Tyrone resident Mike Ieraci said he is used to seeing trains roll only yards away in front of his Washington Avenue home, but last week he got to see something out of the ordinary, as "Unstoppable" began filming several blocks away.
"I've never seen a train go that fast," he said as he compared the movie's train to the slow-moving coal trains that usually occupy the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad line across from his house, where the line rises above street level. "It was pretty fast for a train 8 feet above you."
As Tyrone returns to normal after three days of filming last week by production crews making the 20th Century Fox movie about a runaway train that stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, the memories of the experience won't likely fade soon.
"It went real well," said Jean Nein, president of the Tyrone American Legion Post No. 281 Ladies Auxiliary. The post's parking lot served as base camp and its kitchen helped the caterers feed the small army of 300 crew members every morning, beginning with breakfast at 4:30 a.m.
That meant Nein and other Legion members had to be at the post by 1 a.m. so the cooks could start preparing about 2 a.m.
"Those guys cooked all day," she said. Even star Denzel Washington took a few minutes to eat Wednesday.
"It went real well," said Nein. "The producers, all the cast, the director - they were really good. Everyone was real nice and friendly."
Ieraci pointed out filming near his house originally was slated for Wednesday, but last Monday the production company informed him they needed him out of his house on Tuesday as well. He said despite having to park block away, the few days of filming wasn't that much of an inconvenience - plus he made $100 each of those two days.
Susan Bonsell, who owns Scents of Life candle store on the 100 block of West 14th Street, a stone's throw from the central focus of two of the three days of filming, said she rented her parking lot to the film's producers and thought the inconveniences were small compared to the benefits, which included spending a lot of money in town.
"We had a good experience," she said. "It was good exposure, and I thought it was exciting. If it was a month and a half, then I might have been irritated, but it was only a couple of days."
Bonsell said it brought plenty of folks downtown to check out the movie, not including everyone who had a part as an extra. She said she kept her store open throughout the three days and said the second and third day she did notice an impact on the business.
"It was a good thing they were paying me," she joked.
At the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Rev. Susan Halverstadt said the congregation enjoyed having the production company rent its parking lot and social hall to help clothe and feed extras.
"We enjoyed having them," she said. "It was a wonderful experience."
Halverstadt said she thinks people in town managed to live with the inconveniences of having a few detours for three days for the experience of having a major motion picture film on their streets.
She said the church hopes it isn't the last time, either.
"We'd be up for another film crew," Halverstadt said. She said she thinks the movie might have helped bring out a few more voters on Tuesday, when the church hosted one of Tyrone Borough's seven polling places.
Councilwoman Pat Stoner said she believes the movie filming had the opposite effect at the downtown First Presbyterian Church on West 13th Street, a block from the movie set on Tuesday. How the movie impacted voters will remain unknown, although all polls in Tyrone did see an increase in turnout from the spring primary election and saw 33 percent turnout. Countywide the turnout was just 19.44 percent.
"I definitely think it was good for the town," Stoner said, adding that the postponing of the movie to the week of the election had been a concern for her.
Still, she said she heard from a few voters who avoided the polls because of the crowds, but overall she said she didn't think it interfered too much.
Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, pointed out that Pennsylvania saw 11 films shoot in 2008 and three this year. Despite the state tax incentives - a total of $42 million this year - the movies generate millions.
She said so far the $75 million in tax breaks given by the state has meant $300 million in the pockets of Pennsylvania businesses.
With "Unstoppable," Keezer noted the film office, established in 1990 to promote filming in the southwestern part of the state, worked with three production companies over five years. "We were thrilled to see it come to fruition," Keezer said.
Mirror Staff Writer Greg Bock is at 946-7458.
