Horton’s Guide to Britain’s Railways in Feature Films

This is the first movie guide for the British railway enthusiast! If, as a railway enthusiast or historian, you’ve ever watched on old black and white British film on a Sunday afternoon and suddenly seen a fascinating glimpse of a contemporary steam railway featured in the story or in the background, this is the book for you! The first film to use a railway as part of the storyline was made in 1899, and was saucily entitled The Kiss in the Tunnel ! Since then many hundreds of feature films have used railways as a backdrop or as an important plot ingredient, including Train of Events , The Titfield Thunderbolt , The Ladykillers , Oh Mr Porter , The Railway Children and, more recently, several of the Harry Potter and James Bond films, taking advantage of today’s preserved steam lines and locomotives. But beyond these classics there are many more lesser-known films where the railway - steam, diesel or electric - makes a brief and tantalising appearance, unwittingly providing a living archive of railway footage. Glyn Horton’s unique and definitive guide lists more than 700 feature films with British railway content, and provides all known details about when and where the sequences were filmed and the identities of the locos involved, as well as ‘howlers’ and other miscellaneous information. DVD/VHS availability is also indicated. So next time you sit down to watch a film, consult Horton’s guide to check whether it has any railway scenes! Glyn Horton is a lifelong railway enthusiast with a degree in Film Studies. He contributes to film websites, and lives and works in South Wales. His book is the result of 10 years’ research.