Of the original six scripts aired, this was the darkest script. With hushed whisperings of locomotives being cut-up on sidings, diesels making their first appearance (albeit, in the black and white sequences of the episode), this was a very different episode to that which had gone before. This was wholly intentional. I wanted to give a few hints of the history to come - steam locomotives eventually making way for the new order. This was, sadly, one of the few parts of my script which made the cut.

One of the things which frustrated me was working with five other people on the series. We all had elements of our degree riding on this little series of videos, and for me it was my writing which suffered. All of the first six episodes were edited by another member of the team, and the overall tone of these episodes is far too cutesy, and a world away from the historical setting I had envisaged. After this episode, the module finished, we were graded, and the team split permanently. On occasion I have been helped by the best members of that select group, but preferred to work on my own in making the series from that point.

It may never be professionally made as a TV series, but in making it myself I do know that my own creative vision is being upheld, something that is very important to me as the edits which occurred in my early scripts damaged by confidence in this concept early on. I am glad to say that it did not stop me from going on and trying my hand at making some more.

Final points: this was the longest of the first six episodes, the episode was actually filmed both in the daytime and at night, the crash sequence being the biggest headache for the film makers. This was due in part to the question: do you show a crash sequence, which with 00 scale models will not look wholly realistic. The decision was made (by me) to imply a crash: the night time setting took most of the detail out of the shots, and blacking out to simply the sound effects of the crash was found to be more emotive than an actual showing of the crash. After an argument with a member of the team, I managed to get my way, emphasizing the difference in look and feel to the implied crash and the actual filmed crash (which was incredibly toy like and something I just couldn't see working on Youtube).

Episode Six has of course, the biggest historical inaccuracy in it: no B12s were ever painted Express Passenger Blue (as far as I was aware - a friend has claimed that one was painted for a time in this livery, but I can find no record of it), as it was only to be used on locomotives of British Railways power classification 8P. Only the ex-Western Kings, ex Southern Railway Battle of Britain, Merchant Navy and West Country classes, ex-LMS Duchesses and Princesses, and ex-LNER A1s, A1/1, A3 and A4s were painted in the scheme, which started in 1950 and was replaced by the standard Brunswick Green in the mid-50s. If I were to remake it....Stephen would be in fully lined Mixed Traffic livery instead!