HOWARDS END

GB
1992
2hrs 20mins
Dir: James Ivory
Starring: Anthony Hopkins and Vanessa Redgrave

The fortunes of two middle class families overlap

Based upon the 1910 novel of the same name by E. M. Forster, this romantic drama is a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England and features a number of railway scenes. The preserved Southern Railway 2 BIL EMU No.2090 appears in a scene at London St Pancras station, slightly out of place perhaps but a nice change from the usual ‘shoot anything in steam’ protocol used for most period films. A number of ‘hired in’ box vans add further to this atmospheric spectacle. There are also some shots filmed on the Severn Valley Railway with GWR ‘City’ Class 4-4-0 No.3440 City of Truro as the train engine. Both the Victoria Bridge and Bewdley station appear in these scenes, with Bewdley station masquerading as ‘Hilton’.

Bewdley station on the Severn Valley Railway and as one train departs another approaches. In addition to these two trains a small saddle tank locomotive is visible among the rolling stock on the left between the woman and the gentleman with the cap.
The wood paneling gives this away as St Pancras
As indeed does this roof. The box vans and SR 2 BIL EMU are most unusual additions.
Interestingly, the Driving Motor Brake of the 2 BIL has been given a different identity for the film. In this shot the number clearly reads 9484 when it should be 10656. One wonders why anyone feels the need to make such a change?
The St. Pamcras scenes end with this atmospheric overall shot of the station
No.3440 City of Truro takes its train gingerly across the Victoria Bridge on the Severn Valley Railway
And Bewdley station once again