GB 1963 1hr 36mins Dir: Peter Graham Scott Starring: Janet Munro and John Stride
A Welsh girl goes to London to seek fame which ultimately leads to her demise
Based on the book 20,000 Streets Under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton, a lot of this drama is filmed in a tenement flat that overlooks the approaches to London Paddington station in the Ranelagh Bridge and Westbourne Park areas. A number of trains are seen in these atmospheric shots, which are hauled variously by both Western Region steam and diesel-hydraulic locomotives. These include GWR ‘Castle’ Class 4-6-0’s, Class 35 ‘Hymek’s’, and a Class 42 ‘Warship’ that looks to be D807 Caradoc. There are also a number of Class 9400-series 0-6-0PT’s on empty coaching stock moves and a scene filmed on Paddington station itself, with a steam-hauled service arriving in the background.
This is Harrow Road at the junction with Westbourne Bridge. A steam train is leaving Paddington.
Paddington station, and a steam-hauled service is arriving behind the passengers
This excellent shot depicts a ‘Warship’, thought to be D807 Caradoc, working headcode 1A30
A Class 35 ‘Hymek’ approaches the camera working 1F32
And in a near identical shot a ‘Castle’ approaches the camera on headcode 1A22. Note the platform of Westbourne Park station, visible in the centre between the locomotive and the signal.
No GWR scene would be complete without a Pannier Tank so here it is. A 9400 Class member goes about its business on an empty coaching stock move.
Another 9400 Class Pannier Tank is visible in this overall scene of the tracks on the approach to Paddington
In this similar shot, a partly obscured 9400-series Pannier Tank waits its next turn as a train hauled by another Class 35 ‘Hymek’ passes by.
In this final shot, at least three steam locomotives can be discerned among the general murkiness. The large building behind with the apex roof is Paddington goods shed. Closed at the end of 1975, it was the site of the original Paddington station, in use from 1838-1854.
