Tombstone Question - any meaning behind the train number 5150? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Witt]

Okay, this may be a very silly question. I am actually posting it for a friend of mine. I like the movie Tombstone, but don't own it yet (I have plans to buy the new DVD soon), but I don't remember the "train number" at all. My friend is a big fan of the movie and a big music fan and he wondered if the 5150 on the train had any significant meaning in the film. (?) Van Halen's album title 5150 was inspired by the police code for "escaped lunatic". He wondered if there was any tie in to this in the train number in the movie. Like I said, I'm asking this for him, and I figured if there was any basis for this, somebody here would know about it. Sorry if it seems like a silly question (I thought it was, but told my friend I would post the question anyway).

 

[Ron Eastman]

Old Tucson Studios, where Tombstone was filmed, has many restored passenger train cars and locomotives on hand for filming. 5150 is the number on the first passenger car on the train shown when Wyatt and wife arrive Arizona. While possible, I doubt there is any significance to the number but I'm sure many Van Halen fans infer one.
Great movie though, the quintessential guys film of the '90s.

 

[Greg_C_T]

My friends and I (all Van Halen fans) like to think maybe the production designer or somebody else behind the scenes was a fan of VH and slipped it in. We've never heard anything confirmed though.

 

[Johnny V]

I have no idea if this is true or not, but I always thought that the album 5150 was named after a model of amp that Eddie used

 

[Sean Cauley]

The 5150 amp was specially designed for Eddie (and for sale to the public under Eddie's endorsement) after the Van Halen album of the same name. Eddie's private studio is also called 5150.

 

[Todd Christ]

not an amp - well the amp came after the code
5150
[rant](n) 5150 is the section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code dealing with involuntary confinement of a mentally disordered person. (I.e. California law consists of 29 codes, of which the Welfare and Institutions Code is one, and 5150 is a section number in that code.) [/rant]
Also the name of an old Van Halen album. It is also a track on Da Luniz' album "Operation Stackola".
this is the why Van Halen picked that number...

 

[Rick2a9]

Okay, this may be a very silly question. I am actually posting it for a friend of mine. I like the movie Tombstone, but don't own it yet (I have plans to buy the new DVD soon), but I don't remember the "train number" at all. My friend is a big fan of the movie and a big music fan and he wondered if the 5150 on the train had any significant meaning in the film. (?) Van Halen's album title 5150 was inspired by the police code for "escaped lunatic". He wondered if there was any tie in to this in the train number in the movie. Like I said, I'm asking this for him, and I figured if there was any basis for this, somebody here would know about it. Sorry if it seems like a silly question (I thought it was, but told my friend I would post the question anyway).

I realize this thread is well past it’s prime, however I believe the producer/ writer or other production staffer was trying to convey that the train they were on was the “crazy train” . It was previously mentioned that 5150 is the California W&I code for someone who was unable to rationalize life and unable to care for their own safety or the safety of others; some call the condition being “crazy”. Was it a subliminal metaphor for the times in tombstone or possibly just a well placed act of humor?