The LNER at the Movies (and in books)

[sandwhich]

There was a mention of the opening credits of the earlier poirot stories that featured the Queen Mary, a biplane, Battersea power station and an A4 Pacific running by this famous building. Just think on occasions an A4 pacific still runs by that famous landmark on occasions.

[JohnV]

Hi, folks,
I've just been re-reading the thread and there is no mention of "The Ipcress File" - some of this film was made either at St Pancras or Marylebone, I think. It's a while since I've seen it, so I don't recall what sort of stock was involved though I do remember Mk 1 maroon coaches (with compartments, of course).

[richard]

Marylebone - it is mentioned in the page that this thread is a discussion thread for (see my original post).

Those opening sequences are also occasionally mentioned in the editorial pages of New Scientist - due to the then brand-new magazine getting prominent placement!

[kudu]

Since The Ipcress File has been mentioned, I hope I'm permitted to add that key scenes were filmed near Willesden MPD. You can see the roundhouse in the background.

Kudu

[Rlangham]

Having been on over Christmas, I watched 'The Ladykillers' again last night. Superb!

[cambois]

For something completely different, the open credits of "The Likely Lads" very evocative of the Newcastle I lived in for 5 years Train bit is a dmu on the HL bridge from below

[Mickey]

Having been on over Christmas, I watched 'The Ladykillers' again last night. Superb!

The films outtakes are well worth seeing as well some or most of them can be seen on Steam on 35mm Vol.1 & Vol.2 either on video or dvd.

A number of A4s, A3s, V2s & N2s are seen climbing through Belle Isle under the north London line tall overbridge and passed Copenhagen Junction s/box mostly filmed from above Copenhagen tunnel or to the left of Copenhagen tunnel looking down into Belle Isle and all in Eastman colour from 1955.

The film sequence at Belle Isle proclaimed by John Huntley on this video/dvd as possibly the finest railway film footage ever filmed.

[Trestrol]

For something completely different, the open credits of "The Likely Lads" very evocative of the Newcastle I lived in for 5 years Train bit is a dmu on the HL bridge from below

Sorry its not if you mean "what ever happened to the Likely Lads, one bit is Ouseburn viaduct from below(the one with the chimney). and the other shot is Manors viaduct passing the under construction central motorway and the Manors multi-storey car park.

[Deepol]

Nice Thompson SK at Waverley in this still taken from the TV from the 1959 version of The 39 Steps.

[Deepol]

More from The Thirty-Nine Steps

[seacoaler]

Watching an old 70s crimes series 'Villains' 1972 and the lady walks past these wagons , somewhere in Tyneside possibly near Tynemouth. Is that an electric railway catenary or trolley bus overhead lines in background ?

[sandwhich]

The old Marylebone features in other films, one is "Day of the Trifids" with a standard class 5 involved and a Joan Hickson Miss Marple comes to mind with plenty of steam and almost certainly none in sight.

[2392]

Watching an old 70s crimes series 'Villains' 1972 and the lady walks past these wagons , somewhere in Tyneside possibly near Tynemouth. Is that an electric railway catenary or trolley bus overhead lines in background ?

vlcsnap-2014-06-11-15h36m14s40.jpg

Not quite Tynemouth, which is "just" across the Tyne to the North but South Shields on the South side. There is a quite prominent give away on one of the wagons "Harton". Which pre-nationalisation stood for the Harton Coal Company. Who owned and operated several mines within the South Shields area; Harton Colliery, Boldon Colliery, St Hildas' and the last to close the coastal Westo Colliery. There was also the subsiduary South Shields, Marsden & Witburn Colliery that operated under the terms of the Light Railway act, along the coast.

And yes that is railway caternary, as the central section of the network was electrified in around 1910! So a very forward thinking Company, mind you the 'Coal company had connections I believe with Siemans of Germany pioneers in electric traction. So what better way to "advertise" your product, especially for the movement of frieght. There are a couple of books by William J Hatcher published by Oakwood, that cover both lines; "The Harton Electric Railway" and "The South Shields, Marsden & Whitburn Colliery Railway." Both outfits owned and operated second hand ex mainline North Eastern engines the largest being a few N.E. class C [LNER J21] 0-6-0 tender engines to name one type.

Considering the the SSM&WCR was a "Light Railway" it was closed and lifted in the late sixties. Which was a pity, as it would have made an ideal "Heritage/Tourist" Railway as it had proper stations at both ends of the line at Westo and Whitburn plus various "Halts" along the line at places' like Marsden Rock a well know local coastal feature. If you know where to look you can still see today where the various lines ran, as many parts have been built over.

[61962]

I well remember going through that door on a summertime visit to Harton Staithes in the late seventies. Walking off the street in South Shields into a completely different world was quite a surprise. Electric locomotives and hopper wagons were handled really efficiently and it was amazing to see how much coal was brought down from St Hildas to be deposited in the hold of the collier moored at the quay. A round trip on a loco was a bit like a roller coaster ride, coming down the bank through the tunnel and turning sharply to the right on to the loaded wagon siding. The loco was quickly "loused off" to run round on to a line of empty wagons and was off into the tunnel in no time at all. All the movements of the wagons was by gravity once on the staithes.

Another part of history sadly gone.

Eddie

[2392]

I well remember going through that door on a summertime visit to Harton Staithes in the late seventies. Walking off the street in South Shields into a completely different world was quite a surprise. Electric locomotives and hopper wagons were handled really efficiently and it was amazing to see how much coal was brought down from St Hildas to be deposited in the hold of the collier moored at the quay. A round trip on a loco was a bit like a roller coaster ride, coming down the bank through the tunnel and turning sharply to the right on to the loaded wagon siding. The loco was quickly "loused off" to run round on to a line of empty wagons and was off into the tunnel in no time at all. All the movements of the wagons was by gravity once on the staithes.

Another part of history sadly gone.

Eddie

By the late sixties at the earliest more likely the seventies St Hildas "Drops" [staithes] were used to despatch the pit waste out to sea to be dumped, hence Westo didn't have the usual pit heaps of the more inland pits. Principly on account of the newer Colliers being bigger coal was then "shipped" from newer facilities at Tyne Dock or went by rail using MGRs, which were used for both trips from Westo.

Something else has just come to mind with regards to those wonderfully old fashioned electrics, was that they had [and I'm not sure of the term] regenerative brakes. That is to say when the drivers slowed down it turned the motors into generators which then pumped 600 volts of DC electricity into the system helping the usual brakes slow the engine and train down.