Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1184216
of work and residence for Harriet's father and husband), and a train car. Keep in mind, Harriet's story begins in pre-Civil War United States. There were a lot fewer stars on the American flag. Light bulbs and power outlets weren't a thing yet. The historic Berkeley Plantation located in Charles City County, VA, and its owner Jamie Harrison played a pivotal role in many of the successes of the design. The property encompasses several thousand acres, and is situated along the James River. There are tributaries in the form of streams and creeks, and acres and acres of forest. The forests on Berkeley Plantation played a prominent role in the story. Many of those acres were used to create routes through which Harriet escaped, and other areas of the forest served as wilderness through which Harriet led freedom seekers toward an unbound future. There were three scenes in which Harriet had to ride a train. In each of those scenes, the audience A. BRODESS PLANTATION HOUSE. LOCATION PHOTO. B. BRODESS PLANTATION HOUSE. CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN EAVES. C. SLAVE QUARTERS INTERIOR. MOOD BOARD. D-H. HARRIET'S SLAVE CABIN. THERE COULD BE AS MANY AS A DOZEN PERSONS (IF NOT MORE) OF ALL AGES LIVING IN THESE DARK, CRAMPED QUARTERS. THE SLAVE QUARTERS PROVIDED MEAGER SHELTER FOR SLEEP, EATING AND REST, AS WELL AS A WARM PLACE TO SLEEP DURING THE COLD NIGHTS. THE FLOORS WERE TYPICALLY DIRT, AND MANY SLAVES, INCLUDING HARRIET, SLEPT ON OLD RAGS BUNCHED UP ON THE DIRT FLOOR. SET PHOTOS. I. BEN'S CABIN. RESEARCH IMAGE AND PLAN. needed to see Harriet at a train station about to board, boarding or exiting a train. There were no period trains available in the area, and the cost of bringing a period-appropriate locomotive and cars to Richmond, VA, was beyond the film's capacity. It was not possible to locate a safe train track free of regular train traffic in the region where the film was shot. Since the train accident in Georgia several years back, owners of train tracks and railroad right-of-ways, as well as studios and networks, have become evermore vigilant in keeping crews safe, and it's now much more difficult to shoot on real train tracks even if they are seldom used. So, a passenger train car was designed and built based on an early 1840s model. The production had a great train advisor, Art Miller of RTMS Movie Trains, who provided valuable input, including where to start when F G H I