#the Titfield Thunderbolt

[sudriantraveler]

So, today marks the 70th anniversary of the film The Titfield Thunderbolt, meaning it's been 70 years since the world first saw a steam locomotive and a steamroller have a duel.

[ulrichgebert]

Heiter verklärte Eisenbahnromantik in einer Ealing-Comedy, die wir noch nicht kannten. Es ist nicht die ausgefeilteste, dafür aber die erste in Technicolor. Die Einwohner beschließen, die Eisenbahnstrecke, die geschlossen werden soll, selber zu betreiben. War ja auch eine dumme Idee, diese Verstaatlichung.

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) Charles Crichton

March 18th 2024

[drzito]

Esta semana, diez peliculas del siglo pasado.

Los apuros de un pequeño tren (Charles Crichton, 1953)

[isaacathom]

based on our movie night track records its possible that i, isaac, simply should not watch any comedy movie published before 2007

[the-time-lord-oracle]

Several of Rapido's products at their stand Warley, including the Stirling Single, the Titfield Thunderbolt and the Jones Goods.

[stronklebonk]

Neither of these would stand a chance against this mf

FINAL: The sea train from Spirited Away vs The Little Engine that could

(ids in alt)

[weirdowithaquill]

Traintober 2024: Day 15 - Star

Duck once had a Friend...

Once upon a time, Duck the Great Western Pannier Tank had worked at Paddington Station in London as a station pilot. Paddington was a huge station with several engines just like Duck who rattled about shunting trains for the big engines to take on long journeys all across the West of England and into Wales. Some of these engines were pompous and rude, while others were old and wizened. Duck’s favourite engine at Paddington however was an old, old friend of his.  

Her name was Princess Margaret, and she was a member of the Star Class of GWR express engines. They were old and wise engines, who though displaced from the top link express services by their younger successors the Castles and Kings, still performed admirably.

Duck didn’t get to see his friend much. She worked trains that went right the way out to Wales and back, and so she would often spend the night at her destination before returning. But when Princess Margaret was there, she would always take time out to talk to Duck. The two were as close as engines could be – Margie, as Duck called her, had taught the Pannier everything there was to know about coaches when he’d first arrived, back when she still headed important expresses like the ‘Cornishman’ and the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’. As she’d been displaced first by the Castles, then the Kings, she’d begun running longer-distances, on lighter-laid lines that the two bigger classes just couldn’t travel on.  

“Margie was still in service when I left,” Duck explained to the sheds one evening. The engines at the Big Sheds had been discussing their lives pre-Sodor – the Scottish Twins had spent several long minutes purely explaining why the Thistle was the prettiest flower in the world, while Percy had spent almost an hour going through all the various parts of the country he’d seen. “I feel like she had a good chance of being preserved too. She even got to cameo in that one movie – the Titfield Thunderbolt!”

All throughout this, Bear had been unusually quiet. The former Western-region diesel had had his own stories he wanted to tell, but now he was slightly afraid of speaking up. Oliver noticed. The Great Western autotank was still new to the railway, and didn’t trust Bear yet.

“Well, Bear – you look troubled. Is something the matter?” he asked. Bear winced, his engine making an odd rumbling sound. All the engines looked over, and Bear shrunk back under their attention.

“When I was being built,” he began slowly, “we… uh… I…” Henry smiled sympathetically.

“It’s alright Bear, we won’t hate you for what you have to say,” he offered. Duck, Percy and the other big engines agreed. Bear sighed.

“Princess Margaret was the last Star Class in service,” he said quietly. “And when I was built… she was… being… taken apart at Swindon.” Bear cut off, looking down at his buffers in shame. Duck’s eyes widened.

“She… she was cut up?” he asked slowly. Bear didn’t look Duck in the eye, staring down at the rails instead.

“Yeah. At Swindon. The men claimed they’d waited four years to see if they could find a buyer… and none came for her. I’m sorry Duck – she seemed like such a nice engine. She just told them it wasn’t their fault, and she’d lived a good life…” Bear rumbled out of the sheds to pull the Midnight Goods before any of the engines could say anything. Oliver looked horrified.

“I… I didn’t think he would be so… torn up about it,” he admitted quietly into the night air. “Oliver, I understand you went through something traumatic,” Percy replied darkly, “but you need to learn that not all diesels are evil. Duck… I’m sorry too. It’s hard learning a friend is gone.” Duck didn’t reply, instead staring silently out of the sheds.

His friend had been a real shining star on the Great Western, who’d served them through two World Wars and kept on going even as her class was torn up. And all she got for it was a cold siding at her own birthplace and a cutter’s torch.

Duck wasn’t sure what that said about Swindon’s legacy, but it wasn’t positive.

Back to the Master Post

[gatabella]

Ava Is Stand-In for Marlon

Ava Gardner shows the plaque she received on behalf of her compatriot, Marlon Brando, before the world premiere of the British film The Titfield Thunderbolt, at the Leicester Square Theatre, London. Marlon received the Wedgwood plaque, the British Film Academy Award for 1952, as the best foreign actor for his work in Viva, Zapata. The plaque is in pale blue jasper, ornamented in white with the figure of Apollo, God of the Arts. March 5th 1953

[hunty627]

Thunderbolt is an engine who’s named after the famous movie called the Titfield Thunderbolt.

[david-watts]

if I ever get off my arse and make youtube videos again (something that I actually do enjoy) I ought to make a video where I go through the titfield thunderbolt and point out random pieces of information. like the type of clock visible in one scene (actual fact I know)

[grantgfan]

Amanda, have you ever watched the Titfield Thunderbolt?

Amanda: sometimes

[mogwai-movie-house]

The Best of Ealing Studios

The 15 greatest films of the greatest of all British film studios, 1938-1959:

The Ladykillers (1955) ★★★★★★★★★★

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) ★★★★★★★★★★

The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Passport to Pimlico (1949) ★★★★★★★★★☆

Whisky Galore! (1949) ★★★★★★★★★☆

The Man in the White Suit (1951) ★★★★★★★★½☆

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Dead of Night (1945) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

The Maggie (AKA High and Dry) (1954) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) ★★★★★★★½☆☆

It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Pool of London (1951) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Hue and Cry (1947) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Barnacle Bill (AKA All at Sea) (1957) ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Scott of the Antarctic (1948) ★★★★★★½☆☆☆

[supertrainstationh]

RD15742. GER Wisbech & Upwell Tramway No.7. by Ron Fisher Via Flickr: RD15742. One of the most interesting carriages in the North Norfolk Railway's vintage train is this Great Eastern Railway bogie composite No.7 built for the Wisbech & Upwell Tramway in 1884. Sister carriage No.8 found fame in the 1952 Ealing Comedy 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', but its fame was short lived as it came to a sticky end when it was derailed by the baddies( Pearce and Crump who ran the local bus service) and it crashed down an embankment. It had been fitted with a bar so that Mr. Valentine, the rich old soak that had financed the purchase of the line from BR, could get a drink without waiting for the pubs to open. No.7 has been fitted out with a bar in a similar fashion. Sheringham, North Norfolk, Wednesday, 23rd August, 2017. Copyright © Ron Fisher.

[georgiaejlittlemablog]

Ealing Comedies Part 2

The Magnet (1950). Johnny trades 'an invisible watch' for a horseshoe magnet but the other boys nanny chases him calling him a thief. When Johnny nearly gets hit by a car, he decides to get rid of the magnet only for it to be used by an older boy to cheat at pinball, leaving Johnny implicated and given the magnet by a policeman. When he comes across an iron lung maker, he gives him the magnet in leu of money. The iron lung maker embellishes this story, telling people that a Dickensian orphan gave him the magnet because it was all he had. This encourages people to donate and he eventually gets enough for the iron lung. Meanwhile, Johnny is convinced he has killed the boy he stole the magnet from when he overhears his nanny talking about her dead budgie. When he see's the police officer, he hides in a truck that transports him to Liverpool, where he ends up saving a boy who fell through a pier. The boy ends up in the iron lung Johnny inadvertently helped fund and gets a medal for his bravery, which he trades for 'an invisible watch' to clear his conscience.

The Lavender Hill Mob

The Man in the White Suit

His Excellency

The Titfield Thunderbolt

[movienation]

Classic Film Review: Before "Wanda," before "Ealing Comedies," Crichton crackled in Combat -- "Against the Wind"

It was “The Lavender Hill Mob” and “The Titfield Thunderbolt” that Monty Python’s John Cleese was remembering when he decided that well-past-70 Charles Critchon might be just the jolly sort to direct his screenplay for “A Fish Called Wanda.” Those classic Ealing Comedies might date from another age, and the old rule about “old guys can’t do comedy” remains a hard prejudice to overcome. But…