro Express" firearm cartridges in varying sizes, which are designed for hunting African megafauna. The "Nitro" in these refers to nitrocellulose (which is relatively stable), not nitroglycerine. Any examples of "Nitro Express" firearms fit much better under {{BFG}}. Nor should it be confused with NitroBoost, which makes cars go faster.

* Referenced in ''Convoy'' by [=C.W.McCall=]. The convoy's unofficial leader, Rubber Duck, asks a chartreuse minibus driven by 'eleven long-haired friends of Jesus' (that is, Hippies) to put their bus in behind a 'suicide jockey'. "Yeah, he's hauling dynamite, and he needs all the help he can get!" Considering that the convoy is, by then, doing 98 [=MpH=] and crashing through roadblocks and the like, his worries are understandable - under those conditions, even dynamite (which was specifically designed to be a more stable alternative to nitro) can't be considered particularly safe.

* In ''Fanfic/RobbReturns'', hundreds of barrels of wildfire are dug out from various caches under King's Landing, and need to be shipped off to the Wall for use against the Others. Ser Davos Seaworth is tapped to do the shipping, with Oberyn Martell, who knows how to make the wildfire (somewhat) more stable, accompanying.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* A subplot of ''Film/OnlyAngelsHaveWings'' revolves around the dangerous task of an AcePilot flying out a crate of nitroglycerine to a mining camp.

* Averted in ''Film/TheProfessionals''. [[DemolitionsExpert Dolworth]] separates the sticks of dynamite that are sweating from the others, leaving them in a well-ventilated area to dry out. He demonstrates the volatility of the nitro by flicking the 'sweat' off his finger, causing a loud bang. Later Farden opens fire on [[ChekhovsGun where they stacked the nitro]] to blow it up to cover their escape.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "Pyramids of Mars". The Doctor and Sarah Jane hatch a plan to blow up Sutekh's [[ItMakesSenseInContext rocket-pyramid]]. They come upon a store of blasting gelignite (a variant of dynamite)[[note]]A lovely scene, but unfortunately the whole point of gelignite as an improvement on dynamite is that it ''doesn't'' sweat.[[/note]] in the Poacher's stores, leading to one of the best Doctor/Companion exchanges in the show's history:

* Averted in ''Film/TheProfessionals''. [[DemolitionExpert Dolworth]] separates the sticks of dynamite that are sweating from the others, leaving them in a well-ventilated area to dry out. He demonstrates the volatility of the nitro by flicking the 'sweat' off his finger, causing a loud bang. Later Farden opens fire on [[ChekhovsGun where they stacked the nitro]] to blow it up to cover their escape.

[[caption-width-right:350:This looks safe!]]