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Railways in films

Going further afield...at one time a cowboy film had to have a railway thread. Who can forget the tension at the railway station in "High Noon", the fight on the timber wagons in " How the West was Won". That great silent film of a hand powered trolley cart travelling from one coast of the U.S.A to the other. The main character in The
Waltons
,
JimBob
, starred as a
hobbo
on a
freight
train with a sadistic guard ( Eli
Wallach
? ). The scenery was fantastic but like so many films I have
forgotten
the titles.


Now What happened There ???........Its going to be one of those days, I just know it !!!!
 
And although the trains only had a roll on part they were significant to the plot in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid and Buster, & someone already mentioned the First Great Train Robbery
 
One outstanding source of railway film that deserves mention is the British Transport Film Unit, which was set up after the nationalisation of the railways partly to promote business but also to raise people's spirits in that very hard time of austerity. Most of the films were documentary in character, but the technical quality is outstanding, as is so much of the content of the films. The film unit continued in a high profile way (with a massive budget) through the 1950s, but the tory government in the early 1960s soon cut that. The unit continued from hand to mouth into the very early 1970s at least. Working as an architect for the railways I had a few things to do with them, on projects like Sheffield Tinsley Marshalling Yard (1964) and the last was in 1971 or 1972 on the reconstruction of London Bridge Station.
You can often see old BTF footage on television. Last night for example there was ten minutes with John Betjamin on BBC Channel 4 TV at 7.00.
On a different theme, I was a student when the 'Titfield Thunderbolt' film came out in 1953. I was also Publicity Officer of the Midland Area of the Railway Development Association, and we arranged to do a deal with the manager of the Odeon (I think) cinema at Sutton, to put up a display pressing for better service on the Sutton line, with more frequent trains, diesel rather than steam and a new station at Butlers Lane. This was part of a wider campaign which received a lot of support from MPs and local councils and eventually we got all we asked for - very much like the Titfield Thunderbolt story!
Peter
 
Not really a film about railways as such, but I always liked 'The Ladykillers' (1950, I think) for the railway and station scenes that feature in it. Great film.
 
Perhaps I'm a little old than some but two of the greatest railway fims was The 39 Steps and Brief Encounter.

While I was doing my National Service I was sent on a course to Beaconsfield and had to travel through Marylebone Railway Station in London and they were filming the Oscar Wilde with Peter Finch.

The scene was when he was going the France they used an East Region B1 loco the train pulled in and out of the platformthat many timesand a foot of film was rolled.

I've never seen such a bad tempered person in my life as Peter Finch swearing pushing and shoving and walking off the set, I'm surprise the film ever got finished.

there I go again dragging up old memories.

Ray
 
Hi All,

How about the Ghost Train - "Where do it come from, where do it go?" is a line I always remember from that film.

Old Boy
 
What about the film featuring the overnight mail train.KInd of a documentary from the '40s/'50s.I think it had some of W H Audens poetry in it.
Keegs
 
View attachment 47132
Not really a film about railways as such, but I always liked 'The Ladykillers' (1950, I think) for the railway and station scenes that feature in it. Great film.

Pelham, the film comes from 1955, directed by Alexander Mackendrick. If you have the spare cash both for the special player and the special discs involved, BluRay have reissued the film in tip-top condition;to start with in America but i would expect later this year for this country and Europe.

In the meantime, here's a shot of the railway station goods entrance scene, captured particularly for the older vehicles.

(Scene included from the internet, details kept on file, for non-commercial educational purposes).
 
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What about the film featuring the overnight mail train.KInd of a documentary from the '40s/'50s.I think it had some of John Betchamans poetry in it.
Keegs
Is this it

This the Night Mail crossing the border.

Bring the cheque and the post order

Happy school days
 
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