Keighley & Worth Valley becomes West Coast main line

Was advised that it had to be filmed in Yorkshire because most of the funding for the film/drama came from one of the Yorkshire funding bodies.

 

Funny how the WCML down south looked like Shap had been singled

 

Two questions:

Did they actually "steal" a loco from a depot for "practice"?
Was the BR double arrow doctored after filming to look like a BR Crest? Looked like that for the second it was visible. Did someone note the error post filming?

A very enjoyable drama. Looking forward to part 2 tomorrow night.

 

Indeed, but there were many things that jarred. I could accept the 37 masquerading as a 40, but why did it have an American horn? Were ground signals used as distants on the WCML? Why were the trees bare, not to mention the frost and snow? I seem to remember that the robbery took place in the middle of summer (perhaps Yorkshire folk regard that as summer weather, mind!) Oh, and did the gang really use "military" vehicles with civilian number plates? If they had, then their attention to detail wasn't all it was cracked-up to be and it's a wonder someone hadn't smelled a rat much sooner.

 

I think it was filmed in a snowy April on the KWVR. The producers must have been hoping for more summer like April but got a December like one instead! When it comes to signalling details I think that is taking it a bit too far but I definitely agree that awful horn sound effect should have stayed on the kid's toy it came from!

 

Saw both parts. I agree some liberties were taken, but in general I found the 'facts' of the robbery were presented with reasonable accuracy. I also enjoyed the 'Euston Depot' sequence if only because we got to see some nice shots around Haworth Yard as a result.

Credit were it's due, they not only showed the gang rigging the distant signal (which I've never seen depicted in previous dramatizations of the robbery), but even included the gang member responsible failing to use the glove to obscure the distant and resorting to pulling the bulb out (which really happened, thus setting off an alarm in Leighton Buzzard signalbox when the circuit was broken).

Failing to seal the brake pipe was also a nice explanation of why the train did not move off initially (I've never been clear on exactly what went wrong there - sometimes it's told that the gang's 'driver' did not how to drive a diesel, sometimes the story goes that he was ex-Southern Region and thus unfamiliar with vacuum-braked stock, and at other times I've heard that one of the more hotheaded robbers simply lost patience and dragged poor bleeding Jack Mills back to the cab before the 'driver' could evacuate the brake pipe).

Part Two tonight also included an excellent scene for me at the end, where Detective Butler points out to ringleader Bruce Reynolds that the robbery was hardly a victimless crime, as Jack Mills was unable to go back to work and basically had his life ruined. Reynolds then responds with the equal truth that the severe sentencing laid out on the robbers simply resulted in an elevation of crimes being committed with firearms - each side was presented with more nuance then I've come to expect with coverage of the robbery.

By the way, TonyMay - the GCR does have one rail-over-road bridge, crossing a farm track just north of Swithland Reservoir. Indeed this spot has been used in a dramatization of the Great Train Robbery, as the railway scenes for 'Buster' (1988) were filmed there.

In terms of visual accuracy to the events of that night, another worthy contender is 'Robbery' (1967) - it was filmed with BR's help on a recently closed double-track line, with an actual Class 40 and a full train of TPO stock (something no preservation line has been able to provide since). The rest of the story was heavily fictionalized (names changed, fictional story elements forced in), but the rail scenes are pretty sound.

 

I think you'll find the film was located on the Market Harborough - Northampton line which is now part of the Northampton & Lamport Rly Preservation site.

 

I saw a couple of briefs shots from "The Copper's Tale", including a very modern looking incident room board that stated a picture was of a "Class 40 locomotive" - in 1963? Surely, an English-Electric Type 4 back then?

(There was a genuine picture of a "Class 40" plus a front end view of an English Electric type 3)

Steven

 

Still are, aren't they? EE Type 4's the modern terminology for a EE Type C diesel.

 

Yes, but I think what Bean-counter meant was they weren't known as class 40s in 1963. It wasn't until the early 70s that they became class 40s. Am I right there?

 

Indeed, I quick look up suggests 1973 when TOPS came in.
RE: quotes- what web browser are you using? IE has recently stopped doing it (or at least for me), firefox works fine.

 

Looks like there's another (there are many) issue with IE11. I'm running that on W7 and although hovering your mouse over the reply button will show "Reply, quoting this message", you don't get a quote of the message that you're trying to reply to appearing in the message box.
I suspect that Admin might have to look at the code underlying the NatPres web pages to identify how the behaviour of IE11 has suddenly changed from that of IE10 and earlier versions of the browser.
Cheers,

 

I still refer to them as EE Type 4's; hence me saying 'still are, aren't they?' I guess my attempt at humour failed. My kids always say that my level of humour is beyond them......

 

I have the same problem with my grandchildren who look at me sideways and say 'don't get that grandad'...... oh well.

 

Does anyone know where they filmed the scenes overlooking the platforms at Euston and when they walked alongside the long tiled wall. Was it really Euston or elsewhere as it seemed familiar but with my aging memory I can't place where it is ? It seemed to be using a lot of CGI to make it look older than it is

 

Spot on - didn't dawn on me when I was looking at the it on the TV screen, only afterwards.

And, to be fair, how much written about the Robbery since will refer to D326 as a "Class 40"? Mind you, I have checked and Wikipedia have got it right.....

Steven

 

Good programmes these i thought, generally very well made and written, although single track Yorkshire did jar a bit as the southern end of the wcml! The class 37 seemed to have slightly strange looking ferret and dartboard emblems with an infill colour, presumably vinyls to cover the double arrows. Odd headlight boxes seemed to be grafted on and the high intensity central headlight was visible although not lit, which i understand is a much later addition.

Can't believe I didn't put two and two together with the wintry scenes in 'August'. Mind you it is set in Britain so maybe its not so wide of the mark for a British summer! However I did notice the Jag and Daimler at the earlier BOAC raid, set in 1962, with 1963/64 A-reg number plates...

Nice to see the Hyde Park picture house in Leeds, used to live round the corner from there. Would also be interested to know where 'Euston' was filmed before being CGI'd.

 

Has anyone answered your first question?

Even if there were errors with details, I enjoyed the drama.

Regards,

Mookie

 

Wasn't the first one from the footbridge at Kly? Not sure about the tiles, can't remember if Kly subway is tiled.