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Railway footage in feature films and television...


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In the early 70s, Mallaig still had its totems, in that pale green colour.

 

There is a thread somewhere on RMweb about them. I questioned whether they really were that colour or Scottish Region blue that had discoloured due to the very exposed location. I can't remember the final conclusion.

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Talking of railway footage, was watching TV during my late lunch break yesterday: Lawrence of Arabia.

 

Numerous railway scenes. Supposed to be the Hedjaz Rly but it was broad gauge with the filming apparently somewhere in Spain with some lovely old locos and stock. Would like to learn more. Parts of Spain were very rustic as late as the 1960s.

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I've started watching 'Minder' again from the first series which was shot in 1979, every now and then there's a scene with a railway line in the background, usually WR or SR, but even more frequently you'll hear a train in the background when there's no line anywhere near the location in use for a particular scene, the sound effect is just added to enhance the drama. They did a lot of filming around Acton, Willesden, Old Oak, Chiswick, Fulham, Chelsea, Richmond, Battersea, Clapham and of course Hammersmith which is where Euston Films' HQ was, in Colet Court, right opposite Colet Gardens where the original opening titles for 'The Sweeney' were shot in 1974.

Edited by Rugd1022
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2 hours ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Talking of railway footage, was watching TV during my late lunch break yesterday: Lawrence of Arabia.

 

Numerous railway scenes. Supposed to be the Hedjaz Rly but it was broad gauge with the filming apparently somewhere in Spain with some lovely old locos and stock. Would like to learn more. Parts of Spain were very rustic as late as the 1960s.

Train attack scenes were in Almeria in Spain according to IMDB.

Most of the (non train) desert scenes were Morocco with some actually filmed in Jordan (and also California!)

 

EDIT

"North West Frontier (1959)" also used Spain for it's railway scenes but this time was the Zafra-Huelva Railway in Andalucia and the final scence was Iznalloz station Granada.

Edited by melmerby
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On 29/12/2019 at 20:45, luckymucklebackit said:

The Xmas day Call the Midwife featured some incredibly bad railway shots.  The cast were travelling from London to Mallaig, so the producers chose some shots that looked like it was the African Veldt then a GWR Prairie tank on some preserved line.  Considering the hours of footage of the Jacobite that exist, why was this not used, it would have been far more authentic.

 

Jim

Episodes of Call the Midwife are being used to help train midwives in rural India so whatever the producers are getting wrong on the railway front they clearly are getting things right where it matters.

 

There may be hours of footage of the Jacobite but stock shots (footage not shot specifically for the programme) are rarely of much use. You see them a lot in ITC telefilms like The Saint, or Man in a  Suitcase etc. generally to introduce "foreign" locations and they usually stick out like a sore thumb.

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I've already mentioned 'Villain' much earlier in the thread but some new location shots have come to light since then, taken at the railway arches at Nine Elms in October 1970, I'm sure some here will recognise the flats in the background of the first shot, which bordered the far side of the old steam depot and the area around the turntable. The bottom pic was taken in Ramsey Road W3 where Richard Burton and John Hallam use the footbridge (visible in the background) over the line between Acton Central and South Acton stations.....

 

 

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On 29/12/2019 at 23:26, CloggyDog said:

 

The stock was definitely East German (DR) rekowagen and I think the loco was a Br38 (Prussian P8 4-6-0)

 

The opening shots are also used in an Advert for a Railway Holiday company. Something like Great Train Holidays.

 

Keith

Edited by KeithHC
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Just watched "The Sound of Music" on the BBC. It has been so long since I watched it last that I had forgotten there is a brief scene of Maria and the children riding on the Schafbergbahn cog railway, near Salzburg. They still have 6 locos from 1893/1894, but now numbered Z1 to Z6.

 

 

Edited by Ian Morgan
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The highly regarded BBC  drama Happy Valley with Sarah Lancashire as lead actress, DVD  series 2 episode 6, in the  "grand finale"  of the story  the vertiginous coal staithes of Sowerby Bridge railway station provide the  primary location

 

 

image.png

Edited by Pandora
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I thought I had posted these on here but looking no sign of them. Scenes from the Avengers series Noon Doomsday episode (IIRC) I'm sure I posted these somewhere and someone came up with the location but can't find that info anymore

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9 hours ago, jetmorgan said:

I thought I had posted these on here but looking no sign of them. Scenes from the Avengers series Noon Doomsday episode (IIRC) I'm sure I posted these somewhere and someone came up with the location but can't find that info anymore

 

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0516872/locations?ref_=ttfc_sa_4

 

Suggests Stanbridgeford which is on the Leighton Buzzard - Dunstable line.

 

Adrian

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I was watching an episode of 'The Baron' last night and was pleasantly surprised to see what I'm almost certain is Luton Hoo station and Chiltern Green viaduct being used, the episode was set 'somewhere in Eastern Europe' so all the cars were driving on the side of the road and the level crossing gates had a fake foreign 'Stop' sign hastily hung on them! Seeing as the area isn't exactly a long way from Elstree studios it makes sense that ITC would use it and in fact they used another nearby location later on for the opening sequence of an episode of 'The Champions', namely the two cottages right next to the country road that passes under the MML embankment a little further north of Chiltern Green station. This episode of 'The Baron' was called 'Enemy Of The State', it was filmed in the early months of 1966 and broadcast on  Wednesday 26th October that year.... the files are quite big so I'll post them in two lots....

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Edited by Rugd1022
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Watching another episode of 'The Baron' last and night there's a brief glimpse of a green Peak thrashing through Luton on the down fast with a rake of maroon Mk1s, you can just see the car carrying wagons in the yard on the up side too. There's also a very brief glimpse shot between some wagons of another green Peak passing on a rake of maroon and blue / grey Mk1s. The episode is called 'Countdown' with Edward Woodward as guest star, it was filmed in 1966 and first shown on 12th April 1967. A lot of the railway footage shot by a second unit for ITC was shot on the WCML and MML in Hertfordshire, handy of course for Elstree studios -  much of which it is featured in the 'Diesel & Electric On 35mm' DVDs.

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Found an oddball in the latest series of "Father Brown", set in the late1950/early 1960s the usual maroon Mk1 would be entirely acceptable (and expected), but the scene on the show last week featured Gresley Teak stock in original condition.  The series notes say that the show used Winchcombe railway station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway for station scenes, but according to the railway website they don't have LNER stock on the line

 

Jim

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On 01/01/2020 at 14:52, Rugd1022 said:

I've already mentioned 'Villain' much earlier in the thread but some new location shots have come to light since then, taken at the railway arches at Nine Elms in October 1970, I'm sure some here will recognise the flats in the background of the first shot, which bordered the far side of the old steam depot and the area around the turntable. The bottom pic was taken in Ramsey Road W3 where Richard Burton and John Hallam use the footbridge (visible in the background) over the line between Acton Central and South Acton stations.....

 

 

 

AA villain-1971-nigel-davenport-richard-burton-date-1971-T25DEB.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

There is a chap on the railway viaduct looking down at the scene. I wonder if he is a part of the action or a PW chap watching the filing?

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21 minutes ago, luckymucklebackit said:

Found an oddball in the latest series of "Father Brown", set in the late1950/early 1960s the usual maroon Mk1 would be entirely acceptable (and expected), but the scene on the show last week featured Gresley Teak stock in original condition.  The series notes say that the show used Winchcombe railway station on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway for station scenes, but according to the railway website they don't have LNER stock on the line

 

Jim

That railway is definitely normally used for filming 'Father Brown' programmes although I haven't seen that particular one so couldn't confirm ig it was filmed there.  All the programmes I have seen were definitely filmed on the Gloucester Warwickshire using , I think, at least two of the stations on that railway.

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One that was rather curious was in the fairly recent horror film Ghost Stories. There's a brief scene on a railway, presumably the Great Central, but what took me aback was the sight of the prototype HST power car in the background. I explained to the friend I was watching it with that it was a little like seeing a celebrity show up unexpectedly in a cast of unknowns.

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Just finished binge watching the Netflix series "The Stranger". Set in Manchester there are a couple of railway sequences in the last two episodes, episode 7 features Stockport station and there are plenty of trains and due to changes of camera shots some inconsitancies are thrown up, a 350 EMU suddenly becomes a class 175 DMU in the reverse shot. The characters then board a heritage DMU and find themselves at Ramsbottom on the ELR. In the last eposide there is a chase sequence through the ELR sidings and amongst others classes 37, 47 and 50 are visible. A good watch as a series.

 

Jim

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That railway is definitely normally used for filming 'Father Brown' programmes although I haven't seen that particular one so couldn't confirm ig it was filmed there.  All the programmes I have seen were definitely filmed on the Gloucester Warwickshire using , I think, at least two of the stations on that railway.

 

I'm sure I saw a behind-the-scenes clip somewhere on YouTube that it was filmed on the SVR, which would make sense given they have a large number of LNER teak carriages...

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I have just found this thread and read it end to end. Sadly no mention of The Hills of Heaven made by the BBC circa 1978. The story revolves around colliery railways and was filmed (I think) at Bickershaw near Leigh and Newmarket near Wakefield. Has anyone else heard of it?

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12 minutes ago, doilum said:

I have just found this thread and read it end to end. Sadly no mention of The Hills of Heaven made by the BBC circa 1978. The story revolves around colliery railways and was filmed (I think) at Bickershaw near Leigh and Newmarket near Wakefield. Has anyone else heard of it?

I've never heard of it but will look for a copy of it. I worked near Newmarket and lived nearby in 78 and remember the area well. 

 

Jamie

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