railways in fiction and fantasy

[cgraham]

On 23/07/2017 at 17:56, tamperman36 said:

Are we forgetting the train that leaves platform 9 and 3/4 at London Kings Cross and arrives at a country station called Hoggs Mead, which in the films looks remarkably like Goathland, having travelled over the horse shoe viaduct in Scotland on the way. This journey features several times in different books and films from the Harry Potter series.

 

[The Johnster]

On 26/01/2020 at 19:32, Ben B said:

 

"Young Winston"; David Shepherds 9F with smoke deflectors off, a few odds and ends bolted on, running along the old Longmoor Military Line.  There's some brilliant behind the scenes stuff about the barely-managed-chaos of the shoot in some of his books.  There was also the Boer War armoured train ambush, which was an up-armoured GWR tank loco on a colliery line in South Wales

 

That pic from "Cats"... Gods, I'd heard about the railway scene, and the obvious CGI of it on some podcasts reviewing the film.  I think it's meant to be crossing a set of points, but the loco appears to be straddling the running lines, which also appear to be of different gauges!  Most people I've heard from who've been to see it describe the film as a so-bad-it's-good, glorious mess of a film

The GW ‘armoured’ loco was 1466, and the scenes were shot at Craig y Nos limestone quarry at the top end of the Swansea Valley on the Neath and Brecon, still open to this point at the time to service it.  1968 or 9 IIRC, film being a rather over egged account of Winston Churchill’s adventures in South Africa during the Boer War as a war correspondent for the Times.  It starred Simon Ward with a suitably stiff upper lip. 

[tomparryharry]

No  trains on this one, but Quatermass and The Pit has to be one of the best sci-fi films of its generation. The story, being set in a 1950-s London, has an extension on the Underground under construction. 

 

 

[StuartMc]

On 30/07/2017 at 13:59, Ravenser said:

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere ...

 

Speaking of Gaiman, what about Troll Bridge, which is set on a disused railway line.

 

 

Although the art is generally fantastic, RMers may have to avert their eyes from this panel:

 

[eldomtom2]

Someone's been watching Harry Potter!

[steve1]

That coach looks like one of the very early Triang shortie Mk 1s...except it isn’t banana shaped. 

 

steve

[KeithMacdonald]

On 08/12/2018 at 01:07, The Johnster said:

Can I put an alternative forward for Vetinari; James Mason, in his SS commandant role.  That soft, rational voice, so full of menace; 'come now, squadron leader, ve are both civilised men.  Perhaps, had it not been for zis terrible var, we could even have been... friends.  Now, vot vas your mission'?

 

That reminds me, James Mason played another German In Cross of Iron. The final scenes with James Coburn have them trying to escape across railway tracks and between wagons.

[KeithMacdonald]

IIRC, there have been various episodes of Doctor Who that feature fictional / hidden parts of the London Underground.

 

Wasn't there an especially scary episode where a tube train arrives full of skeletons? Or am I confusing that with an old Sherlock Holmes episode?

[eldomtom2]

Not sure where the "tube train arrives full of skeletons" episode is from, as it certainly isn't from Doctor Who. The most famous Doctor Who story featuring the London Underground is of course The Web of Fear, where Patrick Troughton battles robot Yetis there. Abandoned Underground stations also appear in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Mysterious Planet, and it also turned up tens of times in spinoff media.

[The Johnster]

4 hours ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

That reminds me, James Mason played another German In Cross of Iron. The final scenes with James Coburn have them trying to escape across railway tracks and between wagons.

One of my all time favourite war films; 'I will show you where the iron crosses grow'.  

[sir douglas]

"Otome Youkai Zakuro" translates to something like monster girl Zakuro, Otome is girl and Youkai is a term that covers supernatural beings like monsters, ghosts, fairies, mermaids, vampires etc. Zakuro is the main character's name. its set in the Meiji period (1868-1912) when japan was opening up to the rest of the world such as adopting the Gregorian calender and the first railway in japan was built (1872).

 

Episode 2 the characters visit Tokyo, have a ride on a horse tram and see the train as they pass by (sorry its a bit blurry and there's a fence in the way

 

 

its a vague representation of the first train and station, Shimbashi, now known as old Shimabashi because of a newer one nearby, old S closed in 1909 and demolished but replicated on site in 2003 as a museum, i recognize it because Japan Railway Journal has filmed there a few times

 

 

 

 

model of the first train by Minicraft in 1:45 https://www.scalemates.com/kits/minicraft-model-kits-11103-1872-vulcan--1002867

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by sir douglas

[john new]

On 30/11/2018 at 12:50, john new said:

Or travels slower.

 

I like to think Hogsmeade is in the borders in the Melrose/Kelso/Coldstream area thus giving an extra raison-d'etre for the reopening of the Waverley route. Wizarding interference in muggle affairs to (a)partially eliminate the need for maintaining magically obscured rail lines whilst at the same time (b) shifting the cost from the Ministry of Magic to the muggle Dept of Transport/Network Rail!

 

As a follow up to this I think a likely scenario is the station is a smallish one (as suggested by the Hogsmeade map as drawn by JKR) and the only major trains serving it are the start and end of term school specials. [Protototype Gilling for Ampleforth College]. With the recent release/announcement of several small r-t-r locos of Scottish prototypes perhaps it does become a practical option to model with a tank loco and two coaches (shuttling to/from your choice of destination)  and an 0-6-0 tender loco for p/up goods services.

 

Edit - Having viewed a clear copy of this map on line* I have spotted for the first time what looks like a mapped (Closed?) spur from the Hogsmeade branch running up and into the Forbidden Forest and passing under the T of the word Extends. Probably something JKR changed hence the swirly lines drawn for the forest but something to note.  Log trains anyone like the one's that run/ran to Chirk but steam hauled?

 

* you can skip past the reddit login to get to the map.

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by john new
Added note re the reddit problem

[LNWR18901910]

On 10/03/2020 at 10:55, StuartMc said:

 

Speaking of Gaiman, what about Troll Bridge, which is set on a disused railway line.

 

 

Although the art is generally fantastic, RMers may have to avert their eyes from this panel:

 

The train looks similar to the movie version of the Hogwarts Express (a GWR Hall Class used in real-life) minus its tender. I'm starting to see the connection.

[Pacific231G]

On 11/03/2020 at 12:51, eldomtom2 said:

Not sure where the "tube train arrives full of skeletons" episode is from, as it certainly isn't from Doctor Who. The most famous Doctor Who story featuring the London Underground is of course The Web of Fear, where Patrick Troughton battles robot Yetis there. Abandoned Underground stations also appear in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Mysterious Planet, and it also turned up tens of times in spinoff media.

That sounds like the missing episode of Adam Adamant "Ticket to Terror" broadcast on 29 September 1966

 

A gang diverts a  Waterloo and City (not then actually Underground but still BR) trains into a disused tunnel and uses the pin striped commuters as slave labour to dig a tunnel into the Bank of England's vaults. The train full of skeletons was some kind of diversionary tactic- the sort designed to draw attention to  the baddies' actvities. The horrible thought is that if that really happened it would be a while before anyone associated the disappearances with the railway.  I think Adamant's sidekick "Georgina Jones" (Juliet Harmer) is one of the kidnapped travellers, possibly on a second train, and that of course proves to be the villain's big mistake  as Adam Adamant (Gerald Harper) is then on their case. 

It's annoying that this episode seems to be the only one that hasn't been tracked down as it's the one I'd most like to see again

I assume they chose the W&C because it was closed all weekend. It made a change from the usual Aldwych branch but they may have been able to film crowd shots at both Waterloo and Bank to emphasise the ordinaryness of the commuters' journey without hiring vast numbers of extras. 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Pacific231G
updated information

[Pacific231G]

Adam Adamant Ticket to Terror update (based on what I remember and what i've been able to glean from the internet.

A train on the  Waterloo and City Line with 400 passenger aboard mysteriously vanishes.  One of them is 'Simms', Adam Adamant's manservant. Adam shows up at the control room where the track circuit indicator lights have gone out and the line's manager thinks there is a conspiracy against him. Suddenly, without warning, the lights reappear and the train returns and runs into the station. Adam goes to meet it to get an explanation from the passengers  but finds instead a train full of skeletons.

 

As Adam investigates, his companion 'Georgina Jones' ( Juliet Harmer ) also vanishes along with a second train. It transpires that she, along with Simms, and the missing passengers are being forced to dig by the dastardly villains.

It seems that when the test tunnel was being dug in 1892, the roof collapsed, burying the workmen under tons of rubble and the tunnel was quickly sealed off. Now it is being completed to enable the villains to plunder the vaults of the Bank of England.  The skeletons were of course those of the long dead tunnel workers.

I can't remember how Adamant resolves the situation but I think he discovers the hidden door leading into the old tunnel (the track circuiting should have been a clue there but probably wasn't) and foils the villains in some kind of fight sequence undoubtedly involving his sword stick and helped, as I vaguely recall, by Simm and Miss. Jones (as he always addresses her)

 

My memory is that the close up and detailed shots of the train were in a fairly elaborate and realistic studio recreation of the interior of the W&C but there were filmed shots of trains in motion and crowds at the two termini.

It's odd that this episode has never reappeared- they usually eventually turn up as film recordings sent by the BBC to small TV stations in the more obscure parts of the English speaking world- often in Australia- after lying forgotten in their film vaults for donkey's years.

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Pacific231G

[The Johnster]

On 11/03/2020 at 21:39, sir douglas said:

"Otome Youkai Zakuro" translates to something like monster girl Zakuro, Otome is girl and Youkai is a term that covers supernatural beings like monsters, ghosts, fairies, mermaids, vampires etc. Zakuro is the main character's name. its set in the Meiji period (1868-1912) when japan was opening up to the rest of the world such as adopting the Gregorian calender and the first railway in japan was built (1872).

 

Episode 2 the characters visit Tokyo, have a ride on a horse tram and see the train as they pass by (sorry its a bit blurry and there's a fence in the way

 

its a vague representation of the first train and station, Shimbashi, now known as old Shimabashi because of a newer one nearby, old S closed in 1909 and demolished but replicated on site in 2003 as a museum, i recognize it because Japan Railway Journal has filmed there a few times

 

 

model of the first train by Minicraft in 1:45

Has a Sharp, Stewart look to it, perhaps Ashbury coaches.  

[sir douglas]

These first locos were by Vulcan and then there were copies by Sharp stewart and Yorkshire, 1 of each still survive

 

Vulcan with carriage as represented in the model at the Saitama railway Museum, and for those curious behind it is the Manning Wardle 

http://steam.fan.coocan.jp/r.museum/1290.htm

 

 

the Yorkshire, Ome railway park

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:110_steam_locomotive

 

Sharp Stewart, Meiji Mura museum

https://centrip-japan.com/spot/img/mmtrain.jpg

 

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by sir douglas

[The Johnster]

Why is 110 wearing a condom...

Edited October 22, 2020 by The Johnster

[petethemole]

9 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Why is 110 wearing a condom...

For the same reason the assault troops at D-Day put them over their rifle muzzles.

[LNWR18901910]

10 hours ago, The Johnster said:

Why is 110 wearing a condom...

To answer your question, it is a rain cover as when steam locomotives are not in use or on display mainly outside, enthusiasts or preservation members would put them on as to prevent rain from dripping inside the safety valves into the smokebox.

 

I hope that's helped.

[The Johnster]

Yes, I know, I was being facetious.  BR used to put sacks over the chimneys of stored locomotives, I believe as a condition of suspension of the boiler certificate to avoid it running out while the loco was not in use.  

 

The safety valves, btw, are not usually anywhere near the smokebox, but on the top of the firebox water jacket where pressure is highest, or on top of the steam dome; GW locos with domeless boilers have them in a housing in the dome position.  The 'condoms' are simply to prevent rain water getting into the smokebox drum and rusting the blastpipes, and ultimately into the cylinders via the exhaust ports, where rust is very damaging to the machined cylinder liners.  Safety valves are brass, so will not rust, and are closed by spring pressure if the boil is not in steam or even when it is unless it reaches the set limit at which point the valves are set to open to relieve excess pressure, so they cannot leak rain water inside the boiler, which is a sealed pressure vessel.

[cypherman]

Does any one remember the railway in the tv series The Tripods. I think they used the North York's rail for it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods_(TV_series)

Edited November 3, 2020 by cypherman

[john new]

On 02/03/2020 at 17:37, cgraham said:

 

 

No, the H Potter options have been mentioned in earlier posts.

[Johnson044]

Just found this thread, which I'll have a proper dive into soon. Meanwhile has anyone come across the Anime "Steam Boy"? The artist seems to have quite a liking for all things Midland but possibly not Crimson Lake. It's actually pretty damn good.

[sir douglas]

i posted several screenshots on page 3

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/124676-railways-in-fiction-and-fantasy/&do=findComment&comment=3105208