The above is an image of a GWR 47xx class, with a face, surrounded by Pannier Tanks with similar faces, which C. Hamilton Ellis penned in 1939 for The Railway Gazette, five years before the first publication by The Reverend W. Awdry in 1944, The Three Railway Engines. The Pannier Tank engines with faces predate the character "Duck" by nearly twenty years!
This image is not as significant as it may first appear. Trains with faces have appeared in English literature and satire since 1829.
This particular blog of mine doesn't get updated as much as the rest of mine, it being more a record of development than a working blog. As a result, it's been neglected a little bit. However, I have worked on bringing this blog back up to standard, at the same time as my main "Copley Hill Works" blog. The two blogs now share the style of headers.
The difference is that here, I have trialled a small picture above each section of the blog, to show the contents of each episode. I plan on doing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0dGzzIKWD0
My latest episode, finally complete. In the rush to get it out and onto the blog/website/facebook/twitter/etc...! I forgot the RMweb blog My apologies!
Anyway, see what you think. I've started editing the videos in iMovie, much easier than Movie Maker by far.
Until next time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8unNDFvBx8
Here's an update I forgot to put up earlier!
I have spent some time over the last few months trying to find the original cuts for Episode 1 - sadly the original episode as scripted by myself could not be restored, but I have made for your viewing pleasure, the original Youtube episode as it was intended to be seen - an 11 minute video with no gap in between.
Consider this a bit of nostalgia for me and you - the series turns 3 years old on
It had to happen eventually!
The British Railway Series: Episode 1 has just registered 100,000 views. It is the first of my videos to hit the six figure numbers, and after three long years, I'm delighted it's got there eventually.
Here's to the next 100,000 on Youtube!
Thanks to everyone on RMweb and elsewhere for their continued support and encouragement.
Simon
Okay, so in essence I have planned a lot of updates (see last post) but very little has been done. In fact I am still making my way through fixing the posts in this blog which were damaged in the site move (typing has gone wacko in some posts). That said, I am hugely grateful the majority of it is still in one piece, so kudos to Andy and the Mods for a job well done - if the least I have to do is re-type a few words in each article, I am a happy bunny indeed!
I have a dissertation due at the
From Tuesday I will be adding photographs to each of the Episode Synopsis pages - the photographs being a mixture of stills, works in progress and behind the scenes action.
I'll also be adding a full index page for the episodes (including the shorts), and an index page for the planned Character Profiles - which will be going up in due course over the Christmas period.
I am also working on the BRWS fansite, and hoping to get an update done over Christmas, with Episodes 16 and 17 being add
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkupqRpV51s
Air Date:
30th October 2009
These are the stories they tell...
It is all Hallows Eve, and Stephen is telling some ghost stories to the other engines.
He tells the tale of a steam engine, scorned by its builder, left to rust, and plotting its revenge...
One of the things I had wanted to do in the series was a proper ghost story. I remember always feeling disappointed at the age of eight, when I realised that the Thomas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3DsHUuKS8A
Air Date:
25 September 2009
These are the stories they tell...
Scott the A3 pacific is unhappy. He's fed up of being "just another engine", and wants to go back to the heyday of his career. Stephen tells the other engines a short story about Scott's true greatness...
In the time between making "Day of the Deltic" and releasing this episode, I had gone back home and had a long think about my aspirations for the series. I wa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7LOypF6CiY
Air Date:
31st July 2009
These are the stories they tell...
It is the parting of ways...Stephen saves Hawk from the scrapman, and helps Gronk in his rehabilitation at Leeds Central...
I had shot a lot of unseen footage for "Day of the Deltic" and had cut the story back a lot to make it a full half hour special. In many respects, what you see here is very much the "real" ending of that episode, split into three chapters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLBDO-aZyHs
Air Date:
24th April, 2009
These are the stories they tell...
It is a few weeks after the silent night when Nigel disappeared, and all the engines are wondering about how and why it happened. Gronk, the diesel shunter, is feeling guilty for his part in the affair, when a magnificent blue diesel arrives and starts causing trouble.
It is after a heated argument with the steam engines, that the Deltic reveals Gronk's infamy...and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F40C2mQcM8Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSsF0CvGu3E
Air Date:
27th December, 2008
These are the stories they tell...
Nigel is feeling ill when Hawk the Western Pannier Tank leaves the yard for the last time. Falling asleep, the sleeping Nigel is moved to the section of the yard where no engine dare venture! When Nigel disappears, Herbert fights back the tears as Christmas Eve approaches...
...but on Christmas morning, he gets a pres
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFithesiLg
Air Date:
24th December, 2008
These are the stories they tell...
Nigel the V3 Tank engine enjoys his suburban trains, puffing round Leeds is always fun! But when Nigel falls ill with a damaged cylinder, can Herbert the nervous V2 take the strain...and will the cricket loving tank engine be okay?
Nigel the V3 tank engine was first introduced in the fourth episode, and had proved a mildly popular character. Therein lies the proble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7oaN7CLgJg&feature=fvw
Air Date:
20th December 2008
These are the stories they tell...
Hawk the Western Pannier tank is enjoying his second stay at Copley Hill - shunting trucks with Gronk the diesel was fun. But when a train of vans goes missing, can the shunter turn hunter and find the thief...!
"This Episode has been dedicated to the memory of a legendary film maker. Oliver Postgate, 1925-2008"
I was rather devastated when I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRUJqdbu6VU
Air Date:
17th August 2008
These are the stories they tell...
It is the start of a new order on British Railways...the advent of the diesel locomotives. Gronk, the new diesel shunter, and Hawk, the western pannier tank, run into a spot of bother with the shunting...
If I may make a confession...I love my 94xx pannier tank. I bought it on a whim a very long time ago, and when its motor died out some time after shooting Episod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLD-Y7c_Nk
Air Date:
4th July 2008
These are the stories they tell...
A few weeks after Scott's outburst, Stephen decides that now is the time to reveal the truth behind Sir Ralph's name...and the tragic story that follows... Stories from before the second world war, and the tragedy of the war and its effects on the railways of Britain, and the loss of a brother are recounted by Stephen, and finally, Scott sees, that the engine before him, i
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztps7k3iISE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIerCm2KPJw&feature=response_watch
Air Date:
6th April 2008
These are the stories they tell...
Scott and Sir Ralph argue over the rights and wrongs of missing headlamps...and when Scott pulls a train with the wrong headcode, as does Sir Ralph, Scott decides: now is the time to reveal Sir Ralph's infamy..
Episode Nine and Episode Eight were made one after the other, so the similarities i
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWEVLLYwFJw&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5KTw7ti4c&feature=channel
Air Date:
25th March 2008
These are the stories they tell...
A bright blue pacific, of class A3 arrives at the yard: his name is Flying Scotsman, but he prefers to be called Scott and is rather put out when he discovers he is not as famous as he thinks he is! Then Sir Ralph arrives, and leaves in terror at the sight of Scott! To which, a mystery b
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUz5QzX5fLg&feature=related
Air Date:
23rd December 2007
These are the stories they tell...
In which Tavish and Sir Ralph learn why keeping the railway lines clear of snow is important...
This episode is one of the shortest episodes in the series. This is not a reflection on the vast amount of planning, set adaptation, filming, editing, animating and lastly stressing that went into it!
Tavish the J39 was chosen as the story's mai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGDheG8rK0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afx6KPpdsKE&feature=related
Air Date:
24th September 2007
These are the stories they tell...
In which Stephen talks to another engine, and hears of the Modernization Plan in the making. Meanwhile, Herbert is late with his passenger train, leaving only Stephen to take the fast goods train that evening...
Of the original six scripts aired, this was the darkest script. With hushed whisper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZJiuk7Lp4o
Air Date:
10th September 2007
These are the stories they tell...
A new named express, "The Fair Maid" is up for grabs...in the clash of the A1 against the A4, will Allen win the hand of the fair maid - or will Sir Ralph triumph easily?
In the beginning of the episode, it was clear that it was going to revolve around high speed express runs, and it was with that in mind that we wrote this episode. The Fair Maid express was a real
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGJGPrRbDnY
Air Date:
4th September 2007
These are the stories they tell...
In which new engine Nigel is absent minded, and inadvertently upsets Herbert, who gets into a spot of bother with some cows...
Of all of the episodes, this was considered to be the funniest of the scripts, and after watching the hilarious stop-motion with the cows walking down the track, and Herbert's terrified expression, it's not difficult to see why!
S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FzoUmtprZQ
Air Date:
27th August 2007
These are the stories they tell...
Sir Ralph has been sent away to be repaired, and the foreman has procured an engine from another region - a Great Western Pannier Tank - to help about the yard.
Hawk and Allen argue, but realize their mistakes, make up, and Stephen is left tired - but triumphant.
Straight away it can be seen that this episode means business: a new title opening sequence had
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-aXr1c_-cA
Air Date:
20th August 2007
These are the stories they tell...
In which we are introduced to Herbert, a nervous V2 engine (who is openly afraid of cows), and we are forced to listen to Sir Ralph's whinging...again! Herbert then shows Sir Ralph what mixed traffic engines can do (and why Sir Ralph shouldn't run hot while running!)
Episode Two was made quickly on the back of a shed load of adrenaline and coffee! The series h
