Big-screen stardom awaits Bahamas and 4F in Railway Children sequel
LMS Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45596 Bahamas and Midland Railway 4F No. 43924 – which in 1968 became the first of 213 steam locomotives bought from Barry scrapyard for preservation – have been rostered to star in the sequel to The Railway Children now being filmed, like the 1970 original, on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.
There was also speculation that USATC S160 2-8-0 No. 5820 and Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway ‘Ironclad' 0-6-0 No. 957 might also appear, the latter hauling the Old Gentleman‘s Saloon from the 1970 movie, if its current overhaul is completed in time.
The ‘Ironclad' is also expected to return to steam in the coming weeks for events to commemorate its appearance as ‘The Green Dragon' in the EMI version of Edith A Nesbit's timeless tale, widely hailed as one of the best-loved children's films of all time.
‘Jinty' appearance
There will also be an appearance on static display by Fowler 3F ‘Jinty' 0-6-0T No. 47279, which last ran in 2011 and has been moved out of storage at Oxenhope Exhibition shed, which is being used for interior film sets. It was understood that the‘Jinty'will be painted in LMS livery, along with some station fittings.
For ‘public' filming sessions, traditional shop fronts and a pub in Haworth's Main Street were rebranded as Oakworth.
Filming of the StudioCanal sequel, titled The Railway Children Return, began on and around the heritage line on May 10. Set in the Forties era around 40 years on from the first movie, it stars original BAFTA & Emmy Award-winning cast member Jenny Agutter playing the same character, Roberta. Now 68, Jenny has been known since 2012 for playing Sister Julienne in the BBC's Call the Midwife.
Also starring will be BAFTA-winning Sheridan Smith, Academy Award nominee & BAFTA-winning Tom Courtenay and a new generation of railway children.
Written by BAFTA-winning Danny Brocklehurst, BAFTA-winning director Morgan Matthews will be shooting in key locations from the original film to include Oakworth station, Haworth, and the Brontë Parsonage.
By early May, the station was transformed into a Second World War era space, complete with vintage trains, luggage and signs placed around the set. Unconfirmed reports claimed that Oakworth yard has become the site of a tin shed, with a brake van ‘dirtied up' to act as a prop, and the goods shed also used for filming.
Award-winning producer Jemma Rodgers said: “The locations are the whole reason this new film exists. I used to live in Haworth, so I knew it was all here. So when I went to StudioCanal, I said we could do a sequel and use all the original locations: they're all exactly the same as they were. The stations now are even better for 1944 because the livery is more appropriate than it was for the original film.”
The original 1970 film became a huge hit when it was released and earned three BAFTA nominations.
In the 1970 movie, Nesbit's narrative follows the adventures of the affluent Waterbury family, with the father, Charles Waterbury (Iain Cuthbertson who died in 2009, aged 79), arrested on suspicion of being a spy. Children Roberta ‘Bobbie' (Jenny Agutter), Phyllis (Sally Thomsett) and Peter (Gary Warren) and their mother (Dinah Sheridan, who died in 2012, aged 92) become impoverished and are forced to move to Three Chimneys, a house near Oakworth.
Evacuees
The new film follows the adventures of a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during the Second World War, where they encounter a young soldier, who like them, is far away from home. There has been unconfirmed speculation that the former US Army Transportation Corps S160 is included because the children encounter an American airman.
The sequel is scheduled to be released in UK cinemas on April 1, 2022.