Near the end, Red boards a Trailways coach after being released from prison. The bus that we see in the movie was an actual antique, found and restored by the late owner of the Blue Ridge Trailways, John Holbein, in 1990. The real bus is a GM PD-4104 that was built in 1960 and later delivered to the Carolina Scenic Trailways.
The bus’s current owner is Capital Trailways, based in Montgomery, Alabama. A few lucky people have been able to ride the bus, but you can see the road the bus drove down in Ohio.
Charlie Sheen Wanted a Part in the Movie
Back in the day, young Charlie Sheen tried everything he could to get a part in 'The Shawshank Redemption'. He even offered to be paid as little as possible, saying, "I'll do this movie for [expletive] scale," which means the minimum wage for actors of his caliber (at the time). Sheen also offered to do a 30-minute test reel to play Red.
Perhaps he didn't think it through. Sheen could've played Red in "Two and a Half Men" days, but he was way too young in 1994. Anyway, the studio ended up choosing Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins instead. Hallelujah!
Missing an Academy Award
Although the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, Terence Marsh was never nominated for Production Design. Strangely, he was snubbed even though he had already won two Oscars for Art Direction in the 1960s.
According to director Frank Darabont, the prison set that Marsh had built was so realistic that everyone thought it was a real prison and not a sound stage. Sorry, Terence. Some people are too talented for their own good, and you're one of them.
A Name Coincidence
Great movies are full of weird coincidences. The film's cinematographer and academy award magnet, Roger Deakins, shares a similar name with Dekins, the first prison guard who asks Andy Dufresne for financial advice.
We know what you're thinking. The director did it on purpose as a nod to Deakins (with an "a"). Well, not really. Dekins (without an "a") was already in the Stephen King novel that the movie is based on. A crazy coincidence, or is it?
Andy Forgot One Small Detail
At Andy's trial at the beginning of the film, he tells the D.A. that he threw his pistol in the river. That is the dumbest move the character could have made, but then again, we wouldn't have had such a fantastic story otherwise.
A ballistics test on Andy's gun would have proved his innocence. His alleged victims were killed with another guy's gun, Elmo Batch's, to be precise.