Film & TV Creditable railway representations

[Rugd1022]

Probably yes Russ, I can't think of any other reason. D318 spent every night of the two week shoot on the Harborough / Peterborough line and was stabled outside Rugby Shed during the day, with strict instructions not to be used on any other jobs as both cabs were filled with lighting gear hired out to Oakhurst Productions by Lee Electrics! I've been told by someone who was hovering around at the time that quite a few photos were taken of D318 with the mail train stock moving along the line to Harborough at around tea time each evening, but so far nothing has been forthcoming. The railway grapevine at Rugby was working overtime with the film crew's every move being noted at the time - everyone knew that this would be the last movements across the branch before the track was lifted .

Edited January 12, 2020 by Rugd1022

[russ p]

32 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

Probably yes Russ, I can't think of any other reason. D318 spent every night of the two week shoot on the Harborough / Peterborough line and was stabled outside Rugby Shed during the day, with strict instructions not to be used on any other jobs as both cabs were filled with lighting gear hired out to Oakhurst Productions by Lee Electrics! I've been told by someone who was hovering around at the time that quite a few photos were taken of D318 with the mail train stock moving along the line to Harborough at around tea time each evening, but so far nothing has been forthcoming. The railway grapevine at Rugby was working overtime with the film crew's every move being noted at the time - everyone knew that this would be the last movements across the branch before the track was lifted .

 

Was it true the railheads were painted silver? 

[njee20]

For a Hollywood film I was impressed by Unstoppable. A few things that were clearly fabrications/dramatisations, but they also got a lot more right than I'd expect for a film aimed a non-train people!

[number6]

From memory I thought that Ken Loach's The Navigators was bob on. But when just I checked they used a Class 25 and the windcutter rake on the Great Central to represent the recently privatised BR... Opps! But the rest of it was really good stuff. 

 

[Rugd1022]

13 hours ago, russ p said:

 

Was it true the railheads were painted silver? 

 

I think they may have done yes, if you look at the second pic I posted yesterday of the crew mopping the railhead, you can just see a paint pot with a brush in it on the right of the frame.

[Liam]

Thought I’d add to this, despite 18 months passing without a post. On BBC One on Sunday night they showed Yesterday, a film set in the present day which follows a songwriter who as a result of a coma is the only person who has heard of the Beatles. While it was the present day and not a lot of effort was required, trains passing in the background included DRS class 57s and Greater Anglia 153s. I guess the advantage of being given permission to make a present day film at a location on or close to the railway is that any trains that pass will be prototypical. 

[RichardT]

4 hours ago, Liam said:

While it was the present day and not a lot of effort was required, trains passing in the background included DRS class 57s and Greater Anglia 153s.

Given that “Yesterday” is set in an alternative reality where neither the Beatles nor the Harry Potter books have ever existed, then other things should also have differed from “our” reality - including privatised rail operators! Assuming that rail privatisation even happened in non-Beatles world.

 

I’m going to stop now as timey-wimey loops make my brain hurt…

Edited July 6, 2021 by RichardT
removing surplus punctuation

[RichardT]

On 28/08/2018 at 10:21, Liam said:

Darkest Hour was also very good, and it looked very much like 1938 stock that Churchill travelled on

The representation of the tube stock ironically being the only accurate, believable and authentic thing about that entire sequence in the film.

[rocor]

On 27/08/2018 at 22:22, brianusa said:

 

Could be!  A lot depends on the time the film is set in.  The older the film, the less likely the authenticity but as has been mentioned elsewhere , not many care except the enthusiast.

 

Brian.

 

This probably all comes down to economics. Does the budget run to some expensive CGI, or is the cheaper option to bung a preservation society a few quid to paint their stock in the required colours, and allow the film crew a few days exclusive use of the line for filming. 

[Steamport Southport]

8 hours ago, Liam said:

Thought I’d add to this, despite 18 months passing without a post. On BBC One on Sunday night they showed Yesterday, a film set in the present day which follows a songwriter who as a result of a coma is the only person who has heard of the Beatles. While it was the present day and not a lot of effort was required, trains passing in the background included DRS class 57s and Greater Anglia 153s. I guess the advantage of being given permission to make a present day film at a location on or close to the railway is that any trains that pass will be prototypical. 

 

The Who?

[Zero Gravitas]

45 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

The Who?

 

No - that was a completely different band

 

[Liam]

4 hours ago, RichardT said:

The representation of the tube stock ironically being the only accurate, believable and authentic thing about that entire sequence in the film.

Yes, somehow I can’t see our current Prime Minister jumping out of a car to hop on the tube and ask what the passengers think of COVID-19...

[Steamport Southport]

5 minutes ago, Zero Gravitas said:

 

No - that was a completely different band

 

 

Yep.

 

It was a conversation we were having in the pub a few years ago. Some know it all commented on the song being played on the jukebox and started talking about The Beatles. "These are the best band in the world", "Love The Beatles" , etc.

 

We all said "The Who".

 

He wasn't having it. Went to the jukebox. Came back and told us the jukebox must be wrong.... 

 

[Steamport Southport]

31 minutes ago, Liam said:

Yes, somehow I can’t see our current Prime Minister jumping out of a car to hop on the tube and ask what the passengers think of COVID-19...

 

Boris? He's always on the buses and the tube.

 

Or just as likely to be seen on his bike. Or jogging.

 

You do realise he was London Mayor for nearly ten years before he was PM?

[Liam]

3 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Boris? He's always on the buses and the tube.

 

Or just as likely to be seen on his bike. Or jogging.

 

You do realise he was London Mayor for nearly ten years before he was PM?

Of course I do - but being Mayor of London a few years ago is very different to being Prime Minister during the Second World War, or alas a global pandemic. 
 

My previous post was rather tongue in cheek as I was trying to relate to the Tube scene from Darkest Hour. 
 

 

[Darius43]

14 hours ago, RichardT said:

The representation of the tube stock ironically being the only accurate, believable and authentic thing about that entire sequence in the film.

 

Apart from its going to Westminster Station, which was a surface stock (current District and Circle lines) station only in 1940, i.e. no tube trains stopping there at that time - there being no Jubilee line then.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[RichardT]

Yes, that’s why I said the representation of the stock was the only accurate thing. I don’t believe Churchill ever set foot on the London Underground as an ordinary passenger* during the war or after.

 

Richard

 

*He did, of course, set foot in Down Street tube station, but for other purposes…

[MJI]

On 28/08/2018 at 08:47, Andrew F said:

Buster with Phil Collins. Didn't they go to the trouble of converting D306 from disc to split headcode for authenticity? I can't remember if they managed twin tracks for the scene though as it's been ages since I've seen it.

 

There was an episode of Endeavor.....can't remember which one....a body thrown from a train. The scene featured multiple tracks, a Class 04 shunter shunting in the background (with dubious overdub of sound) and a long rake of maroon mk1's passing the scene of crime.

 

A friends years ago used to joke about the robbers should pay to preserve D326.

 

This is many years ago over 30 nearer 40

[MJI]

I don't actually like the Beatles.

 

And this is going back to the 60s!