Masterplan

Paul A. Lunn puts a tight focus on a big-screen gem that features railway action worthy of a layout remake.

Paul A. Lunn presents trackplans based on railways and locomotives in the movies.

Mention ‘railway films’ and the first that spring to mind are usually The Titfield Thunderbolt or The Railway Children. Yet there are some movies with cracking railway sequences that we often overlook and they are certainly overlooked as subjects for railway modelling projects. I’ve tried to redress the balance in recent years by taking a look at both Brief Encounter (MR204) and North West Frontier (MR218). Now’s the time to look at another of my favourites.

YOUNG WINSTON

Young Winston, inspired by Winston Churchill’s early life, is not a film you would readily associate with the railway genre. What follows in this article will enable you to recreate key sequences, with the dual benefit of modelling two key locations used during filming.

Fact or fiction? With the historical event taking place in South Africa during the Boer War, and a feature film that’s 48 years old, it can be difficult to sort reality from make-believe.

Certainly, with respect to the railway scenes, the evidence suggests that the key players and the sequence of events are pretty accurate, while the locations are not. The first sight of a railway shows coaches and a station that’s supposed to depict Churchill’s time in India, but the scene was almost certainly shot in Morocco. London’s Marylebone station comes next, before the film settles down into its longest railway scene, involving a British armoured train. Here’s where fact and fiction blur. Armoured trains, for reconnaissance, had become regular practice and Captain Haldane, along with war correspondent and friend Winston Churchill (played by Edward Woodward and Simon Ward in the film), took a ride on one on November 15 1899. They were joined by some 50 soldiers from A Company,

2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Lieutenant Frankland (possibly played by James Cosmo) was not only in charge of the train’s gun, but also a number of soldiers from the Durban

Light Infantry. They set out for

Chieveley, northwest of Durban, but, having spotted Boers in the distance, Haldane ordered the train’s return to Estcourt. It came under fire from two guns on a ridge nearby and an attempted escape was temporarily foiled by Boers, who blocked the line. Frankland’s gun team kept the Boers at a distance, and there was a well-organised attempt to rescue the locomotive, along with as many wounded as possible. There is an incident concerning the cowardly locomotive driver but, without real evidence, it can only be considered as pure story-telling for dramatic effect. Once out of range of the Boer guns, not realising he’d lost his Mauser C96 pistol, Churchill halts the train and goes back to help Haldane, who had been left behind. Unfortunately, he is captured and imprisoned with other officers in Pretoria. This sequence was filmed at Craig-y-nos, formerly Penwyllt, on the Neath & Brecon Railway. The film sequence lasts approximately 11 minutes, whereas factual reports suggest the incident really lasted an hour. There are also discrepancies between the film and historical sources about how the train was halted, not to mention mixed reports about what happened next.

Churchill escaped from a Boer POW camp. Some say that he waited for a train to Portuguese East Africa that never came. The film, using the military railway at Longmoor, suggests that he caught a train straight away, alighting later before a checkpoint. Whichever version you believe, he arrives at a mine managed by John Howard (played by John Woodvine), a UK national. After a period of hiding, Howard helps Winston catch a train to Portuguese East Africa. The movie makers filmed at Morlais Colliery, while for Churchill’s escape to Portuguese East Africa, they once again used the facilities at Longmoor.

The sequence was filmed at Craigy-nos, formerly Penwyltt, on the Neath & Brecon Railway