<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJim Baker, played by J. Farrell McDonald, a railroad engineer on the Hurricane Express, pulls up alongside his train with his son, Larry, played by John Wayne, in the driver\u2019s seat. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nJim reminisces of a time long ago when he took the Express out on its first run, wistfully hoping that he\u2019ll be at the throttle when the train runs the line for the last time, a sentiment we all know real well is probably going to come true sooner than poor old Jim anticipated. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nFather and son Josh each other a bit in comparing their favourite mode of transport, it transpiring that Larry is a pilot for an airline company, son telling father he\u2019ll beat the Express into Springfield by three hours. As usual. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry returns to the airfield just in time to find out, to his delight, that one of his passengers is Gloria Martin, played by Shirley Grey, secretary to the general manager of the L&R Railroad, the company his dad works for. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nTheir little tete-a-tete is rudely interrupted by Walter Gray, played by Lloyd Whitlock, manager of the airline and Larry\u2019s boss. Grey has obvious designs on Gloria, wanting to know when she\u2019s going to quit the railway company and go work for him. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry shows his displeasure by revving the engines on the plane, the wind from the propellor nearly blowing Gray\u2019s hat off.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA no good mysterious stranger sneaks across the tender of a fast-speeding train and knocks out driver Tom Jordan, played by Matthew Betz. The train, which was supposed to pull into a siding at the station of Planville in order to let the Hurricane Express through on the main line, speeds through the station instead.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nUp in the air, Gloria happens to look out of the window and realises that there are two trains speeding towards a head-on collision. She raises the alarm with Larry who takes his plane into a steep dive in order to try and land and somehow help avert the inevitable.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLanding close to a set of railway points, Larry manages to ensure the two trains don\u2019t collide head-on, but the Hurricane Express locomotive still hits the last carriage of the other train, killing Jim, Larry\u2019s dead, in the process. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs someone intones over Jim\u2019s body, \u201che might have saved himself if he\u2019d jumped but Jim Baker wasn\u2019t that kind, he knew it was his life or ours and he gave his\u201d. Stirring stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nBlinded by grief Larry tries to strangle Jordan, only to calm down a bit too quickly once Jordan tells him he was struck down from behind, Larry concluding that the crash wasn\u2019t an accident after all. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWondering aloud who might want to hurt the railroad, Jordan mentions old Stratton, who said he was going to get even for having been sent to jail, and who escaped recently from prison. In which case, says Jim, \u201cthat means my father was murdered and I\u2019ll bring that murderer to justice if it takes the rest of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst this conversation takes place Gloria stands on the sidelines looking distinctly uncomfortable for some reason yet to be revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA man is seen hurriedly opening the door to a cabin out in the wilds, the sound of a telegraph machine clicking away as he enters and lifts up the lid of a wooden box under which the machine resides. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe starts to gloat as he hears the news that the Hurricane Express has crashed, his thoughts suddenly interrupted by the arrival at the cabin of none other than Gloria, who addresses the stranger, old Stratton himself, played by Edmund Breese, as \u201cdad\u201d, making her Gloria Stratton, not Gloria Martin. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nShe tells him he needs to give himself up and go back to jail where he\u2019s safe, as he is now under suspicion for orchestrating not only the \u2018accident\u2019 that killed Larry\u2019s dad but a whole other heap of \u201cmysterious accidents\u201d on the railroad. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nStratton bemoans the fact that the railroad company suppressed evidence at his trial that would have cleared him but that he is innocent of any involvement with the so-called \u201caccidents\u201d Gloria refers to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stratton then tells his daughter that everything depends on her finding the evidence to clear his name whilst she works for the railroad company, which no doubt made her feel so much better.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA bitter Tom Jordan is found guilty of criminal neglect by an inquiry into the train accident and is discharged by the head of the railroad company, Howard Edwards, played by Tully Marshall. Jordan threatens to get his own back one day, telling Edwards that \u201caction speaks louder than words\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry, however, is convinced Jordan was telling the truth about being knocked out, telling Gloria he thinks that Carlson, the station manager at Planville, wasn\u2019t telling all he knew about what happened the day of the accident. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHaving been fired by Walter Gray for landing his plane to try and avert the accident that killed his dad, Larry decides he\u2019s going to go to Planville to try and find out for himself who might be behind the mysterious railroad accidents.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter Larry departs, Gloria overhears Edwards confess to his attorney Stevens, played by Conway Tearle, that even if Jordan were innocent the railroad can\u2019t be forced to admit any mistakes relating to the accident. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe tells Stevens that the airplane company is eating into their profits, prompting Stevens to suggest that maybe Walter Gray might be behind efforts to discredit the L&R railroad company. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nStevens reminds his boss that Gray was not happy after he was fired as Traffic Manager by Edwards himself. Edwards himself suspects that Stratton is behind the mayhem being visited upon the company and tells Stevens he\u2019ll never be happy until Stratton is once again back behind bars.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGloria puts a phone call through to Edwards concerning the transfer of a gold bullion shipment later that evening by the railroad company. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nJust as the call finishes a telegram message, accompanied by the clicks similar to those heard in Stratton\u2019s cabin, then informs Edwards the bullion will not reach its destination, \u201csigned the Wrecker\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nNow realising that Jordan might have been telling the truth, Edwards calls upon the services of railroad employee Detective Mathews, played by Joseph W. Girard, informing him that the detective is to ensure the Wrecker is caught should he try to steal the gold.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGloria goes down to the station to observe the gold being loaded onto the train. Noticing a very shifty looking character boarding the train she jumps on just as it pulls out of the station. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nSomehow or other all the potential suspects relating to the train accidents are on board as well including Walter Gray, Tom Jordan and old Stratton, Gloria\u2019s dad. Meantime Larry arrives at Planville and finds the station master tied up. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe tells Larry to stop the Hurricane Express otherwise it\u2019s going to be wrecked. The telegram machine then suddenly starts up, prompting the bound man to exclaim that the Wrecker is also on the train. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nBefore Larry can spring into action two armed heavies enter the room, telling him not to move. As they go to tie him up Larry whacks one of the thugs in the face, dives through the window just as the Express thunders by and drives off to catch up with the train. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe bad guys let off a few shots, strangely not too bothered about the effect that might have on the local populace, then take off in pursuit, guns still a-blazin’. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nOn the train, someone knocks out Bill the ticket inspector whilst Matthews checks that everything is okay in the carriage where the bullion is stored. The fake inspector then wanders through and steals the keys to the carriage in which the gold is stored. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nFurther on down the line a couple of other heavies, presumably working for the Wrecker, have managed to place a couple of goods wagons on the track into which the Express is going to crash. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs they discuss the imminent demise of the Hurricane Express, one of them mentions that the Wrecker is still actually on the train, his partner reassuring him not to worry about his boss as the Wrecker won\u2019t be aboard when it crashes. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe ticket inspector, who everybody addresses as Bill even though the real Bill has been knocked out and trussed up, makes his way into the locomotive cab, pulls out a gun and shoots the driver and one of the other engineers in cold blood. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA second engineer puts up a fight but the inspector overwhelms him, only to then be attacked himself from behind as Larry jumps from his car onto the locomotive. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe rogue inspector knocks Larry out then runs back along the top of the train for a rendezvous with a plane complete with a rope ladder hanging from it. It is then revealed \u2018Bill\u2019 is actually the Wrecker and has been wearing a rubber mask to make him look like the real ticket inspector.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Wrecker grabs the rope ladder and alights from the train whilst Larry lies unconscious in the cab. With no one now at the wheel of the locomotive the Hurricane Express speeds towards the wagons placed in its path then hits them head on\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n<\/span>Episode Two – Flying Pirates<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 but Larry somehow manages to get it together to pull the brakes on the train and minimising the impact of the crash. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Wrecker returns in the plane that transported him from the roof of the carriage in order to still have a go at stealing the gold. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nA semi-concussed Larry is accused of being the wrecker by Detective Matthews, confusion setting in as the real Bill is produced only to be accused by Larry of being the guy who murdered the train driver and the engineer. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nOne of the porters, Sam, played by Fred \u2018Snowflake\u2019 Toons, then informs everyone that he came across Bill in a train compartment with his head cut off. Bill suggests they all go and investigate. They find the rubber mask in the compartment, Mathews now realising Larry was telling the truth.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring all this commotion Gloria witnesses her dad jumping up into the locomotive after having separated the carriages and driving off with the gold. She runs as fast as her high heels will allow and leaps on to the train just as Larry chances upon the scene. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe also jumps on the train, making his way across the top of the carriages, leaps into the locomotive cabin and gets clonked on the head again, this time by old Stratton. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nBack at the wrecked train Walter Gray is apprehended by Tom Jordan, the detective and others concluding that Gray must be the wrecker seeing as the plane used earlier to spirit the Wrecker away belongs to his airline company. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGray tells them he landed to see what had happened with the train but Jordan calls him a liar as he saw Gray on the train before the collision. Someone then suggests they follow the stolen train using one of the many automobiles that are used and then abandoned in serials such as this.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGloria cradles the twice-whacked head of Larry in the locomotive as she argues with her dad to give himself up. Stratton explains that if he hadn\u2019t driven the train off with the carriage containing the gold then it would have been stolen by the Wrecker. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe also has another cunning plan, intending to keep the gold until the railroad company release the evidence that was suppressed at his trial. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nPardon the pun but this is a plan that is obviously going to go off the rails at some point. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry regains consciousness and in a matter of seconds he not only finds out that Stratton is Gloria\u2019s dad, he and Gloria and dad find themselves under machine gun fire from the air as the Wrecker\u2019s plane suddenly appears in the sky above them.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHenchman Barney, played by Ernie Adams, administers the bullets from the plane, hitting one of the steam pipes in the locomotive cab and forcing the occupants to jump from the locomotive. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs the train starts to slow down Barney and his boys land and promptly start to nick the gold and load it up on the aircraft. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry knocks out the pilot whilst the other henchmen go back to the train for more loot, tells Gloria and Stratton to jump on too then flies the plane away with the gold aboard. Barney lets loose with the machine gun once more, Gloria mistakenly heaving a huge sigh of relief that they\u2019re now out of range. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAt that moment one of the bullets hits a fuel line with yet more stunning accuracy from Barney, setting the plane on fire, Larry, Gloria and Stratton dying in a ball of flame as it spirals from out of the sky before smashing into the ground\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n<\/span>Episode Three – The Masked Menace<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\u2026 only of course nobody dies seeing as whoever edited episode three cut out the bit where Larry and Gloria and her dad parachute out of the plane before it hits the ground. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nConveniently, the aircraft has also crashed too far away for the gang who shot it down to see the occupants jumped before perishing. One of the henchmen suggests using the train to get closer to where the plane crashed so that they can have another go at getting their hands on the gold.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nStratton is also thinking the same thing, telling Larry to get the gold from out of the wrecked plane before the bad guys arrive. Stratton pulls a fast one by making out he hurt his leg jumping from the plane. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis leaves Larry to go and try and find a car to either steal or hire in order to transport the gold whilst Stratton hatches a plan to keep the gold for himself as a bargaining chip with the railroad company that wrongly fired him. Gloria isn\u2019t too happy about this but has to go along with the plan anyway. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nBarney and the other henchmen are in the process of trying to restart the locomotive when they\u2019re interrupted by the arrival of Detective Matthews and a railroad security guard. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs Matthews and his colleague reach the train the gang sneak out of the locomotive and steal the detective’s car. Meanwhile, Larry pays for a hire car and drives back to where the plane crashed, only to find Stratton and Gloria have disappeared with the gold. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Wrecker\u2019s gang turn up moments later just as Larry finds a couple of bars that have fallen from one of the boxes of gold. He overpowers Sandy, one of the gangsters holding a gun on him, and drives off in the hire car, the gang following as usual in hot pursuit. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, Stratton and Gloria have made it to the nearest town, his daughter then leaving on a train to carry out whatever plan father and daughter have hatched between themselves in the meantime.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn order to elude the gang chasing him, Larry comes up with the brilliant idea of driving his car along the nearby railway tracks, leaving the rails just before an oncoming train crashes into his vehicle, the bad guys only just managing to avoid a nasty death by jumping from their own car in the nick of time. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry disappears as the conductor of the train that nearly killed Barney and the boys insists the gang get on the train so that the incident can be reported in the next town. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s the betting it\u2019s the very train Gloria has just boarded?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nYep, it\u2019s the very train Gloria has just boarded. What a surprise. Barney recognises her, exclaiming \u2018She knows where the gold is. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe\u2019ve to get ahold of her. She\u2019ll tell\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe instructs one of the gang to get off at the next stop and ring another of the thousands of heavies that appear to be working for the Wrecker and make sure there\u2019s a car waiting for them at the end of the line. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGloria steps off the train when it reaches its final destination and takes the first taxi to pull up, unaware it\u2019s being driven by one of the Wrecker’s men. The gang jump into their car and follow her, Larry conveniently turning up at that exact moment. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nLarry follows closely and watches as the gang pull up outside an abandoned building in the middle of nowhere. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nBarney and his cronies enter a room in which a kidnapped Gloria is being guarded by the bogus taxi driver. Barney asks where the Wrecker is and in walks Walter Gray, a surprised Gloria exclaiming \u201cSo you\u2019re the Wrecker!\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nGray remains mysteriously silent as Barney demands Gloria tell them where Larry has hidden the gold. Using one of the gold bars in his pocket as a \u2018gun\u2019, Larry enters the room full of six men and tells Gloria to go and call the police. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nHe then approaches Gray, determined to punish him for killing Larry\u2019s dad but Barney gets the drop on Larry instead and knocks the gun from his hand. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs an outnumbered Larry takes on the gang Gloria tries to drive away but is stopped by the bogus taxi guy with the classic line \u201cWhat\u2019s the rush sister?\u201d. Gray runs from the room as Larry starts to get the better of the others. Larry then runs after Gray, the other thugs catching up with Larry and giving him a good going over. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018Gray\u2019 then removes another one of those masks straight out of \u201cMission Impossible\u201d, proving that Gray is therefore not the Wrecker. The gang then push Larry into the path of a speeding locomotive which may or may not put an end to our hero as his body is scattered to the four winds from the impact of four hundred tons of speeding iron smashing into flesh and bone. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m not betting on it though, seeing as we\u2019re only up to the end of chapter three.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nComing soon; another thrilling ride on \u201cThe Hurricane Express\u201d.<\/span>..<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n<\/span>The Hurricane Express – Episodes Four to Six<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn the grand old tradition of recapping the action from the previous episode, here\u2019s the story so far:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMysterious attacks on the L&R railroad are the work of an unknown enemy who calls himself \u2018The Wrecker\u2019. Larry Baker, son of a railroad engineer who was killed in a train crash caused by the Wrecker, believes he has cornered his father\u2019s murderer in a hangout where the Wrecker’s agent had imprisoned Gloria Martin, the railroad manager’s private secretary.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Episode Four – Buried Alive<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn the time-honoured tradition of inserting footage missing from the climax to the previous episode, we see Gloria asking for help from two anonymous railway workers who then arrive just in time to see Larry falling to his death in front of a speeding locomotive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luckily for Larry, however, he falls perfectly between the middle of the rails as the train traverses over him. Gloria, rather callously if we\u2019re being honest here, tells the two workers she\u2019s late for her job so they\u2019re left to take Larry to the hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he comes round, stumbles back to his car and drives away like the lantern-jawed hero that he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At L&R headquarters, company chief Howard Edwards complains to attorney Stevens the fact that the newspapers have got hold of the story about the latest train wreck and the theft of the gold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detective Matthews then turns up with Walter Gray, having arrested him on suspicion that he is the Wrecker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry then arrives and tells Edwards he knows that Gray is the Wrecker on account of seeing him before Larry got thrown in front of the train. Gray denies everything, telling Edwards he saw Larry on the express car when Gloria\u2019s dad took off with the carriage that contained the gold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry starts to explain but just at that moment Gloria appears and silently implores him not to let on it was old Stratton who actually took off with the gold. Matthews then arrests Larry on suspicion of him being the Wrecker instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthews frisks Larry and finds the gold bar he used as a \u2018gun\u2019, which effectively confirms Larry\u2019s guilt. Just at that moment old Stratton rings and asks to be put through to Edwards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He tells Edwards he has the gold. Matthews instructs one of his men to escort Larry to another office, warning him not to let Larry get away. We all know how that\u2019s going to pan out, don\u2019t we? Meanwhile, Stratton tells Edwards he took the gold in exchange for the evidence he knows the railroad have that would exonerate him. Matthews suggests the railroad boss plays along in order to set a trap and so that they can arrest Stratton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sequestered in another office under guard, Larry happens to look out of the window just as two of the Wrecker\u2019s cronies, including Barney, the maniac with the machine gun, read a morse code message thrown out of a nearby window informing them about the location where Edwards is going to meet up with Stratton. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry punches the man guarding him then leaps out of the window after Barney. When news reaches the group gathered in the office that Larry has escaped, Edwards and Matthews helpfully walk into the outer room so that Gloria can overhear about the trap that\u2019s been set for her father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry takes off in pursuit of Barney and one of his boys, Barney turning the tables by pulling over out of sight and then tailing Larry instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barney\u2019s car crashes so the driver is sent off to find a jack to get the car out of a ditch. Having witnessed the crash Larry waits in hiding for one of the bad guys to show up, punching out Barney\u2019s companion and then taking the morse code note from the unconscious thug’s pocket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry translates the contents of the note as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStratton has the gold. I\u2019m off to get it. The railroad detectives are planning to trap him. Stop them at Forsythe Station. The Wrecker\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Old Stratton watches from afar as Edwards leaves the train at their appointed rendezvous. At the same time, Larry arrives and gives Detective Matthews the note from the Wrecker. Elsewhere, Edwards is surprised by Stratton who appears from the undergrowth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holding a gun on him Stratton asks Edwards if he has brought the papers that will prove Stratton\u2019s innocence. Edwards then hands the documents to Stratton who confirms it\u2019s the actual evidence he was looking for, Stratton commenting at the same time that the voice of his old boss has changed somewhat over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uh oh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gloria then turns up to warn her father that he\u2019s being set up. \u2018Edwards\u2019 then produces a gun and tells Stratton to get out of the car, Gloria realising at the same time that \u2018Edwards\u2019 is not actually the real deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The masked Wrecker, for it is he, then demands Stratton hands back the documents he gave him but Stratton refuses until the Wrecker threatens to shoot his daughter. He then forces Stratton to take him to where he\u2019s hidden the gold in a mine shaft. As the three of them enter the mine Larry and the detectives show up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gloria calls out to them, the Wrecker then pushing her against a rock and knocking her unconscious before retreating further into the mine tunnel where he then turns and shoots at a box of dynamite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Larry and his companions enter the mine just in time to be blown to smithereens by the blast\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n