Railway General Knowledge.

[Gaelan]

Yes! The Sounder commuter rail system is operated by BNSF, and mostly runs over BNSF line, but between Tacoma and Lakewood it runs over the Point Defiance Bypass, which is owned by Sound Transit.

Incidentally, that's a Sounder train in my profile picture (which I had removed for the day to avoid giving the game away!). A somewhat odd service which never really recovered after the pandemic, perhaps because it operates almost exclusively a peak-time service for commuters into Seattle, with only a few trains per day in the other direction (out of Seattle in the morning and back in in the evening), and zero off-peak service in either direction. A shame, really - it'd be a great service if it operated throughout the day. The one time I tried to take it, we ended up stopped for 30 minutes because a car got stuck at a level crossing.

 

[Ashley Hill]

@D6130 would you like to pose a question?

 

[D6130]

Sorry! This one seems to have slipped my mind.

 

[D6130]

On which two stretches of railway was the 1930s comedy film "Oh Mr Porter!" filmed?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Deleted,wrong film

 

[Calthrop]

Per my understanding, not Limpley Stoke -- Camerton (that was The Titfield Thunderbolt), but Basingstoke -- Alton. I'm afraid I wot not of Temple Meads Fish Dock.

 

[D6130]

Basingstoke -- Alton

That's one of them....but which stretch of line represented the approaches to "Belfast" at the end of the film and - by implication - which large station represented "Belfast"?

 

[Peterthegreat]

That's one of them....but which stretch of line represented the approaches to "Belfast" at the end of the film and - by implication - which large station represented "Belfast"?

Waterloo.

 

[D6130]

Waterloo.

Correct....or to be strictly accurate, Clapham Junction to Waterloo. Whoever would have thought that there was third rail electrification in Northern Ireland?! So @Calthrop has half the answer and @Peterthegreat has the other half. Would you both agree to a tie-breaker question?

 

[Peterthegreat]

Correct....or to be strictly accurate, Clapham Junction to Waterloo. Whoever would have thought that there was third rail electrification in Northern Ireland?! So @Calthrop has half the answer and @Peterthegreat has the other half. Would you both agree to a tie-breaker question?

OK by me.....

 

[Calthrop]

And by me.

 

[D6130]

OK....here goes:

On which highly-scenic international cross-border line were the final climatic scenes of the film "Von Ryan's Express" filmed?

 

[Calthrop]

A wild-ish guess: Cuneo -- Limone -- Ventimiglia, Italy / France ?

 

[Peterthegreat]

Bit of a guess.
The line across the Italian/Austrian border at San Candido/Innichen.

 

[D6130]

A wild-ish guess: Cuneo -- Limone -- Ventimiglia, Italy / France ?

Correct....a good guess! your turn to derail the Nazi troop train.

Bit of a guess.
The line across the Italian/Austrian border at San Candido/Innichen.

Sorry!

 

[Calthrop]

Correct....a good guess! your turn to derail the Nazi troop train.

Good heavens ! -- I was pretty well, plunging a pin into map of that part of Alps ... thank you, anyway.

Sticking rather closely to the theme; and hoping that this may not be too abstruse.

My feeling about Von Ryan's Express is that as any kind of drama about human interaction, it's beyond awful -- one huge cliche from start to finish -- but it does provide a splendid feast of Italian steam. For my money, the film The Eagle Has Landed is if possible, even more hackneyed-ly dreadful; but it does include a brief sequence of steam in continental Europe. Question: in context of film's narrative, where geographically (it features an episode in World War II) does this sequence supposedly take place? And / or: on the railways of what country (not the same one as per the film's story) was the sequence filmed? Correct answer to either or both of the foregoing, to be regarded as getting the question right.

 

[Gloster]

I have never seen the film and when I read the book as a teenager was not impressed. ( I have a feeling that Harry Patterson was one of those authors who had not written xy books, but one book xy times.)

Poland.

 

[Calthrop]

I have never seen the film and when I read the book as a teenager was not impressed. ( I have a feeling that Harry Patterson was one of those authors who had not written xy books, but one book xy times.)

I read the book, subsequently to seeing the film. My verdict was: War And Peace it ain't, but it's better than the movie -- not a difficult feat . (I once worked with a colleague whose gentleman friend was, genuinely, called Jack Higgins; they had a running gag, to the effect that it was him who wrote the books.)

Poland

Yes -- per the film's story, the train incident was in Poland. The boss-man of the sneak-into-Britain squad, who is quite a decent chap for a Hun, disobeys orders by sparing the life of a female participant in the Warsaw uprising -- puts her on a moving train and sends her far away. The sequence was actually shot not in Poland; but on Finland's railways.

Your turn to perform deeds of derring-do in the Third Reich.

 

[Gloster]

There was another film with Michael Caine that had trains in the Finnish snow. Which film?

 

[341o2]

I have never seen the film and when I read the book as a teenager was not impressed. ( I have a feeling that Harry Patterson was one of those authors who had not written xy books, but one book xy times.)

Poland.

The authour was David Westheimer, agree that it reminds me of certain operas - a silly plot set to some decent music.

However. I have some issues with the railway sequences, in that
The length of time the driver was at the controls without apparently without taking a break.
His encyclopedic route knowledge of the country's railways
I don't believe anyone can roll off their back, over a rail quick enough not to be decapitated by the wheels of a moving train.
In the sequence at Milan, one group is smashing the signalling, while another is throwing hand points. surely there must be some form of interlocking.
The speed at which the German troop train stops, without any discomfort to the soldiers

 

[Calthrop]

The authour was David Westheimer, agree that it reminds me of certain operas - a silly plot set to some decent music.

Re your above-quoted; I think @Gloster and I were talking here about The Eagle Has Landed, not Von Ryan's Express; but suspect that in that exchange, I put things a bit confusingly.

In the sequence at Milan, one group is smashing the signalling, while another is throwing hand points. surely there must be some form of interlocking.

I recall thinking that the signalling installation ("box" sounds too humble) which the guys were wrecking, looked incongruously "space-age" for the first half of the 1940s; but maybe, my ignorance there -- perhaps Italy at that time was, re railway signalling, way ahead of the general curve ...

 

[341o2]

According to Mr W Pedia

The railway sequence at the film's conclusion, however, was shot in the Caminito del Rey walkway in the limestone gorge of El Chorro and in the adjacent railway bridge, near Málaga in Andalucía, Spain.[11][12] This switch from filming in Italy was probably done as the bridge looked more suitably attractive for presenting the final set piece than anything that could be found on the Italian rail network. The train featuring in these sequences was laid on by the RENFE/Spanish National Railways and altered to resemble the Italy-based train

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Ryan's_Express

PS Vito Scotti looks entirely authentic with all that grime associated with steam locomotives

 

[Gloster]

There was another film with Michael Caine that had trains in the Finnish snow. Which film?

Just to remind all that this is the question. I will give a clue tomorrow if answer comes there none.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The Ipcress File?

 

[Gloster]

The Ipcress File?

Right character, wrong film. (The Ipcress File had steam at Marylebone.)

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Right character, wrong film. (The Ipcress File had steam at Marylebone.)

Not having seen The Ipcress File (or any of the others), I've had to consult Mr W Pedia and this is what he says:
"There were two immediate sequels starring Harry Palmer: Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Decades later Michael Caine returned to the character in Harry Alan Towers's Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996).

My guess would be the first of these, but I really don't know.

 

[Gloster]

Not having seen The Ipcress File (or any of the others), I've had to consult Mr W Pedia and this is what he says:
"There were two immediate sequels starring Harry Palmer: Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). Decades later Michael Caine returned to the character in Harry Alan Towers's Bullet to Beijing (1995) and Midnight in Saint Petersburg (1996).

My guess would be the first of these, but I really don't know.

I am afraid not. I don’t think there were any railways in Funeral in Berlin, unless there were some glimpses of the S-Bahn.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I am afraid not. I don’t think there were any railways in Funeral in Berlin, unless there were some glimpses of the S-Bahn.

Thanks ... I'll pass on this, then.

 

[341o2]

I'll go for the Billion Dollar Brain then

 

[Gloster]

I'll go for the Billion Dollar Brain then

And you would be correct. Scenes were filmed in Helsinki, Nikkilä and Porvoo.

To you to shout ‘Action’.