NIGHT BOAT TO DUBLIN

GB
1946
1hr 40mins
Dir: Lawrence Huntington
Starring: Robert Newton and Muriel Pavlow

The allies plan to rescue a Swedish atomic scientist from under the noses of the Nazis

Although the London Euston ‘station’ scenes in this brilliant thriller are studio sets, there are some real station shots at London Waterloo with a departing Southern Railway train and an M7 0-4-4T partially obscured by crowds on the platform. The film also features some rather curious matted shots that appear in part to be real, plus a brief close up glimpse in one scene of an LNER express that looks to be hauled by an A4 pacific, possibly No.2512 Silver Fox. It would seem that a lot more footage of trains coming and going at Waterloo never made the completed film, and shots of departing 2 BIL EMU’s can be found on Video 125’s DVD Diesels and Electrics on 35mm Volumes 1&2.

Make of this what you will. It appears to be an overly corrected night shot though the background may in part form part of a matted shot.
Equally confusing is this shot. The railway lines are clearly the real thing but the background is almost certainly a matted backcloth or some form of studio projection. All very odd.
Complicating the matter further is this glimpse of an LNER express passing a group of workers at speed. Although it is dark the profile of the loco is unmistakably that of an A4, yet the number doesn’t quite add up. What looks to be ‘252’ or ’52’ should be 2512 Silver Fox but the one appears to have disappeared altogether during the blur!!
London Waterloo at ten to three
This is a familiar view of London Waterloo though on this occasion there appears to be few trains in the platforms
The gates have closed to announce the train’s imminent departure. Just visible on the right is the rear of a small tank loco, almost certainly an M7 0-4-4.
The few remaining passengers say their goodbyes as the train begins to pull out