Films that feature the railways

[weepingwillowb]

Some exterior and Interior scenes of The Young Ones' episode 'Bambi' were filmed at Bristol Temple Meds. A later scene shows a headless Vyvyan staggering along a single line which was probably somewhere in the Bristol area.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

If we can stretch to music videos, the video for The Everlasting by Manic Street Preachers was shot at Euston.

 

[Steddenm]

Keeping Up Appearances has a CrossCountry InterCity 125 used at Leamington Spa station as Hyacinth awaits the Briggadier.

Doctor Who has used the ex-Gatwick set based in Barry Island for scenes featuring the introduction of Jodie as The Doctor.

 Nightsleeper has a weird Class 93 mashup of an 80x and Mk5A sleeper coaches used throughout (albeit most of it is CGI and a rebuilt coach set) and a Class 321 standing in for a Gatwick Express unit. There is another loco used as when the train crashes into a petrol tank freight train.

Casualty has also used the ex-Gatwick set for a train crash scene in the past.

EastEnders has used numerous trains over the years, notably the Eurostar when Cindy left originally and also years later at St Pancras when Janine left. They have also filmed next to the depot when Dot was driving - and crashed - her Smart Car. Underground trains have been used in the past as well as the CGI train that rattles over the viaduct.

Coronation Street has regularly filmed at both Victoria and Piccadilly stations. One scene Kevin and Sally were rushing to get to Rosie at Victoria as a Class 156 was in the platform with the destination "London Euston" on the departure screens and also on the PA (automated).

Emmerdale has filmed at a number of stations between Bradford and Leeds.

 

[CharlieSpotted]

Doctor Who has used the ex-Gatwick set based in Barry Island for scenes featuring the introduction of Jodie as The Doctor.

Indeed, there are a number of rail-related scenes in classic and modern Doctor Who, previously discussed in this thread:

Railways and Dr Who

With the 60th anniversary of Dr Who, and the new episode shown last Saturday, the BBC have put all the old classic Dr Who episodes on iPlayer for anyone to watch. That's an awful lot of watching for any Dr Who fans with enough time on their hands! So yesterday I randomly picked Web of Fear - a...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[MotCO]

Has The Taking of Pelham 123 been mentioned? (Sorry....too tired to scroll back through 80 posts!).

Yes post #32

 

[Spamcan81]

The Young Winston had some railway scenes. Filmed on a Welsh branch line and the Longmoor Military Railway.
Some of the Mission Impossible films have some farcical railway footage. A lot of which is cgi.
Breakheart Pass starring Charles Bronson has a lot of railway footage. Arguably the steam loco is the star of the show.

 

[Harvester]

The Virgin Soldiers, and with it the demise of 44781.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Sorry if mentioned before:

Von Ryan's Express (1965) - Frank Sinatra war film

Silver Streak (1976) - comedy thriller (NOT about A4s!)

 

[D6130]

Train of Events....a 1949 black & white thriller about a Camden driver - played by Jack Warner of Dixon of Dock Green game. He and his fireman's fates become intertwined with those of various different passengers when the West Coast Main Line express that he is driving collides with a petrol tanker on a level crossing.
Although many passengers are killed or seriously injured, our hero survives and - after recovering from his injuries - is promoted to become an inspector, which enables him to retire with an increased salary and pension.

 

[Trackman]

Has anyone mentioned ..

The Navigators

It is about a P/Way gang in the Sheffield/South Yorkshire area around 1994/1995 and how they handled the change from BR to Privatisation.
If you thought that some of the situations were funny then I remember seeing the same situations around the same period. Although I worked for BR in offices (not p/way) I feel it was a real eye opener on what really went on behind the scenes. Without giving a "spoiler " about the ending of the film it was why I fully support nationalisation and look forward to GBR. The speaking parts were actors but many of the "supporting actors (non-speaking)" were actual p/way staff.

Absolute classic, must watch if you've not seen it.

I've met Venn Tracey a couple of times, he's a stand-up comic and does corporate stuff.
I keep forgetting about the Navigators until on the way home, so couldn't ask about the film. Gutted.

 

[Springs Branch]

Sliding Doors (1998). One of those endearing rom-coms from the Cool Britannia era.

When the film was on TV I watched the bit with the tube trains, then left the rest of the 'two parallel universes' plot to the missus. Filmed on the Drain at Waterloo & Bank, plus a couple of entry & exit scenes at Waterloo and Fulham Broadway Underground stations. The 'Sliding Doors' of the title are on blue NSE-liveried Class 487 / 1992 Tube Stock.


Coast to Coast (1987). The plot starts out in 1980s Liverpool, with a couple of the early scenes filmed at Lime Street station.

The first shows a Class 86 pulling into Lime St with its train, and then the short-lived (literally!) protagonist Kecks McGuinness (a dodgy BR Buffet Car attendant) alighting onto the platform from a blue & grey Mk3 Restaurant Car, whilst secreting a cache of printing plates for fake £20 notes under his coat.
Memorable quote from Kecks McGuinness in the pub:- "Get us some food lad, I'm starving. Buffet was closed on t' train. Mind you, it always is when I'm working it"

A later scene at Lime St shows the arrival of a Mr. Big gangster from London in pursuit of his stolen printing plates, accompanied by his enforcer ("The Chiropodist"). Unfortunately these gentlemen's train comprises Peak-hauled Mk.1 stock and the pair are seen travelling in a distinctly old-school First Class compartment.
Memorable quote from a BR guard, when The Chiropodist's briefcase accidentally falls open and spills a nasty-looking collection of surgical instruments onto the train floor: "Let me help you with those, doctor".

 

[timmydunn]

I've included 30-40 here in the piece I wrote for the Railway 200 / Rail bookazine: lots more early stuff in the historical narrative - eg October (1928) - but I do also include the following:
https://www.railmagazine.com/features-landing/railways-and-film-the-perfect-match (free to register and read - explains how railways and film have developed in tandem)

Ten of the best

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
The Railway Children (1970)
Elizabethan Express (1954)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Metro-land (1973)
The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Locomotion (1975)
The First Great Train Robbery (1978)
The General (1926)

Ten Classics

Great St Trinian’s Train Robbery (1966)
Oh Mr Porter (1937)
Terminus (1961)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Murder, She Said (1961)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Night Mail (1936)
Skyfall (2012)
Silver Streak (1976)

Fifteen Gems of Film and TV

The Flying Scotsman (1930)
Snow (1963)
The Wrecker (1929)
Pacific 2 3 1 (1949)
GREAT (1975)
Anorak of Fire (1998)
The Railrodder (1965)
Our hospitality (1923)
Ivor the Engine (1959)
Thomas the Tank Engine S1(1984)
Railway with a heart of gold (1965)
Come Midnight Monday (1982)
Fred the Fugitive (1990)
The Gravediggers (The Avengers episode, 1965)
London to Brighton in 4 minutes (1953)

 

[John Luxton]

As this now seems to have evolved into TV series as well as films a recent one from this year's Christmas Specials Looe Branch and Looe Station feature on Beyond Paradise 2025 Christmas Special.

Previously, I think in the 2024 series, Buckfastleigh and South Devon Railway appeared when detectives Humphrey and Esther invesigate a real murder on a murder mystery excursion.

Some clever digital trickery had the SDR train crossing Calstock viaduct as well!

 

[chrisp37]

Another good film for rail enthusiasts is Sky's "Last Train to Christmas" from 2021 starring Michael Sheen. Discussed in this thread.

Another Sky Christmas film worth checking out (although maybe not in January) and featuring the railways is "This is Christmas" from 2022. I believe Ongar station stood in for the fictional Langton station.

 

[Mr. SW]

There were a few episodes of the Channel 4 series Humans with scenes set in a carriage in a yard. I think they used the West Coast depot at Southall.

 

[The exile]

Let's not forget the classic "Brief Encounter" (1945) with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard ....featuring Carnforth station and its refreshment room (disguised as Milford Junction).

Quite a lot of Watford Junction as well.

 

[Ziggy3legs]

In 1986 there was a BBC Screen 2 production called Hard Travelling in which a promising young artist's debut is shattered by a sudden and violent death. She escapes into a restless succession of railway journeys whose encounters along the way bring humour, some comfort, but also danger. Played by Suzanne Burden, and also featuring Tom Bell and Jack Shepherd, large parts were filmed aboard Western Region HSTs and also at Bristol Temple Meads. The drama critic Herbert Kretzmer described it as "superior fare", and I wouldn't disagree.

 

[MerlinRail 804]

Has anyone mentioned the finale of celebrity traitors last year yet?

 

[Mr. SW]

There was some sort of super-spy/detective ITV series in the mid 1980s in which one episode was set in and around Southall MPD back in Pullman Rail/Flying Scotsman Ltd days. It was full of industrial dereliction with bits of chain and pipes added and I think I remember a pram being pushed into one of the inspection pits and set on fire.

 

[Crisso]

An Avengers episode from the first colour series of 1966 is called ‘A Funny thing happened on the way to the Station’. Set on and includes lots of footage of the newly electrified WCML, including a sequence at the start, I’m guessing, filmed at Willesden’s Carriage Sidings? Plenty of motion footage too (by John Huntley?).

 

[Falcon1200]

Some of the Mission Impossible films have some farcical railway footage.

Do you mean a helicopter cannot actually fly into the Channel Tunnel? My illusions shattered!!

I recall an incident in the TV series Heartbeat where a signal had been cleared but points could not then be moved, resulting in a nasty train collision. Clearly no interlocking in the 1950s.

 

[Brightonboy]

And bored channel hopping late yesterday evening gave me the delights of just about all the final chase sequence of 'The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery'. Complete nonsense, of course, but still makes me smile...

 

[ls2270]

As this now seems to have evolved into TV series as well as films a recent one from this year's Christmas Specials Looe Branch and Looe Station feature on Beyond Paradise 2025 Christmas Special.

Previously, I think in the 2024 series, Buckfastleigh and South Devon Railway appeared when detectives Humphrey and Esther invesigate a real murder on a murder mystery excursion.

Some clever digital trickery had the SDR train crossing Calstock viaduct as well!

And if you’re a ‘Paradise’ fan, the Death in Paradise Christmas Special features North Weald on the Epping Ongar Railway posing as ‘Swindon East,’ complete with mock up (but very realistic) Help Point used by the Commisioner!

 

[D6130]

And bored channel hopping late yesterday evening gave me the delights of just about all the final chase sequence of 'The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery'. Complete nonsense, of course, but still makes me smile...

All filmed on the late, lamented Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire....the biggest full-sized model train set in the country until its closure in 1969. You could go round and round all day to your heart's content on their annual open day.

 

[Falcon1200]

And bored channel hopping late yesterday evening gave me the delights of just about all the final chase sequence of 'The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery'.

My long-gone Grandma took me to see that film at the also long-gone (as a cinema) Regal on Cowley Road, Oxford. I'm sure that was responsible, partly at least, for my interest in railways. (She bought me an Aztec bar afterwards, they are long-gone too!)

 

[Ziggy3legs]

I'll also add "The Wrong Box", a 1966 British comedy set in Victorian times featuring a veritable who's who of British acting including John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Nanette Newman, Peter Sellars, Tony Hancock, Graham Stark and Leonard Rossiter. Railway scenes are prominent in the storyline and locations include the Bluebell Railway, Bath Green Park before closure and the Longmoor Military Railway where the crash scene was filmed.

 

[sprinterguy]

 Nightsleeper has a weird Class 93 mashup of an 80x and Mk5A sleeper coaches used throughout (albeit most of it is CGI and a rebuilt coach set) and a Class 321 standing in for a Gatwick Express unit. There is another loco used as when the train crashes into a petrol tank freight train.

The Heavy Tractor Group's 37714 on the Great Central Railway.

 

[EYFanatic]

An Avengers episode from the first colour series of 1966 is called ‘A Funny thing happened on the way to the Station’. Set on and includes lots of footage of the newly electrified WCML, including a sequence at the start, I’m guessing, filmed at Willesden’s Carriage Sidings? Plenty of motion footage too (by John Huntley?).

There is another episode called "The Grave Diggers" which has a carriage mock-up with a servant rotating a painted landscape so the guy can imagine that he is travelling by train. I think its the same episode where Steed passes a load of flowers and asks what its about and the Lord of the place says that he lays a memorial wreath every time Mr Beeching closes a line

 

[Tester]

All filmed on the late, lamented Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire....the biggest full-sized model train set in the country until its closure in 1969. You could go round and round all day to your heart's content on their annual open day.

As I did several times!

I walked a lot of it 2021 - you would be hard put to match it up

 

[Tester]

Do you mean a helicopter cannot actually fly into the Channel Tunnel? My illusions shattered!!

I recall an incident in the TV series Heartbeat where a signal had been cleared but points could not then be moved, resulting in a nasty train collision. Clearly no interlocking in the 1950s.

I presume that not is superfluous!