History Main / ChainedToARailway

* Parodied in the song "Along Came Jones", first a hit for The Coasters and later covered by 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 a MartyStu named Jones. In the third verse, the damsel is tied to a railroad track.

* 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) women and a cow, before derailing on a cockroach.

* The infamous case of the "Boys On The Tracks". In the early morning hours of August 23, 1987, Arkansas teenagers Don Henry and Kevin Ives were run over by a freight train. The initial autopsy report claimed that the boys had passed out on the tracks after smoking a large amount of marijuana. However, a second autopsy indicated that not only had the boys very little pot, but that one of them may have already been dead when the train hit him. The case remains unsolved and no specific suspect has ever been named, but it is believed that while out hunting, the boys stumbled upon a drug deal, were killed to ensure their silence about what they had seen, then placed on the tracks to cover up evidence of the murder. [[ConspiracyTheorist Some people]] say that BillClinton was somehow responsible, being the Governor of Arkansas at the time and whatnot...

* Chicago gangster Bobby Smiles did this to {{Tintin}} in ''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...

->''"I'm afraid she's a bit [[JustForPun tied up]] at the moment, but I have a feeling we'll be [[HurricaneOfPuns running into her]] shortly."''\\
-- '''Khallos''', ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters''

* In the IanFleming novel ''[[Literature/JamesBond The Man With The Golden Gun]]'' the villain Scaramanga does this to BondGirl Mary Goodnight. JamesBond is unable to save her [[spoiler:only it turns out to be just a dummy on the tracks, to draw JamesBond out into the open.]]

* Played straight in the long-lost 1952 BobClampett-created childrens' puppet show ''ThunderboltTheWondercolt'' (a heroic horse), which featured an episode where Thunderbolt's friends Speedy Turtle and Chipper Chipmunk are [[http://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.

* Parodied in numerous ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons, including Bob Clampett's ''The Big Snooze'', in which Elmer Fudd (who's dressed as a woman) is tied to the tracks by Characters/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.

* 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."

* The trailer for the film ''{Literature/{{Trainspotting}}'' consists of a postscript scene (not in either the book or the film itself) of Renton (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.

* A variant of this trope is done in ''Film/{{3 Ninjas}}: High Noon on Mega Mountain'' where the bad guys tie Rocky's girlfriend to the tracks of a roller coaster.

* In the {{Manhwa}} LetDai, Dai does this to Jaehee after he considers him to have spurned his love.

* A sci-fi variation (not to mention a rare heroic one) occurs in [[{{Marvel2099}} Spider-Man 2099]] 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.

* A variant of this trope is done in ''3 Ninjas: High Noon on Mega Mountain'' where the bad guys tie Rocky's girlfriend to the tracks of a roller coaster.

* Played ''straight'' in the 50's ''TheAdventuresOfSuperman''. Victim was Lois Lane, natch. For bonus points, they also had Perry White tied to a log in a sawmill.

* Played straight (but only the trope!) in an episode of the German series "Bernd das Brot". Openly declared in the credits as a homage to the old silent movies.

* In the {{Secret Squirrel}} 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.

* In the ''EvenStevens'' episode "Louis in the Middle", Tawny pretends to be tied to a minature railroad while Alan attempts to run her over with a train in an effort to shake Louis out of his 'hero syndrome' mindset.

* 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]].

The music is high tempo, the [[DistressedDamsel 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.

* Played straight (but only the trope!) in an episode of the German series "Bernd das Brot". Openly declared in the credits as a hommage to the old silent movies.

* Parodied in the song "Along Came Jones", first a hit for The Coasters and later covered by 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 a GaryStu named Jones. In the third verse, the damsel is tied to a railroad track.

* TaylorSwift winds up tied to the railroad tracks by a [[DastardlyWhiplash villain]] in the video for "Mean". She gets away in the end, though.

** Especially {{egregious}} since [[ComplexityAddiction one of them had a shotgun.]] Though they weren't too bright, it's still [[JustifiedTrope justified]], 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.

** 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. [[strike:Three]] One guess as to who did it.

* Parodied in a segment on ''MickeyMouseWorks'', 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.

* Happens to Batman in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Emperor Joker!".

* Shows up in the [[MiscellaneousDisneyShorts Miscellaneous Disney Short]] ''The Brave Engineer''.

* In the {{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.

* This is done in a ''{{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.

* 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, "Couldn't. Her head was missing."

* In ''{{Popeye}}'', this was Bluto's first very first method of capturing Olive. There he tied her up ''with the tracks''. Olive Oyl would pull her arms out of the ropes to wave and holler, then ''put them back into the ropes''. How does Popeye save her? By ''punching the train into scrap with '''''one''''' blow!''

* Also [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVNs5ZSLGQ0 this student film]].

* 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.

* The theme re-appeared in television cop drama "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.

-- '''Khallos''' from ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters''

* Jonah does this to a corrupt PinkertonDetective (who has just murdered a 13 year old boy) in ''JonahHex'' #13 (original series).

* ''[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} 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.