Norfolk Southern, What's your Function

May 25, 2016 6:49 PM

The Norfolk Southern Railroad in 2013 premiered a pretty radical television commercial for a railroad in these times. Riffed from a possibly recognizable song and directed by cinematographer Samuel Bayer, who has produced music videos for rock bands including The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Nirvana, Aerosmith, The Cranberries, Smashing Pumpkins, & Justin Timberlake, it drew heavily on the skills of working railroaders and the precise maneuvering of tens of thousands of tons of heavy equipment. Making Of.
posted by pjern (21 comments total)

I'd buy that for a dollar! :)
posted by eggkeeper at 6:55 PM on May 25, 2016

I didn't know turntables were still in use post steam.
posted by Mitheral at 7:18 PM on May 25, 2016

Cheeky Collegiate Lad me would have loved the "Lubricant Transfer Area" sign visible by the roundhouse.

I'll have to send these to a train-enthusiast and conductor friend!
posted by a halcyon day at 7:22 PM on May 25, 2016

I didn't know turntables were still in use post steam.

There's still use for them- turning single ended cars, or perhaps getting the first or last unit in a consist pointed the correct way.
posted by pjern at 7:32 PM on May 25, 2016

This makes me happy.
posted by MexicanYenta at 7:45 PM on May 25, 2016

the song kinda veered into a "monster mash" kinda feel with the voiceover at one point. little bit weird, but very cool commercial and the making of is great!
posted by joeblough at 8:04 PM on May 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

How recognizeable are the Schoolhouse Rock things outside the US? I was surprised at this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:59 PM on May 25, 2016

That is a lot of fun! I'm so jealous of the crew that got to work in the train yards to make it.
posted by sldownard at 11:27 PM on May 25, 2016

I've certainly never heard any Schoolhouse Rock stuff, so the song was just generically recognisable as "the sort of thing Manhattan Transfer did when I was a kid".

But yay for a stylish, optimistic bit of permanent way propaganda.
posted by Devonian at 4:10 AM on May 26, 2016

Pepsi Steel
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:29 AM on May 26, 2016

Aw, I love this. And so will my train-obsessed kiddos!
posted by percolatrix at 7:23 AM on May 26, 2016

While Schoolhouse Rock may not have reach outside the US, neither does Norfolk Southern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Southern_Railway shows map of NS routes

I mean, they might care about Canadian shippers or something, but that's not an argument to not riff off a song beloved to tons of Americans. I'm still humming 'Conjunction Junction' in my head. But then I dressed up as the conductor from that video for Halloween one year. :)
posted by AaronDaMommio at 7:30 AM on May 26, 2016

Most Canadians live within range of US broadcast television or could get it on cable in the Schoolhouse Rock days. I know most of them by heart.
posted by rocket88 at 9:26 AM on May 26, 2016

I worked on this, it's a good spot.

The less said about Mr Bayer, the better.
posted by rock swoon has no past at 9:47 AM on May 26, 2016

I worked on this, it's a good spot

You can't just say that and drop the mic......
posted by pjern at 10:04 AM on May 26, 2016

This is a delightful ad.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:10 AM on May 26, 2016

Also, I've had "Conjunction Junction" stuck in my head ALL DAMNED DAY.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:11 AM on May 26, 2016

Nobody noticed the merger of Norfolk Southern and Great Northern Way, forming the Great Norfork & Way, ltd.
posted by mule98J at 11:28 AM on May 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

We just lost our roundhouse here in Asheville NC, about 3 months ago. It was so sad to see it being demolished. Sob.
posted by MovableBookLady at 3:19 PM on May 26, 2016

My favorite personal anecdote relating to schoolhouse rock is that in 8th grade, a social studies teacher who apparently hadn't heard of it gave us extra credit for memorizing the preamble to the constitution. The only challenge was remembering the phrase "of the United States of America," which the song didn't include after "We the people." Also, reciting it without singing.
posted by not that girl at 8:36 PM on May 26, 2016

Now that I'm a grownup, it seems somewhat likely to me that he knew perfectly well we'd all learned it from Saturday morning TV and was amusing himself by pretending not to have, and being nice to us by giving us extra credit for something we all could already do. He had us fooled, though.
posted by not that girl at 8:37 PM on May 26, 2016