http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/06/civil_war_film_to_start_produc.html
by Elizabeth Shaw | The Flint Journal
Wednesday June 03, 2009, 11:59 AM
GENESEE TWP., Michigan — GENESEE TWP., Michigan — One of Genesee County’s historic steam locomotives will star in “Crossroads,” a National Park Service movie on the 1862 Civil War Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, fought about 20 miles from the Battle of Shiloh.
Film production crews arrive Friday at Crossroads Village and Huckleberry Railroad in Genesee Township, in preparation for shooting scenes depicting the wartime evacuation of the southern town ahead of the Union invasion.
Corinth was a strategic military target during the Civil War because it sat at a railway crossroads that served as a major supply route for Confederate troops, ammunition and goods in the South.
The more famous Battle of Shiloh was actually Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s first assault on that railway crossroads, said Genesee County Board of Commissioners coordinator Dan Harrell, a lifelong Civil War buff. The battle occurred when Confederate troops launched a surprise attack on Union troops camped along a riverbank near the Shiloh Church.
“Shiloh was one of the first major battles of the Civil War and it was a bloody, bloody affair,” said Harrell. “The two armies weren’t very well organized yet and just banged into one another over two days of fighting. The weather was hot and the fighting was fierce, often hand to hand.”Each side lost more than 10,000 soldiers in the conflict.
Crews from Maryland production company Signature Films will begin set work this weekend at Crossroads Village, constructing slave huts and building facades to recreate the look of Corinth, Mississippi during the Civil War. The crew is on location in Mississippi this week filming battle sequences.
Crossroads Village was chosen for its turn-of-the-century buildings and the Huckleberry Railroad itself, which will be used fo portray the Civil War evacuation of Corinth.
“They had intended to do some of the interiors at Greenfield Village (in Dearborn) but they determined they just really enjoyed working with us so they moved those shots to here as well,” said Genesee County Parks Director Amy McMillan. “I’ll admit we like stealing some business from our competitors when we can.”
Huckleberry Railroad’s Train Engine 460 is actually a Baldwin Locomotive Works 4-6-0 built in 1920, said railroad supervisor Paul Dalleska. But even train buffs might be hard-pressed to tell once the steam locomotive has been dressed up in period costume for its 1862 role.
“We’re going to remove some of the modern-looking parts and pieces and put an older cow catcher on that’s longer and pointy to fit the time period,” said Dalleska. Some key changes — such as four drive wheels instead of six — will be done post-production with a little digital magic, he said.
“But anything that involves pulling stuff off the engine, we’ll do. it’s a little like a hot rod that’s so precious you don’t want anyone else to do something to it,” joked Dalleska. “If something’s going to get broken, we’re going to be the ones to break it.”
The Village will be closed on June 15-16 when crews are working on the train and street sets but visitors are welcome to watch the filming on June 20-25, said McMillan.