2nd PICTURE: With Perks the Porter
3RD PICTURE Daddy returns
4TH PICTURE Railway Children Train set
Ever since trains have existed, they have been used in books and films for dramatic effect. Hardly surprising, as they were at the cutting edge technology, as radical as the smart phone today. Trains have driven plot lines and depicted suspense, humour, emotion and danger. Heroines tied to the track in silent movies, with the train switching lines at the last moment. The smoldering 'will they won't they?' tension of Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the tea room at Carnforth Station; Kenneth More as Richard Hannay exiting a train while crossing the Forth Bridge to evade capture in The Thirty-Nine Steps. The complete anarchy of The Great St Trinians Train Robbery, released in 1966; "Sir the up train has left on the down line". Whoosh! "Sir, correction, the down train is running on the up line!"
There are whole websites dedicated to film locations, dissecting which trains were in which films, from Oh Mr Porter to The Tit.field Thunderbolt. Then there are the novels. One Agatha Christie whodunnit hinged on the vagaries of the railway timetable, the villain's alibi unraveling because a certain train didn't stop somewhere on a certain day. And of course, Murder on the Orient Express has been reinterpreted several times.
Popular though these films are, to be honest, they don't really cut it as films for railway enthusiasts. And only one of them ended up being used as the subject of a Tri-ang Hornby train set, until the arrival of a certain boy wizard many years later. The Railway Children film, released in 1970, has taken on a life of its own.
E NESBIT
Edith Nesbit lived from 1858 until 1924, during which time she wrote over 40 children's books. She had an unconventional marriage and was an ardent socialist, co founding the Fabian Society. It is Nisbet's version which has stood the test of time. The Railway Children has never been out of print since its first appearance in 1906.
THE 1970 FILM VERSION
Go on, admit it. You went to see the trains, but ended up paying a disconcerting amount of attention to Jenny Agutter. But she was just one of a series of happy circumstances that led to this film becoming the public's favourite train movie.
It was not an auspicious time to make a film like The Railway Children. The prevailing fashion was darker, so an Edwardian children's fantasy was a big gamble. Lionel Jeffries had previously played the mad father of inventor Caractacus Potts in Chitty. Chitty Bang Bang. She lost her father when she was four, and this may have been a major influence on the tone and plot of The Railway Children.
It was not her only successful book. Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet both feature fantasy and magic. Similarities have been noted between The Railway Children and a book published ten years earlier called The House by the Railway by one Ada J Graves. Whether this was a coincidence or not is not known.
For Lionel Jefferies it was his first directing role, and he
also wrote the screenplay. He could so easily have bagged the important part of Perks the porter for himself. It must have taken great restraint or good advice to resist it. As it turned out, he had his hands full with directing, and Bernard Cribbins delivered a perfectly superb performance.
The film was a critical success from the start, and has only continued to grow in stature. One of its attractions is the Railway Children walk, to view buildings and locations from the film. These were early days for rail preservation , and the benefit to the KWVR and other fledgling preserved lines in terms of publicity and public support are incalculable.
The film used Oakworth Station for key scenes. Another important reason for choosing the KWVR was the need for a tunnel. Few preserved railways have tunnels, and even then it needed a temporary canvas extension. Much of the rolling stock, including the GWR pannier tank 5700, came from the KWVR and is still there. 5700 is currently on static display in its Railway Children colours.
KEEP OFF THE TRACKS
Sally Thomsett who played the 11 old sister was 20 at the time and Jenny Agutter playing her older sister was only 17. Jenny Agutter actually appeared in three versions of the story; first in a radio series, then in the 1970 film as the older daughter, then in the remake when rather fittingly she played the mother year.
The film’s Classification was reviewed after a complaint that The Railway Children might encourage children to trespass on the railway. Fortunately, the BBFC ruled that modern kids were unlikely to confuse the modern railway with a Victorian fantasy. Just as well or they might have then had to review flying cars and nannies using umbrellas as parachutes.
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Peter
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