Continuity mistake: While the train crash scene takes place at the fictitious Chicago Central Station, it was filmed at Toronto's Union Station in a discontinuous sequence. The train enters the station shed from the west, followed by a cab view filmed at the east end of the station. Finally, an exterior shot of the train inside the shed is shown, once again at the west end.
Continuity mistake: When Caldwell and Hilly get up from the table in the buffet car, she picks up the glass which has some champagne in it, but the shot of them walking up the aisle to leave the car shows Hilly with no glass, and Caldwell with two glasses which are empty. (00:13:53)
Factual error: When they uncouple the cars the back of the train comes to a stop, but the front should have also. When they uncouple the cars, we see steam or smoke come out of the brake hose, brake hoses use air. At the speed that the train is going it probably would have derailed in the yard long before it hit the end, yards have tight curves and are made for slow speeds. I don't care how fast the train is going, it would not have caused that much damage.
Answer: Most likely it was a production decision. Having multiple extra actors continually smoking during multiple takes and over hours of filming would make for a smokey set, affect breathing and burn peoples' eyes, be a fire hazard, and create consistency problems with cigarettes being in various stages of use (freshly lit or almost down to a stub).
raywest ★