While "The Railway of Death" is certainly not a brilliantly made film, for 1912 it was awfully good. So, keeping in context when it was made will make this a more enjoyable film.
This adventure film set in the American West was actually filmed in France. The clothing, house and train really aren't American in style and you may notice this. You also may notice that the film is relatively short (15 minutes)--though this is actually full-length for the time.
It begins with two friends, Joe and Tom, coming upon a dying man on the prairie. Before he dies, the man tells them about a gold strike that they can have. However, instead of working together, greed takes hold and the two race cross country to take possession of the land. This involves a railway chase, an eventual train derailment and eventually, revenge.
The story and its message of the evils of greed is pretty good. Some of the special effects are very good (the train derailment) and some very lame (the train unhitching from the cars is bad, as it's obvious the cars are already stopped). But again, for 1912, it is excusable that the chase, at times, is pretty lame and uneven. Overall, a film that probably wouldn't interest tons of folks today, but silent film buffs and film historians would be intrigued by the film.