GB
1935
1hr 24mins
Dirs: Oswald Mitchell and Challis Sanderson
Starring: George Carney and Marie Lohr
An engine driver forced into retirement following an accident finds consolation in his son
This little-known musical seems to have been lost which is a big shame because its importance lies in the fact that the then new LNER P2 Class 2-8-2 No.2001 Cock o’ the North was used as part of the plot. The loco gives its name to the film and was the loco which the driver was rostered to work before his accident. A wooden studio mock up of No 2001’s cab, built from works drawings in May 1935, was used in the feature film with actor George Carney receiving instruction from actual drivers, but, sadly no other details about the film are known. Footage of No.2001 appears in the 1938 movie Anything to Declare? (qv) and there is every possibility that they are stock shots from this film, as the LNER Advertising Department arranged for the film company “to film the engine whilst it was at work around King’s Cross”. Incidentally, Cock o’ the North was the nickname given to George, fifth Duke of Gordon and Marquis of Huntly (1770 – 1836). Chief of the Gordon Clan he was founder of the Gordon Highlander Regiment.