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GB 1971 1hr 43mins Dir: Waris Hussein Starring: Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde
An 11-year old boy falls in love with a fellow school girl
This romantic story is told through the viewpoint of the children, the adults playing only supporting roles. Its alternative UK title S.W.A.L.K. refers to a message traditionally written on the envelopes of love letters, standing for ‘Sealed With A Loving Kiss’. It is a delightful film whose theme rings true to anyone with even half a heart. There are a good number of railway shots throughout the film as well, most of which was set in South London, and it all starts with the opening credits that are set against a backdrop of various shots of London. In one of these, the towers of Cannon Street station are visible, whilst another shows the approach to Waterloo station with a solitary 4 SUB EMU present. The viaduct section around the disused and derelict former Nine Elms sidings features prominently but surprisingly few trains are seen, just a couple of 4 SUB EMU’s pass by. In another scene filmed in Hercules Road, Lambeth, a similar SR EMU is visible above the viaduct arches stabled on the approach to Waterloo. Notice the scene where the two boys are walking down Musgrave Crescent in Parsons Green and a train of London Transport CP stock can be seen stabled in the sidings adjacent to the District Line. The two main characters make their escape at the end of the film on a hand pump trolley, the sequence being mostly shot in the abandoned sidings around Nine Elms Freight Yard. Despite this, however, the final shot shows the pair ‘pumping’ down a rural single track branch, the location of which is not known. When the characters go to the seaside earlier in the film there is an excellent shot of a Class 33/1 ‘push-pull’ diesel arriving at Weymouth station with Class 491 4 TC stock. As a result, the final branch line scene could have been filmed in the Dorset area, possibly the Maiden Newton line which was still open at the time of filming. Another railway feature of the Dorset town is visible in several shots, that in the form of the old Backwater Viaduct that, until 1965, took the Portland Branch across Radipole Lake.
Sunset on the Thames, and the towers of London Cannon Street station are silhouetted at the end of another day
This is a classic view of the approach to Waterloo station and the bridge over Upper Marsh Street. This is only three years after the end of steam and it all looks a bit run down and grubby. Note the solitary 4 SUB EMU in the platform furthest right.
As Mark Lester watches a gang of boys, a vintage Southern Railway 4 SUB clatters by still in BR green livery. This was filmed in the old Nine Elms Yard, but more on that in a bit.
As the boys fight to board a bus an EMU can be seen standing on the viaduct behind. This scene was filmed in Hercules Road, Lambeth, therefore the EMU (possibly an EPB) is stabled in Waterloo Carriage Sidings.
As Jack Wild and Mark Lester walk along Musgrave Crescent, SW6, a District Line train stands in the background in sidings close to Parsons Green station
A Class 33/1 push-pull’ diesel arrives into Weymouth before its rationalisation. Headcode 92 was for Waterloo-Weymouth (semi-fast) whilst the jumper cables on the front of the loco gave rise to the 33/1’s being nicknamed ‘Bagpipes’ by the local spotting fraternity!
The train is formed of the usual Class 491 4 TC stock. Vehicle 76300 belonged to Set No.416.
Another scene at the desolate Nine Elms and another EMU is just creeping into shot on the right. It maybe an EPB, or something similar anyhow.
At the end of the film the two young lovers steal this abandoned hand pump trolley and move off through all the Rosebay Willowherb and other vegetation. The large elevated signal box visible in the sequences filmed at Nine Elms is Loco Junction Box, which once controlled movements towards Waterloo, and in to and out of the Goods Yard and the Motive Power Depot on the other side of the main lines.
The film closes with a view of the pair pumping their way down a single track branch line. The exact location is not identified but it could be the Maiden Newton line in Dorset. The children must be well and truly knackered by now!
There is one final railway item worth mentioning. The two children play truant from school and head to the seaside for the day. This is the old Backwater Viaduct as viewed from a rollercoaster. Until 1965 the bridge took the Portland Branch across Radipole Lake. It was removed and replaced by a modern concrete structure in the mid-1980s.
