Railways in Pop Culture

[Statto]

And the 1st episode of Going Straight is partly set on Fletch's return journey to London and has some footage on a platform somewhere(?).

Stafford is it, where the crooks who've just robbed a shop board.

 

[al green]

A friend who was very knowledgeable about all things Western Region and came from Berkshire and liked Supertramp said the announcement was recorded at Didcot even though It is clear that it's for the 1945 from Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads.

Must have been recorded at Paddington. During the making of Crime of the Century album Supertramp lived in a house near Wantage. They presumably commuted from Didcot to the studio in London. Some friends of mine moved in to the house after Supertramp left. Interesting plants found in the greenhouse!

 

[Cowley]

Must have been recorded at Paddington. During the making of Crime of the Century album Supertramp lived in a house near Wantage. They presumably commuted from Didcot to the studio in London. Some friends of mine moved in to the house after Supertramp left. Interesting plants found in the greenhouse!

Haha! Brilliant.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Must have been recorded at Paddington. During the making of Crime of the Century album Supertramp lived in a house near Wantage. They presumably commuted from Didcot to the studio in London. Some friends of mine moved in to the house after Supertramp left. Interesting plants found in the greenhouse!

Area must have been attractive to bands. Traffic lived in a house near Didcot c 1967. Jimmy Page lived in Pangbourne, on the Thames c 1971 or so.

Going back a bit further, and with clear rail connections - I seem to remember one of the Searchers (Sweets for my Sweet n sugary pop like that) ended up as a signalman somewhere around Liverpool Street.

and going back even further, wasn't Joe Brown or one of his Bruvvers a fireman on the LT&SR in the days of 3-cylinder Stanier 2-6-4Ts?

 

[mirodo]

I'm sitting in [Widnes] railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm sitting in [Widnes] railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound.

Shocking that it's taken 11 pages to get that one in, but then again I'd only just remembered it and was about to post it now!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Oh Bravo!

If anyone's unaware (apologies for the naughty word in the album title!):
https://youtu.be/0nPU7Hc3K6Y

A lovely portrait of South London in the 1990s...

If your conscience fails you we can be your guide
The runaway train will take you for a ride
It's an '88 special with automatic doors
Johnny Guitar, tell 'em where it goes
Down the tracks like a thunderstorm
past the house where I was born
Guaranteed and bonafide, a genuine white knuckle ride
We've got smackheads, crackheads, pensioners, pimps,
anonymous alcoholics looking for a drink
So put your feet up, enjoy the show
Twenty four minutes from Tulse Hill let's go

We've got yardies, steamers, parasitic cops
Bostik boys playing chicken in the box,
jackpot crackpots, Summerstown blues
nineteen nervous wrecking crews
Mad alsatians, pit-bull terroists,
hammerheaded loan sharks trying out for Jaws 6
BMX bandits breaking all the windows,
you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Twenty four minutes trom Tulse Hill
the driver's dressed in black
He's dead on the dead man's handle
and we ain't coming back

We're going down the tracks and off the page
past the dole, The Silver Blades
Through the flats to the seventh floor
along the walkway to your front door
Up the staircase, down the hall
where daddy bangs you against the wall
and beats your brains in with a tablespoon
AWOPBOPALOOBOPALOPBAMBOOM !

Calling all cars, calling all cars
check all the pubs and raid all the bars
Bring in the rapists, the muggers and thieves
make it safe for the OAP's
House the homeless boys and girls
save the children, feed the world
Then put your feet up, mind the gap
and take it right back to the track Fruit Bat

Twenty four minutes from Tulse Hill
the driver's dressed in black
He's dead on the dead man's handle
and we ain't coming back

We're going down the tracks and on ahead
where skins and angels fear to tread
Up the chimneys, down the drains
through the eyes of hurricanes
From the brothels of Streatham,
to the taking of Peckham
fun, fun, fun,
Here we come!

 

[faltskog36abba]

Abbas The day before you came has been mentioned, check out Blancmange covering the song in 84 with old Br diesels.

 

[fowler9]

I'm sitting in [Widnes] railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound.

I have heard rumours that it was not written on Widnes station. One thing to back this up would be that apparently Paul Simon was waiting for a train to London. Am I alone in thinking he would have had a long wait? Not saying it isn't true mind. I have heard other rumours that he was actually on Ditton Junction (Very close to Widnes if not closer to the town centre and a more obvious connection to London).

 

[Cowley]

Shocking that it's taken 11 pages to get that one in, but then again I'd only just remembered it and was about to post it now!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


If anyone's unaware (apologies for the naughty word in the album title!):
https://youtu.be/0nPU7Hc3K6Y

A lovely portrait of South London in the 1990s...

Yeah man! That bought back memories, saw them live a couple of times too.
Hadn't heard thatffor ages.

 

[nlogax]

Abbas The day before you came has been mentioned, check out Blancmange covering the song in 84 with old Br diesels.

Wasn't that London Bridge with EPBs?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Dempsey & Makepeace has already been mentioned..ep4 is the one I always remember. Shenanigans with Mk2 stock (including Michael Brandon hanging out of the back of a moving one) in sidings in north / east London.. not that I can find where.

https://youtu.be/PWYu3XEOJ6k?t=40m3s

IMDB says it was the K&ESR but it looks like Temple Mills or somewhere similarly electrified..plenty of blue / grey stock hanging around. Any ideas?

 

[Clarence Yard]

Must have been recorded at Paddington. During the making of Crime of the Century album Supertramp lived in a house near Wantage. They presumably commuted from Didcot to the studio in London. Some friends of mine moved in to the house after Supertramp left. Interesting plants found in the greenhouse!

I spoke with the announcer himself last week and he reckons it was recorded in July 1974. It was indeed Paddington where he was on duty.

 

[roversfan2001]

Probably been mentioned (I've not read any posts in here yet ) but my favourite is the line "Just a Virgin Pendolino and she's asking me to dance" in the song Small Bones by The Courteeners, such a simple lyric but is perfect in the context it is in.

 

[Statto]

I have heard rumours that it was not written on Widnes station. One thing to back this up would be that apparently Paul Simon was waiting for a train to London. Am I alone in thinking he would have had a long wait? Not saying it isn't true mind. I have heard other rumours that he was actually on Ditton Junction (Very close to Widnes if not closer to the town centre and a more obvious connection to London).

I've heard it was written at either Widnes South or Widnes Central stations.

 

[mirodo]

I have heard rumours that it was not written on Widnes station. One thing to back this up would be that apparently Paul Simon was waiting for a train to London. Am I alone in thinking he would have had a long wait? Not saying it isn't true mind. I have heard other rumours that he was actually on Ditton Junction (Very close to Widnes if not closer to the town centre and a more obvious connection to London).

He was on tour and was WISHING he was homeward (London) bound.

 

[yorksrob]

Shocking that it's taken 11 pages to get that one in, but then again I'd only just remembered it and was about to post it now!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


If anyone's unaware (apologies for the naughty word in the album title!):
https://youtu.be/0nPU7Hc3K6Y

A lovely portrait of South London in the 1990s...

Must be a 455 then if it had automatic doors. Shame.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Must be a 455 then if it had automatic doors. Shame.

Or a 456... '88 special' after all.

 

[Upton]

One that seems to have slipped through the net is the video for Geno by Dexys Midnight Runners from 1980. It shows Birmingham New Street and a Class 50 just arriving, as well as a couple of the band members jumping over the gates at New Street.

It's often shown on Vintage TV, but I couldn't find the clip on You Tube. However here it is on Clipfish:-

http://www.clipfish.de/musikvideos/video/3564179/dexys-midnight-runners-geno/

 

[yorksrob]

Or a 456... '88 special' after all.

Yes, I always forget about those. Still not as good as an EPB though !

 

[Groningen]

Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart - People Get Ready > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC_j_dzkaVE

U2 - Zoo Station

Outside competition from the Netherlands:
Per spoor (by railway) - Guus Meeuwis > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpbTI4zN1FY
The stations of Tilburg and Eindhoven + some rolling stock

 

[BurtonM]

Nobody's mentioned Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk yet.

A montage scene in Hot Fuzz briefly features a 165.

Plenty of things have used Charing Cross LU's Jubilee platforms (Skyfall did, was there a Madonna music video using 96TS too?).

The tube station in one onf the Tomb Raider games.

The fake 'Vauxhall Cross' tube station in Die Another Day.

The hilariously bad Metrolink crash in Coronation Street.

Under Your Thumb by Godley & Creme talks of trains, and the 7" single cover has a steam train on it.

Waiting for a Train by Flash and the Pan.

Manchester Mayfield in that weird post-apocalyptic thing on ITV (and Prime Suspect).

National Express by the Divine Comedy, despite the name.

 

[EM2]

Nobody's mentioned Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk yet.

Also 'Trans-Pennine Express' by Warm Digits, as well as their entire 'Interchange' album.
If you're interested to hear what they sound like, they're doing a session for Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music tonight.

 

[dgl]

Another couple of foreign ones,
Moskow Diskow by Telex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc1PpRQ-ccM which i'm guessing was filmed either in Belgium or france.
Break It Up by Scooter https://youtu.be/dWIHvuABaFU This was filmed (iirc) on a preserved line in East Berlin.

 

[Harbon 1]

I forgot about (somehow) Night Mail by Public Service Broadcasting.

An odd concept to use clips from information films, but they are brilliantly compiled. I recommend them. https://youtu.be/WFJPYi3JXw4

 

[Paul180]

I don't think "The 8:15 from Manchester" has been mentioned it was named after the train departing from Manchester Piccadilly station for London Euston, which was, and still is at 08:15 according to Wikipedia.

 

[BurtonM]

Yep, we still have xx:15 trains to Euston.

 

[mm333]

The episode of the Thick of It filmed on Grand Central trains and at Brighouse station

And this scene from Monty Python's Flying Circus https://youtu.be/sVbb6pZLfzU?t=1m3s

MJ Hibbett and the Validators have done a number of railway-related songs which I've liked, including 'Holdalls Is The New Name For Midland Mainline Lost Property' and 'Hell On Earth (Birmingham New Street)'

Oh and Lorraine Bowen's 'Platform 1, Shenfield Station' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hApCn8nAGag

 

[SGB1953]

I love this thread! I don't think Morningtown Ride, which I've heard only by the Seekers, has been mentioned. As the composer was from the USA I imagine it doesn't count anyway. It's also not very specific.

 

[KTHV]

Not sure if it's been mentioned previously - but I'm a fan of "Last Train to London" by ELO.

There is a station/guard announcement on the recording towards the end (which I can't quite make out)

 

[Poolie]

Not 'pop' culture and only toy trains, but in Obsession with Robert Newton 1949, a model railway plays a significant part !

 

[156443]

https://youtu.be/3gHEcCjfHzU

This scene from Mr Bean, episode "Hair By Mr Bean Of London" filmed at St Pancras

https://youtu.be/KsgJC6brhgc

Also this one from an earlier episode "Mr Bean Rides Again"


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