If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Titfield Thunderbolt Project

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by lynbarn, Sep 27, 2016.

  1. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2014
    Messages:
    469
    Likes Received:
    929
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Since you ask, Time Gentlemen Please (1952), starring Sid James and Dora Bryan.
     
  2. Greenway

    Greenway Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2008
    Messages:
    3,906
    Likes Received:
    3,704
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    South Hams
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The film, "The System", featured Brixham GWR station and many other parts of South Devon. Kingswear is still to be seen and used but Brixham station and buildings have gone. However part of the old trackbed is unused and the other station of the line, Churston, still exits and is served the The Paignton & Dartmouth line.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_System_(1964_film)
     
  3. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    never heard of it...does the station feature much? is it worth searching the net for?
     
  4. SpudUk

    SpudUk Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2009
    Messages:
    1,732
    Likes Received:
    593
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Project Manager
    Location:
    Wales
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Limpley Stoke station building survives
     
  5. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2006
    Messages:
    1,482
    Likes Received:
    482
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Working in the NHS as a Maintenance Electrician
    Location:
    Kent
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I think everyone considers this as yet another Heritage railway project. As I understand it that is not the point of proposal, it is if I am correct a commercial idea to reopen Limply Stoke Station* as a tourist attraction without an operating railway and as a cafe/tourist shop with a Museum to the local railways and the film.

    Anything more than that, is wishful thinking

    * I was under the impression that the station had been demolished, but if it is still there, then I stand corrected, I would also wish the proposal good luck, As I would call in and grab a cake and coffee if I was in the area. Any job creation idea must be looked at and if it turns out to be someones passion then let support it.
     
    Reading General and Matt37401 like this.
  6. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    exactly what I've been saying.
     
    SpudUk and lynbarn like this.
  7. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Messages:
    15,330
    Likes Received:
    11,666
    Occupation:
    Nosy aren’t you?
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Hold my hands up and say I had the wrong end of the stick, if the station building's still standing why not do something with it?
     
  8. 6024KEI

    6024KEI Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    860
    Likes Received:
    472
    Location:
    Bath
    If I recall correctly for a time the station at Limpley Stoke was home to a bookshop named after the film specialising in railway books. There is now one with the same name in Bath but whether its the same one moved I'm not sure.
     
    lynbarn likes this.
  9. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2014
    Messages:
    469
    Likes Received:
    929
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Ok, that makes slightly more sense inasmuch as it's a station which is still extant (albeit in private hands - is the proposer of this the current owner?).

    You are right in thinking the Titfield station had been demolished though, because that was Monkton Combe, not Limpley Stoke.
     
  10. gwralatea

    gwralatea Member

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2014
    Messages:
    469
    Likes Received:
    929
    Gender:
    Male
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Different station...
     
  11. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2006
    Messages:
    1,482
    Likes Received:
    482
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Working in the NHS as a Maintenance Electrician
    Location:
    Kent
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Yes it is the same one I believe, they are the home to a lot of the fine scale model railway books and magazines, also they are the home to wild swan publications.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2016
  12. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2006
    Messages:
    1,482
    Likes Received:
    482
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Working in the NHS as a Maintenance Electrician
    Location:
    Kent
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer

    Thanks for that, it was Monkton Combe station I was thinking of, I guess that the proposed site must be near Midford if that is all it is going to be.
     
  13. Yay, let's restore every station that's ever been in a film. What more excuse could we want for another long-running WIBN NatPres thread? It's been days since we last had one... :confused:
     
  14. lynbarn

    lynbarn Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2006
    Messages:
    1,482
    Likes Received:
    482
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Working in the NHS as a Maintenance Electrician
    Location:
    Kent
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    The details are brief at the moment, I don't know if he is in contact with the site owner or not, all I have asked for is a business plan on how this is going to happen, I understand that this is not a heritage railway project but an opportunity to bring alive someones dreams. Call it what you will but if he has to build a new building and has the money to do so, why should we care? I get the feeling he is appealing more to the 1950's-60's vintage film fans rather the the railway enthusiast market.

    All I will say is good luck to the guy for having the guts to try something new.
     
    oddsocks likes this.
  15. timmydunn

    timmydunn Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2007
    Messages:
    396
    Likes Received:
    299
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Trains and data
    Location:
    City of London
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    No no no. This is silly. The story of the Titfield Thunderbolt is the story of railway preservation.

    Titfield is you. Titfield is me. Titfield is our passengers, our locomotives, our wagons, our spirit, our failures, our successes, our determination. Titfield isn't a real place. It's an idea, a gloriously beautiful idea - and one that we are inspired by daily.

    Rather than creating YET another physical tied site that is its own thing you go a bit more conceptual and you create something that you can take to other railways to tell the story.

    If you really want to honour the story of the TF then create a society about it:

    1. license the film from whoever owns it now
    2. develop yourselves a decent travelling exhibition that loads in the back of the van explaining the story of the film and the story of Britain's preservationists and the dastardly Mr & Mrs Marples
    3. partner with the Vintage Mobile Cinema or get yourselves a marquee with a decent screen
    4. partner with heritage railways at beer festivals and galas and put on screenings of the film and bring in new audiences and sell tickets to fund the screening and the surplus to raise funds for special projects

    That genuinely gives the Thunderbolt the legacy it deserves - one that brings joy and inspires - not just another station marooned somewhere appealing to a niche audience.

    One if the most amazing legacies of that film for me was our screening on a 3 storey high screen on Freetown beach in Sierra Leone - about 6 years ago at the Freetown Film Festival - with an audience of some 1,000 Sierra Leonean people enjoying it in 30 degree night time heat. That's helped inspire a museum 3,000 miles away and save lives.

    Titfield is the fun and the joy we have with railways and it is around you at every heritage railway in Britain.
    titfield2.png CkxOVtuXIAEmyt_.jpg CtI0PjHWIAAk8dL.jpg
     
  16. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    I think you miss the point. Have a look at the Ballyglunin link I put up earlier. It's about creating something within the Community for the benefit of the Community to honour their one claim to fame. It's not about Heritage Railways at all, it's about something that once happened locally. All it would be is an exhibition commemorating the film and maybe a café and giftshop which might generate job or three.
     
    lynbarn likes this.
  17. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2009
    Messages:
    995
    Likes Received:
    761
    Location:
    Devon
    I see nothing wrong with something along the lines of the delightfully restored Tintern station with a cafe, shop etc. but with the added attraction of the film link.

    On the other hand , if thoughts are on the lines of what's been done at the old Cadeleigh station at Bickleigh it would just make me cringe (I'm sure others will disagree on that point).
     
    Reading General likes this.
  18. Matt37401

    Matt37401 Nat Pres stalwart

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2014
    Messages:
    15,330
    Likes Received:
    11,666
    Occupation:
    Nosy aren’t you?
    Location:
    Nowhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Isn't that girl a bit young to be served in the Titfield Arms?! And what would Mr Valentine say? :p:p:p And could somebody please try to persuade the people at Tiverton to let 1442 out!
     
  19. SpudUk

    SpudUk Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2009
    Messages:
    1,732
    Likes Received:
    593
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Project Manager
    Location:
    Wales
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Can I just say I only mentioned that Limpley Stoke station building survived - I'm not sure how that suddenly made it the focal point of the idea
     
    lynbarn likes this.
  20. Reading General

    Reading General Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    May 18, 2011
    Messages:
    6,081
    Likes Received:
    2,217
    Yes your spot on,although Tintern needs the trackbed excavated to make it look right. (I 've been everywhere!)
     

Share This Page