Films that feature the railways

[Mr. SW]

Just to let you know "Money Train" 1995 starring Woody Harrelson on Legend channel at 2100 tonight. Set on NY Subway.

 

[izvor]

Anyone seen De Wisselwachter (The Pointsman)? It's a 1986 Dutch film set in a snowy highland landscape, in which a woman passenger alights at the wrong station and finds herself stranded for the night at a remote station with a very strange railwayman.

As there aren't many snowy highlands in the Netherlands it was filmed on location in Scotland. The credits mention Corrour station (on the West Highland); I didn't particularly recognise it as such though I've only been there once.

Recommended for anyone who likes weird erotic films with class 37s, though it's hard to find!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

At the end of March 1983, while on a school trip to Orléans, France, there was a film being made at the railway station. This would have been around the 27th, 28th March.

I have often wondered what film those scenes were intended for - is it too much to hope that some expert on here might know...?

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

The French Wikipedia entry for Orléans says that Dog Day (Canicule in French), released in 1984, was filmed in the city. It also mentions the television series Les Brigades du Tigre (1974-1983), which used Orléans to stand in for Paris in the early 20th century. Of course the production you saw could be neither.

 

[Trackman]

Anyone seen De Wisselwachter (The Pointsman)? It's a 1986 Dutch film set in a snowy highland landscape, in which a woman passenger alights at the wrong station and finds herself stranded for the night at a remote station with a very strange railwayman.

As there aren't many snowy highlands in the Netherlands it was filmed on location in Scotland. The credits mention Corrour station (on the West Highland); I didn't particularly recognise it as such though I've only been there once.

Recommended for anyone who likes weird erotic films with class 37s, though it's hard to find!

Oddly enough was discussing this on FB a couple of weeks back.
It's on YouTube and there is behind the scene footage but it's not in English and there is no translation.
The 37 had its nose painted (black?) for the film.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The French Wikipedia entry for Orléans says that Dog Day (Canicule in French), released in 1984, was filmed in the city. It also mentions the television series Les Brigades du Tigre (1974-1983), which used Orléans to stand in for Paris in the early 20th century. Of course the production you saw could be neither.

Thank you, that's interesting - I do have a vague memory that the actors were in an older costume, and it wasn't a huge film crew, so based on that I'm inclined to think it may have been the TV series.

 

[43290]

If we're including model trains, then there's the Australian heist comedy "Malcolm" (1986) in which the eponymous protagonist has model railways all over his house which he uses to assist in an assortment of domestic tasks. He also has a pedal-powered tram-cart which he uses to get around Melbourne.

I don't ever recall seeing those episodes, but if I'm allowed to briefly expand into buses the series had an episode featuring the now preserved "celebrity" Huddersfield Atlantean no.6300 (PUA300W) which wore Huddersfield Corporation livery for most of the Yorkshire Rider era. I suppose it would have been a bit too "meta" to use one of Yorkshire Traction's "Summer Wine" branded MCW Metroriders!

The Episode of Last of The summer wine with class 47 No.47475 is called Getting Barry High in the world which features the Characters in the programme flying a kite,The Class 47 appears approximately 4 minutes into the programme and is actually heading East which I presume was a Liverpool-Newcastle service back then and the loco and coaches are in the BR provincial livery,You can just make out the Eastern entrance to Standedge tunnel in the distance after the Train has passed,Happy days on the Real Railway back then.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The Episode of Last of The summer wine with class 47 No.47475 is called Getting Barry High in the world which features the Characters in the programme flying a kite,The Class 47 appears approximately 4 minutes into the programme and is actually heading East which I presume was a Liverpool-Newcastle service back then and the loco and coaches are in the BR provincial livery,You can just make out the Eastern entrance to Standedge tunnel in the distance after the Train has passed,Happy days on the Real Railway back then.

Going east? I always thought it was going west towards Liverpool because the sun was behind the camera and the cast...!! ( see post #238 )

 

[Brightonboy]

And tonight on U&Drama, Last of the Summer Wine spent an extended period on the K&WVR, particularly on and around the GWR/LT Pannier L89. Much fun but enough close lineside work to give modern H&S a whole litter of kittens!

 

[43290]

Going east? I always thought it was going west towards Liverpool because the sun was behind the camera and the cast...!! ( see post #238 )

It may have just come out of Standedge Tunnel at the West side near Diggle Junction then,The episode is on YouTube.

 

[scarby]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but the film Time Bomb from 1953 has some great railway scenes.

Many "railway" films of this era offer little more than stock footage and studio sets for carriage interiors or waiting rooms but here they really pushed out the boat with scenes at Hammersmith and Chiswick goods depot, Willesden carriage sidings and Portsmouth and Southsea station.

The film is let down by a script that feels as if it was knocked out in an afternoon but there are some fine actors, including Victor Maddern as the bad guy.

Well worth a look as it really captures the atmosphere of the railways at that time.

It is now on YouTube but is likely to be there only for a limited time according to the uploader.

Time Bomb, 1953

 

[Gloster]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but the film Time Bomb from 1953 has some great railway scenes.

Many "railway" films of this era offer little more than stock footage and studio sets for carriage interiors or waiting rooms but here they really pushed out the boat with scenes at Hammersmith and Chiswick goods depot, Willesden carriage sidings and Portsmouth and Southsea station.

The film is let down by a script that feels as if it was knocked out in an afternoon but there are some fine actors, including Victor Maddern as the bad guy.

Well worth a look as it really captures the atmosphere of the railways at that time.

It is now on YouTube but is likely to be there only for a limited time according to the uploader.

Time Bomb, 1953

According to Railway Movie Database it was mostly done around Hammersmith & Chiswick Goods Yard, with shots at Willesden Brent, Portsmouth and Southsea (Low Level), and the outside of the old Birmingham Snow Hill. There is as also an exterior shot of an unknown station.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Not sure if this has been mentioned but the film Time Bomb from 1953 has some great railway scenes.

Many "railway" films of this era offer little more than stock footage and studio sets for carriage interiors or waiting rooms but here they really pushed out the boat with scenes at Hammersmith and Chiswick goods depot, Willesden carriage sidings and Portsmouth and Southsea station.

The film is let down by a script that feels as if it was knocked out in an afternoon but there are some fine actors, including Victor Maddern as the bad guy.

Well worth a look as it really captures the atmosphere of the railways at that time.

It is now on YouTube but is likely to be there only for a limited time according to the uploader.

Time Bomb, 1953

I've not seen this film before - some very interesting atmospheric shots - 'ReelStreets' has a good detailed analysis of the locations.

ReelStreets

I'm not sure recessing the booby-trapped train into a heavily populated area was the wisest course of action!


Glenn Ford shows his star quality (even though he was a sh*t in his private life!) - Anne Vernon is still with us at 102. The acting and dialogue for the minor roles is decidedly wooden, however, as you say.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

After I watched the above film another popped up on YouTube - 'The Password is Courage' (1962) starring Dirk Bogarde. It is set in France, Germany and Poland detailing the escapades of a POW in WW2 - a forgettable plot and not Bogarde's best effort. There are, however, some interesting railway sequences - all distinctly British of course - sabotaging an ammunition train and a crash (filmed at Scratchwood Sdgs on the Midland ML ) and a German country station (Radlett!). There is also a German Hbf. (a heavily disguised London Bridge but with a Southern EMU in the background of course!). This is interesting as it shows the London Bridge terminal platforms before the '70s rebuilding and a void where the bombed out Terminus Hotel was.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

According to the British Railway Movie Database, the "Hauptbahnhof" was Brighton, not London Bridge.

The final railway scene features Bogarde attempting an escape by taking a train journey across Europe. This involves him boarding a train at Radlett station on the Midland Main Line which is hauled by an ex-LMS Class 5MT ‘Black Five’ 4-6-0 and arriving at Brighton station on a train hauled by BR Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 No.75075. A couple of Southern Region EMU’s are just visible in the background of the scenes filmed at Brighton.

 

[Gloster]

After I watched the above film another popped up on YouTube - 'The Password is Courage' (1962) starring Dirk Bogarde. It is set in France, Germany and Poland detailing the escapades of a POW in WW2 - a forgettable plot and not Bogarde's best effort. There are, however, some interesting railway sequences - all distinctly British of course - sabotaging an ammunition train and a crash (filmed at Scratchwood Sdgs on the Midland ML ) and a German country station (Radlett!). There is also a German Hbf. (a heavily disguised London Bridge but with a Southern EMU in the background of course!). This is interesting as it shows the London Bridge terminal platforms before the '70s rebuilding and a void where the bombed out Terminus Hotel was.

See posts between #190 and #200.

 

[scarby]

I've not seen this film before - some very interesting atmospheric shots - 'ReelStreets' has a good detailed analysis of the locations.

ReelStreets

I'm not sure recessing the booby-trapped train into a heavily populated area was the wisest course of action!


Glenn Ford shows his star quality (even though he was a sh*t in his private life!) - Anne Vernon is still with us at 102. The acting and dialogue for the minor roles is decidedly wooden, however, as you say.

Thanks for that - it's always great to discover that one of the actors is still around.

Yes, not only that, but absolutely everyone seems remarkably laid-back about the prospect of being blown to pieces - talk about "keep calm and carry on"!

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

At the risk of going off-topic, the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters were not widely distributed during the Second World War, and the phrase did not become a popular saying until after a copy of the poster was rediscovered in 2000 and reproductions became popular.

Keep Calm and Carry On - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 in preparation for World War II. The poster was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities.[1][2] Although 2.45 million copies were printed, and the Blitz did in fact take place, the poster was only rarely publicly displayed and was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books, a bookshop in Alnwick.[3] It has since been re-issued by a number of private companies, and has been used as the decorative theme for a range of products.[4]

Evocative of the Victorian belief in British stoicism – the "stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude, and remaining calm in adversity – the poster has become recognised around the world.[5] It was thought that only two original copies survived until a collection of approximately 15 was brought in to the Antiques Roadshow in 2012 by the daughter of an ex-Royal Observer Corps member.[6] A few further examples have come to light since.[7]

 

[Henffordd]

Talking of stiff upper lip....

The Golden Spurtle is a 2025 documentary film about an international porridge-making competition in a Highland village. One important character is a volunteer at the Strathspey railway. He is interviewed there, and there is even a brake van ride.

 

[===gricer===]

Anyone seen De Wisselwachter (The Pointsman)? It's a 1986 Dutch film set in a snowy highland landscape, in which a woman passenger alights at the wrong station and finds herself stranded for the night at a remote station with a very strange railwayman.

As there aren't many snowy highlands in the Netherlands it was filmed on location in Scotland. The credits mention Corrour station (on the West Highland); I didn't particularly recognise it as such though I've only been there once.

Recommended for anyone who likes weird erotic films with class 37s, though it's hard to find!

On Youtube :-

 

[70014IronDuke]

I have just come upon a film on YouTube entitled "The One that Got Away - Harry Kruger" - supposedly about the one German officer who escaped a POW camp and got back to Germany.

in the film he escapes from a camp in the Lake District, gets caught after an 'orrible night or two in the fells, and then gets sent to another camp.

A 49' 56" there is a brief shot of a steam loco on a Class 1 train. It makes me think it might be a B2 or some such LNER GE territory - sorry, they disappeared just before my schoolboy spotting days began.

From a sociological pov, the film looks interesting. Shot in 1957 and already the Germans are not all stupid fools. I thought that kind of change came about later, more 1965 era, so it seems ahead of its time in that sense.

It's here

 

[Gloster]

I have just come upon a film on YouTube entitled "The One that Got Away - Harry Kruger" - supposedly about the one German officer who escaped a POW camp and got back to Germany.

in the film he escapes from a camp in the Lake District, gets caught after an 'orrible night or two in the fells, and then gets sent to another camp.

A 49' 56" there is a brief shot of a steam loco on a Class 1 train. It makes me think it might be a B2 or some such LNER GE territory - sorry, they disappeared just before my schoolboy spotting days began.

From a sociological pov, the film looks interesting. Shot in 1957 and already the Germans are not all stupid fools. I thought that kind of change came about later, more 1965 era, so it seems ahead of its time in that sense.

It's here

According to Railway Movie Database it is 4472: the shot had previously been used in the 1935 film Oh, Daddy! and the number can be read. Other railway shots were done at Gerrards Cross.

It is an early example of changing attitudes, although the occasional ‘good German’ was already appearing. A big jump came with Ice Cold in Alex.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

I guess 'Rommel - The Desert Fox' (1951) starring James Mason was an early example of 'the good German' which did much to create the myth.

There is a railway scene where the Mayor of Stuttgart (after failing to get Rommel to join the conspirators) gives the Gestapo the slip, but all the usual sources are silent on where this was filmed. Most of the desert scenes were filmed in California, interspersed with actual newsreel footage.

 

[Gloster]

I guess 'Rommel - The Desert Fox' (1951) starring James Mason was an early example of 'the good German' which did much to create the myth.

There is a railway scene where the Mayor of Stuttgart (after failing to get Rommel to join the conspirators) gives the Gestapo the slip, but all the usual sources are silent on where this was filmed. Most of the desert scenes were filmed in California, interspersed with actual newsreel footage.

Some background shots were obtained from England, France and Germany, together with exterior shots of Rommel’s home at Blaustein near Ulm. However, all the filming appears to have been done in Arizona or California, including 20th Century Fox’s Studios.

Source: IMDb.

 

[Port Road]

The long Good Friday has a scene at Paddington (I think) of a coffin coming off a train...
Amerian Werewolf in London features 1972 stock on the Northern line....Tottenham Court Road maybe....
Sweeney2 has scenes near the start filmed aroung an overbridge near Mortlake...
And the backgound scenery in the Mission Impossible when the helicopter goes into the channel tunnel was filmed on the G&SW between Dumfries and Sanquhar and dubbed on.....all the classics....

 

[Gloster]

The long Good Friday has a scene at Paddington (I think) of a coffin coming off a train...
Amerian Werewolf in London features 1972 stock on the Northern line....Tottenham Court Road maybe....
Sweeney2 has scenes near the start filmed aroung an overbridge near Mortlake...
And the backgound scenery in the Mission Impossible when the helicopter goes into the channel tunnel was filmed on the G&SW between Dumfries and Sanquhar and dubbed on.....all the classics....

Indeed, the first was Paddington and starred BG M81432. The Northern Line was indeed Tottenham Court Road.

Source: Railway Movie Database.

 

[70014IronDuke]

According to Railway Movie Database it is 4472: the shot had previously been used in the 1935 film Oh, Daddy! and the number can be read. Other railway shots were done at Gerrards Cross.

Thanks. I suppose it's on a four-track section of the GN then.

It is an early example of changing attitudes, although the occasional ‘good German’ was already appearing. A big jump came with Ice Cold in Alex.

Interesting. But I wasn't so much thinking of a 'good German' - I was more thinking he was portraying a 'not stupid German' and a 'determined German'. At least in the film he is all for Adolf Hitler's Germany, and a fairly insolent one at that.

 

[staleydm01]

Anybody seen A todo tren! Destino Asturias (2021), shows RENFE long distance trains inside and out, good for those who go to Malaga and finds the trains parked and going nowhere, the next 3 days the lomg distance trains on a morning are booked up, a movie in which a father and grandfather attempt to take some children to a summer camp

 

[staleydm01]

Plus I’ve seen the tram a few times on tv series Schloss Einstein showing whatever the shuttle is in Erfurt, Germany, I don’t know the area so maybe someone knows what service it might be as I only have a book for European trains.

 

[staleydm01]

View attachment 199481View attachment 199482

Anyone fancy having a stab at this location? Looks to be a former marshalling yard/depot location left of the tracks and a 2-car Class 108 unit passes shortly before the camera pans to the left.

Google says Class 117 diesel multiple unit (DMU),
This image appears to be a still from the 1976 Soviet film
Slave of Love
(original title: Raba lyubvi).
The scene depicted shows White Army soldiers and a police dog searching a railway area. The film is set during the Russian Civil War and follows a silent film production crew in the Crimea. This particular sequence captures the tense atmosphere as the "Whites" search for revolutionaries.