BLACK BEAUTY

Image result for Black Beauty 1994

GB
1994
1hr 28mins
Dir: Caroline Thompson
Starring: David Thewlis and Peter Davison

Adventures of a horse from birth to pasture

The fifth film adaptation of the 1877 classic novel by Anna Sewell features a scene filmed on the Bluebell Railway at Horsted Keynes station, though no locomotives are visible. The station forecourt was transformed into a coal yard, a coal office was erected on the old cattle dock, and a pile of ballast that just happened to be present was sprayed black to represent the coal! The plan was to also have an early scene filmed at Freshfield Bank, where a young Black Beauty is being trained to cope with the sight and sound of passing trains. SECR H Class 0-4-4T No.263 was used on a short branch train, but Beauty failed to show any sign of anxiety, and after several aborted takes, the whole scene was abandoned!!

Horsted Keynes station on the Bluebell Railway, playing the part of Horsted Keynes
A busy scene on the platform as passengers arrive for the train, and parcels are loaded into SR GUV No.2462. The General Utility Van was built in 1931 and today, is generally used as an Exhibition Van at Horsted Keynes.