Steam loco destroyed?

[Mickey]

I saw a brief piece of film footage yesterday of a new Mission Impossible 7 film starring Tom Cruise where a full size steam locomotive that looks suspiciously like a 'Britannia' locomotive although slightly disguised as a eastern European loco is driven under it's own steam off a part constructed high bridge into a deep ravine below in Derbyshire?. Does anyone know what the locomotive is or was?.

[Hatfield Shed]

It was a film maker's full size model is all.

[Mickey]

A life size model?. On first observing the loco I thought it was a B.R.9F 2-10-0 without seeing the wheel arrangement clearly then I thought it may have been a 4-6-2 Britannia but the loco looks pretty impressive for a model all the same. The film makers or whoever built the loco must have had a look at the B.R. Standard classes for an idea?. Anyway thanks Hatfield Shed.

[2392]

Here's the link to BBC's website showing the crash. Apparrently both the ORR/HMRI were involved giving advise ton the film makers. A month or two ago the loco had been compklete with it's own train on the North Yorkshire Moors, with filming taking place around Levisham. They also had a pair of Class 66s there too, on hire from I think GBRF.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-d ... e-58307832

[kudu]

You may be interested to konw a South Eastern Rly 4-4-0 with six carriages was deliberately crashed into a lorry for filming purposes. The loco was F1 class A148, built as an F class in 1889 and sold to Gainsborough Pictures Corp for their film "The Wreckers". It met its end in August 1928 at Salter's Hatch crossing on the Basingstoke & Alton Light Rly. The remains were sold to a Sheffield firm. The wreckers, btw, turned out to be the rival coach company.

Kudu

[giner]

Anyone else have a vague memory of a deliberate derailing that was staged for a BBC show? I'm going back to the mid/late fifties here and I think it took place on an army camp in southern England. Raymond Baxter may have been the presenter. As I recall, it was a bit of an anti-climax as the spectacular event didn't turn out as hoped.

[Mickey]

Giner could it have been on the Longmoor Military Railway?.

I 'like' the crash scene in The Train Of Events a British film of 1947. The crash scene is done with 0 gauge models I presume?.

A LMS rebuilt Royal Scot at the head of a late afternoon express departure from Euston to Liverpool is seen at a later stage during it's journey northwards tearing through the darkness and driven by Jack Warner of Dixon Of Dock Green fame who chances upon a bloke standing off the railway (drivers side) who is seen waving a white light from side to side as a warning that a road petrol tanker further along the railway ahead of the fast approaching express had crashed the level crossing gates and is laying across the railway!. Jack after a few seconds of recovering from the shock of what he sees ahead of him makes a 'full emergency brake application' but to no avail as the train piles into the road tanker and oblivion!!.

[2392]

Several locomotives and items of rolling stock were derailed/destroyed for/during the making of "The Train" in the sixties. The story revolves around a French railway inspector played by Burt Lacaster who helps to delay/divert a train load of stolen French artwork beng wisked away by Paul Schofield playing a German Officer. At the behest of the French Rail Unions Lancaster went through an abridged version of the training needed for his part, so he had at least a basic knowledge of the job.

[Mickey]

Yeah I know the film that you have mentioned 2392 The Train and I have watched it about a dozen or more times on dvd over the last 12 or 13 years. Even though it is set on the French railway system it features a lot of railway scenes and I know of the scene that you are referring to when a vintage French steam loco is crashed into the rear passenger vehicle of a German train carrying stolen paintings amongst other things on purpose that is occupied by German officer(s) at a French country station. That crash scene is actually quite impressive to watch. No SGI special effects back then that was a real steam loco being crashed!!.

[giner]

Mickey, I think you're right about Longmoor - it rings a bell. As I recall, there was Southern loco to plunge down an embankment. It sort of lurched, almost sedately, and dug into the bank about halfway down. It stayed upright, too.

[harvester]

The BBC program was I think "Saturday Night Out" or something similar a live broadcast in the 1950's presented by Robert Beatty . I think the engine was the King Arthur "Merlin"

[Mickey]

The BBC program was I think "Saturday Night Out" or something similar a live broadcast in the 1950's presented by Robert Beatty . I think the engine was the King Arthur "Merlin"

Oh no not a SR 'Arthur' couldn't they have crashed a Thompson B1 instead?.

[Mickey]

"It is night time back in late 1966 or early 1967 and a tired signalman nearly at the end of his shift is dealing with four trains in his area plus contending with a signalling equipment problem as well. The signalman then unfortunately manages to get 'two in a section' with the result of a 'Brit' going into the back end of a loose coupled goods train in the darkness and killing the driver."

The above accident' didn't really happen in real life but was the subject of the Wednesday Play called Public Inquiry and shown on television back in March 1967 and by chance I happened to watch it that evening and remember small scenes from the play still.

The Wednesday Play Public Inquiry 1967- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496376

The steam loco involved in the collision from vague memory had a cab similar in appearance to a B.R. standard either a Britannia or a 9F but the production was filmed in black & white so no help in trying to workout the colour of the loco was it black or was it by and large green?. I recall by daylight the dead driver of the loco was seen laying in the prone position with his head and shoulders exposed between the cab and tender of the crashed loco!. When the loco crashed into the back end of the goods train in the darkness the sound of a train crashing was heard plus flashes of light were seen across the television screen simulating the moment of impact between the loco and goods train.

The production was filmed either in late 1966 or early 1967 and at the start of 1967 42 Britannia's were still knocking around in traffic plus also at the start of 1967 124 9Fs were left in traffic as well.

[richard]

For the BBC live broadcast, here it is: (or a rerun)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyyV_Jzm5Lg

Apparently a lot of hype - a demonstration of military techniques, etc but someone in their wisdom tied the whistle down so people could hear it coming. Unfortunately this killed the boiler pressure - hence the anti-climax of a derailment!

For staged crashes, the Crash at Crush was more impressive although did result in a fatality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooOp_ED1OB8

Alas no moving images but a lot of stills and a Scott Joplin Rag commemorating the event!

[Mickey]

Regarding the Longmoor Military railway I have some excellent professionally filmed film footage that was shot by a film company around 1960 and features amongst other film sequences a WD 2-8-0 or maybe WD 2-10-0 Gordon 'going all out' hauling a vintage collection of passenger vehicles and vans running parallel to a minor B road on a long tracking shot with the driver having the regulator 'wide open' all the way on a slightly rising gradient which looks very impressive indeed!. In another scene another WD hauling another train of vintage passenger vehicles and vans approaches the cameraman via a long S curve and on passing the cameraman doing about 60mph then stops dead in it's own train length!. The commentator then remarks an emergency stop such as that one would usually result in all the trains wheels having 'wheel flats' (square wheels).