Madam Secretary Finale

Staging the whistle-stop tour

The final episode of the popular Netflix series Madam Secretary, ‘Leaving the Station’, was filmed at the historic Whippany Railway Museum site, in our hometown of Hanover Township, on a gorgeous November day.

Several hundred background actors were hired to film a scene of a large crowd listening to a speech given by President Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) on her whistle-stop tour at the train station.

Birchwood Manor was rented as the staging location to accommodate over 625 cast and crew members for the day, and also for the parking of campers, trailers, crew cars, passenger buses, and background actors’ cars.

Hair and makeup were done at Birchwood and then actors were bussed back and forth to the nearby train station for filming their scenes. Craft services handled all catering of meals and snacks. The day started early and ended late with a highly successful production.