Discrepancies in the Opening Narration

Clear Water is based on Valley, Nebraska which is just outside Omaha. It's in the Platte River Valley and near the Missouri river so it's not the flat plains that many associate with Nebraska, but there are no mountains or cliffs. Although this film was well done it probably didn't have a huge budget. I don't know if there were facilities availalbe in Manitoba or Saskatchewan for filming, especially on video tape the way this was done. I remember growing up with this film and my brother and his wife just gave me the DVD for Christmas.

The UP Streamliners might not have stopped since their main depot in the area would have been Union Station in Omaha, there might have been local trains running in that area that would have stopped in Valley/Clearwater. I don't know how often the Streamliners stopped but it would make sense they didn't stop in Valley since it was so close to Omaha.

If you watch the sequel you will see it is indeed surrounded by cattle, cornfields, and open sky. Usually the streets in the downtown area would be paved. It almost looks, though, as if the street next to Addie's house is not paved. I can't imagine a train stopping in a town that small, unless a passenger wanted on or off.

Now, if you see the town as it is portrayed in The Easter Promise, which is definitely a backlot set, it really doesn't look like the opening narration of the original.