Movie from the 1940's

[Albergman]

I grew up in Scotland in the 40's and 50's before we all emigrated to Canada. I have a recollection of seeing a movie where a young lad maybe won a contest (don't remember the back-story) and got to drive several famous steam engines. For myself, a train-mad boy of similar age, it was pure magic and the stuff of dreams.

Can any of you old codgers our there remember such a film or did I just dream it?

Frank

[Hatfield Shed]

This one? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qjqc8jWU0

[Albergman]

Oh my ... thanks so much for finding this one for me. In all honesty I can't say that was the one as it was close to 80 years ago now. Still, there were moments and scenes that I thought looked familiar. My recollection of the film was that the engines were all LNER and he drove an A4 (Mallard?) and Scotsman but maybe, because I lived beside the LNER I thought that was all there was.

Sad to see fond memories fading. When we emigrated to Canada in '51 we took the night Scotsman from Edinburgh to KX and having run down the platform to see what engine was heading us and having been invited into the cab by the driver I thought I'll never forget that one! But I have. I think it was Papyrus but ... maybe Spion Kop.

Thanks again for taking the time to try and help.

Frank

[Hatfield Shed]

It was no more effort than a very simple search term '1940s film boy drives locomotives' and this was the first film in what came up.

I wasn't surprised to find it in the archive the late John Huntley organised, having attended a couple of his lecture demonstrations of what was now available in the early 1990s. There may well be more...

[Mickey]

Back in the early 1960s I recall watching the American tv programme 'Casey Jones' (this series was recorded around 1957-58 and was shown on British telly during the early/mid 1960s) and the 'star' of the tv series is a north American 4-6-0 called the 'Cannonball Express' and in one episode Casey Jones son aged about 12 or 13 in the tv series and always called by the name Casey Junior has to drive the Cannonball Express for some forgotten reason and as a youngster at the time myself I remember thinking 'what a lucky kid' (to put it politely) ha ha..

Usually any 'footplate scenes' in the tv series were filmed 'in the studio' in a mock up loco cab but occasionally some scenes were filmed outside in the open either with the Cannonball Express tearing along in open country (a tracking shot) and belching out black smoke from the locos smokestack (to use an American phrase for the chimney) or sometimes with the loco at a stand in the open with Casey and Wally Sims Casey's regular fireman talking beside the loco and then both of them climbing up into the cab.

[Albergman]

[quote=It was no more effort than a very simple search term '1940s film boy drives locomotives' and this was the first film in what came up
[/quote]
For some reason I didn't ask Google but instead went to ChatGPT (my new go-to for information) but it didn't come close.

Thanks gents.

[Mickey]

I noticed that the 'kid loco driver' had a bit of black 'coaldust' smeared on his cheeks no doubt added by the film crew to add a bit of authenticity in there eyes but what I have read and seen in photographs of those top-link main line drivers during the steam age was they all mostly wore clean and faded washed overalls along with a jacket and a clean white shirt and tie with a B.R. grease top locomans hat and rarely if ever had any mucky coaldust on them.

I once saw a picture of that guy from the BBC tv programme Top Gear about 5 or 6 years ago who was invited to fire the newly built A1 Tornado and his whole face was 'totally black' no doubt the team filming him thought it would look 'good' if he appeared like that for the television public?.

[Dave S]

I once saw a picture of that guy from the BBC tv programme Top Gear about 5 or 6 years ago who was invited to fire the newly built A1 Tornado and his whole face was 'totally black' no doubt the team filming him thought it would look 'good' if he appeared like that for the television public?.

Jeremy Clarkson. The challenge was an old Jag (James May) a motorbike (Richard Hammond) and Clarkson on Tornado seeing who could go from London to Edinburgh the fastest. Clarkson has a persona of a pure petrolhead but in reality is a keen birdwatcher and wildlife proponent and it a fan of old engineering. The reason he was so filthy was because he was nearer to the tender and the coal dust, couple that to sweat and he had more stuck to him. As far as I remember it was filmed with fixed cameras with no production on the footplate as with Clarkson there were already 4 or 5. (Driver, Fireman(were there 2?) Pilot & Clarkson)

[Mickey]

I once saw a picture of that guy from the BBC tv programme Top Gear about 5 or 6 years ago who was invited to fire the newly built A1 Tornado and his whole face was 'totally black' no doubt the team filming him thought it would look 'good' if he appeared like that for the television public?.

Jeremy Clarkson. The challenge was an old Jag (James May) a motorbike (Richard Hammond) and Clarkson on Tornado seeing who could go from London to Edinburgh the fastest. Clarkson has a persona of a pure petrolhead but in reality is a keen birdwatcher and wildlife proponent and it a fan of old engineering. The reason he was so filthy was because he was nearer to the tender and the coal dust, couple that to sweat and he had more stuck to him. As far as I remember it was filmed with fixed cameras with no production on the footplate as with Clarkson there were already 4 or 5. (Driver, Fireman(were there 2?) Pilot & Clarkson)

From my memory of the picture of Jeremy Clarkson after firing the A1 Tornado was that his whole face and neck was 'pitch black' which actually looked a bit weird to be quite honest?. I just thought that typically the television people wanted to 'beef it up' a bit to show the television viewers that (in there opinion) this is what all railway firemen use to look like after shovelling 5 or 6 tons of coal into a locomotive firebox in days gone by and a bit like the BBC did on the Country File tv programme had done about 7 or 8 years ago when the film crew attended a countryside fare that had amongst the attractions a number of steam worked 'traction engines' and they got one of the traction engine drivers to get him to perform 'wheelers' on the rear large driving wheel while driving a traction engine around the arena?.

[Albergman]

Not a fan of Clarkson I'm afraid but I really enjoyed that episode and the wonderful coverage of Tornado. I bet many viewers learned for the first time that the UK had built a brand new steam engine from scratch. My favourite parts of the episode though were with poor little Hammond in the rain astride a Vincent Black Shadow. He seemed truly excited to be riding such an iconic bike and appreciated it for what it was. But the weather and the bike fought him all the way to Edinburgh. And how fitting that Mays of course was comfortably ensconced in a lovely dry, quiet Jaguar XK 120.

[Dave S]

Not a fan of Clarkson

Hammond in the rain astride a Vincent Black Shadow.

Clarkson has a real marmite TV persona, around these parts there are many farmers who say that he's done more for farming with his recent series showing just how hard it is to farm, than the BBC's Countryfile has done in 25 years.

Re; the Black Shadow. The old Great North road (A1) around Stevenage was where they were tested, regularly achieving 120+mph.

[Albergman]

Clarkson has a real marmite TV persona, around these parts there are many farmers who say that he's done more for farming with his recent series showing just how hard it is to farm, than the BBC's Countryfile has done in 25 years.

Re; the Black Shadow. The old Great North road (A1) around Stevenage was where they were tested, regularly achieving 120+mph.

Had a few British bikes in my teen years in Canada ... AJS and Matchless mostly. When I was 17 a family friend had to return to Scotland for 2 months and asked me if I'd look after his bike as he had no garage. Can you imagine the thrill for a teenage lad being given the use of a Vincent Rapide in the height of summer? Pure magic.

Marmite personality ... love that and it's dead on. Have to admit he's made me laugh but I find him boorish.

[Hatfield Shed]

... And how fitting that Mays of course was comfortably ensconced in a lovely dry, quiet Jaguar XK 120.

What wasn't fitting was that he was allowed motorway and dual carriageways. Other than the 'Barnet bypass'* there was no dual carriageway London-Edinburgh circa 1950, and you went at walking pace through most of the towns on 'The Great North Road' and often crawled up gradients at the 5 to 10mph that was the best heavy commercial vehicles of that time could do, and making good speed was a 12 hour run. Most of this route still exists of necessity, as the local traffic requires it.

* And why were Tim Birkin's 'blower Bentleys' constructed in Welwyn Garden City? Because the Barnet bypass was the only stretch of road in the UK at that time on which the sustained speed required for the Mulsanne straight could be achieved, necessary for effective competition in the Le Mans 24hr.