Gone With the Wind

In December, 1938, the production of the movie Gone With the Wind was well under way, and the late Wilbur G. Kurtz was on the lot in California as historical advisor for the production. He lamented in his diary of December 28, 1938 the fact that no plans were being made to have locomotives in the railroad yard scenes. He offered to write the NC&StL Ry to see if they could borrow the General, and he was told to do so. He wrote on December 29, 1938. On January 3, 1939, President Fitzgerald Hall of the NC&StL Ry responded and said that he had planned to, and would send the General to New York for the World’s Fair and that it would not be available for about a year. Mr. Kurtz then wrote back seeking to get the engine during February and March before the opening of the New York World’s Fair. Mr. Hall responded in a positive way and went on to state that freight charges for hauling the General with tender to Los Angeles and back would be $3.00 per hundred pounds each way which would add up to considerable cost. The answer then was too much money. For the lack of a few thousand dollars, the General failed to appear in Gone With the Wind. The locomotives that did appear were wooden mockups made by David O. Selznick's people in the carpenter shop.