IRE
1992
1hr 37mins
Dir: Mike Newell
Starring: Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin
Two children are given a horse by their grandfather, but after it is taken from them, the two young boys set out to find it
This successful and quite charming Irish family fantasy adventure features a number of good railway scenes which involve CIE General Motors 141 Class locos. The first shows Rúaidhrí Conroy hurrying through a railway yard at night with a bag of horse feed and nearly colliding head on with loco No.164. There is an unusual low angle shot of the front of the loco, which is at the head of a short, mixed rake of wagons, that contains a van where the children have hidden their horse. This initial scene in the yard was believed to have been filmed in the sidings at Cabra Cement Works. The second scene a little later shows the train stabled inside Phoenix Park Tunnel (754 yards), on the connecting line between Dublin’s Heuston and Connolly stations. The wrought iron bridge which takes the line over the River Liffey is clearly visible in some shots and at track level, whilst the going away shot of the train gives an excellent view of the Irish Rail brake van on the rear. There is then one final establishing shot of the horse being ridden over the River Liffey bridge as viewed from above the southern portal of the tunnel, and the connecting junction with the yard at the approach to Dublin Heuston station is visible in the background. During this railway sequence, there is a good close up shot of another 141 Class loco No.172 hauling a freight, probably again filmed in Cabra yard. However, it isn’t all GM-related as earlier in the film there is a shot of a pair of DART EMU’s crossing open wasteland on a bridge.
