Replica French/German/Swiss/British (delete as appropriate) locomotive produced and destroyed for new Mission Impossible film.

[MarkyT]

I wonder if the loco in question was made by the same props company as the big French-inspired 4-8-2 and complete train supplied for the 2017 Kenneth Branagh version of Murder on the Orient Express. Clearly, this one has a much smaller chance of turning up later as an attraction at a long-closed station in the Lake District, however:

 

[doningtonphil]

Probably one of the many many special effects or set design companies that exist to build this sort of thing. Watch the final film and you'll see it in the credits. Same as the full size replica of a TDB Devastator built for Midway to sit on a sound stage built to look like the deck of the USS Enterprise. That Devastator is such a good reproduction it's now in the USS Midway museum as no real ones survived. Nothing is beyond them if it's physcially possible and they have the budget.

Probably the only railway involvement would have been a representative of GBRf and NYMR checking it was safe to be propelled and run and wasn't going to damage infrastructure.

Previous photos of the loco at Loughborough had vans belonging to a certain Mr I Riley in the forground. I think he knows his way around building a steam loco or two. I understand it is (was) powered by a Scania truck chassis/engine in the tender. I know for certain that the special effects company who were charged with creating it are used because they are very much 'old school, CGI/green screen free' props engineers, whihc fits in well with Tom Cruise ethos of 'stunts being real stunts and not CGI

 

[John Luxton]

You really don't want to work at a scrapyard or waste reception site...the perfectly good stuff that gets thrown in skips/ crushed, etc.!
One waste reception site I worked at had a foreman who retrieved stuff and sold it on at antique shops/car boot sales...he ploughed the money back to the company, which enabled the site to employ three more staff to give much better service to the public (and retrieve things).

In some ways I can see some good coming our of that. Whilst I am not a hoarder, before I throw anything out or dispose of things I ask myself a lot of questions multiple times. As well as being interested in railways I am always interested in ships. Whilst I know railway conservation / preservation can easily raise funds for various causes I know ship preservation does not and I accept that sometime scrapping is the more humane solution than a lingering rusty death in semi preservation.

 

[Flying Phil]

Here are a couple of pictures of the "engine" when it was undergoing trials on the GCR back in 2020.

 

[70014IronDuke]

As much as it looks spectacular and was built to be destroyed something inside me just makes wanton destruction for gratification seem wrong. I feel the same way about period dramas that occasionally crash period road vehicles. is it just me or do others feel the same?

I was planning to comment in a similar manner yesterday. I know it's not "real" - I mean, there are no crew on board etc, but it just makes me wince to see destruction like this.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I suppose it was at least a fake unlike 46009.

 

[Cowley]

I suppose it was at least a fake unlike 46009.

Even in that state it would probably have been easier to restore than 45015 currently is.

 

[Ralph Ayres]

I'm still baffled by why such effort went into making it look realistically British (possibly even to many non-enthusiasts?) then branding it as a continental loco.

 

[D6130]

I'm still baffled by why such effort went into making it look realistically British (possibly even to many non-enthusiasts?) then branding it as a continental loco.

Yep....even the number starting with '462', which on a real French Pacific would, of course, be '231'.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

As has been mentioned several times, they needed a locomotive that fitted UK loading gauge. Copying a British locomotive might have been easier than scaling down a French design, especially if the original drawings were readily available.

 

[MarkyT]

I'm still baffled by why such effort went into making it look realistically British (possibly even to many non-enthusiasts?) then branding it as a continental loco.

Probably deliberate to generate discussion in enthusiast circles! When I saw some earlier still pictures from the NYMR, I was initially convinced it was one of the surviving Brits with a typical light makeover to portray a foreign look. That was before I'd seen video revealing the class 66s propelling the formation. BR Standards are pretty good for this, as with their high footplates, modern cabs, and more visible gubbins they naturally look more continental than earlier big four designs.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I'm still baffled by why such effort went into making it look realistically British (possibly even to many non-enthusiasts?) then branding it as a continental loco.

I suppose the only way you'll (we'll) find out is to ask the film production company, but there's a good chance that they won't tell.

(I don't know why they wouldn't tell, but they might quote the "commercial confidentiality" clause.)

 

[Cowley]

As has been mentioned several times, they needed a locomotive that fitted UK loading gauge. Copying a British locomotive might have been easier than scaling down a French design, especially if the original drawings were readily available.

That makes the most sense to me too.

 

[Kettledrum]

spectacular clip on the BBC website of the fake loco making its demise:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-derbyshire-58307832

 

[Gerrard]

Interesting article about the ORR helped in the making of the stunt.

And now for something completely different. Mission: Improbable - How ORR's heritage safety team helped make an action scene a reality (safely) | Office of Rail and Road

ORR's heritage railway safety team has helped make possible what appeared to be a dramatic action sequence in the upcoming Mission: Impossible film. Steve Turner, principal inspector of railways, explains more.

www.orr.gov.uk

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Already posted in post #53 on page 2.

 

[DelW]

spectacular clip on the BBC website of the fake loco making its demise:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-derbyshire-58307832

Looking at the view of the remains at around 00:33, that would be a bigger restoration job than anything that came out of Barry

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Looking at the view of the remains at around 00:33, that would be a bigger restoration job than anything that came out of Barry

A job for the Loco Engineers as advertised for in my post No. 46 on page two!

 

[JKF]

It would have been a fairly simple CGI job to do this, and the level of detail in the build probably wasn’t required - I suspect there will be some element of writing stuff off for tax involved in all of this!

I guess the remains will get pulled out of the quarry at some point, which would be interesting to see, unless they want to leave it there for divers to explore!

 

[doningtonphil]

It would have been a fairly simple CGI job to do this, and the level of detail in the build probably wasn’t required - I suspect there will be some element of writing stuff off for tax involved in all of this!

I guess the remains will get pulled out of the quarry at some point, which would be interesting to see, unless they want to leave it there for divers to explore!

Yes it would, but the studio apparently didn't want that, I imagine the level of detail and realism was specifically requested. I am not usre Tom Cruise has to do his own stunts, really fly helicopters or have a fight on top of a moving train (does that happen in every one of his movies?) - all 'easy' CGI effects - but he does. Not sure how spending 6 or 7 figures on something to be built can be seen to be done just for a 'tax write off'.

Talking about detail, as the loco was 'french' why is the data plate on the tender in german?

 

[Flying Phil]

I think the "French" came from the original posts, when it was a locomotive glimpsed, rather than a close up look - perhaps "Continental" might have been a better description. Anyway it has caused a lot of interest and speculation - informed and un- informed!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I guess the remains will get pulled out of the quarry at some point, which would be interesting to see, unless they want to leave it there for divers to explore!

I hope that the conditions of the shoot would have demanded that the remains were removed and disposed of safely.

 

[XAM2175]

Talking about detail, as the loco was 'french' why is the data plate on the tender in german?

I think the "French" came from the original posts, when it was a locomotive glimpsed, rather than a close up look - perhaps "Continental" might have been a better description.

The locomotive in unquestionably intended to appear to be French, but as I noted earlier the tender appears to have been marked as if it's Swiss.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Talking about detail, as the loco was 'french' why is the data plate on the tender in german?

The locomotive in unquestionably intended to appear to be French, but as I noted earlier the tender appears to have been marked as if it's Swiss.

Presumably it's all essential to the plot.

Something like

(Cold opening: scene 1) Our Hero (Mr Cruise) is doing something with a train. At the last minute, he leaps from the cab, and train plunges off end of track, breaking up spectacularly.

(Jump cut to cold opening: scene 2 - an office somewhere, with Our Hero and a Sidekick)

Sidekick: I'll never understand how you survived that train crash, Our Hero. But at least that finishes our problems with the railways.

Our Hero: Oh no, Sidekick. Did you not notice that the locomotive was essentially a British Railways standard class 7, yet it was unquestionably intended to appear to be French, but had a data plate on the tender in German - and above all the tender appears to have been marked as if it's Swiss? Our problems may be just beginning...

(titles)

 

[EbbwJunction1]

"I wonder if my friends on the RailUK Forum will be able to help? I know, I'll join and ask them ... I'll let you know what they say"!

 

[Cowley]

It’s ok everyone, I’ve edited the thread title.
Think I’ve covered most bases…

 

[ExRes]

It’s ok everyone, I’ve edited the thread title.
Think I’ve covered most bases…

Actually both the loco and the thread have seemed all Greek to me ........

 

[Spamcan81]

Here are a couple of pictures of the "engine" when it was undergoing trials on the GCR back in 2020.
View attachment 101459View attachment 101460

Interesting number plate that under the French system would have made the loco an 8-12-4 under the UK system

 

[Kettledrum]

I guess the remains will get pulled out of the quarry at some point, which would be interesting to see, unless they want to leave it there for divers to explore!

I'm sure I saw somewhere that the water feature at the bottom of the quarry was built for the film, and doesn't look that deep in the construction photos.

As for the future of the remains of the loco, I can see it being scrapped in an environmentally friendly way, but part of me does wonder, if there might be anything left to put in a museum somewhere. The whole project does seem to have generated a significant amount of interest.

 

[Spartacus]

Looking at the debris I'm sure the 'loco' has replica inside motion, which I can't possibly see the need of in filming unless they're trying to show how difficult it was to oil?! It does beg the question of why though, and also makes me wonder, mischievously, if it wasn't intended as a more standard 3 cylinder Riddles 8MT