PADDINGTON 2

GB / FRA
2017
1hr 43mins
Dir: Paul King
Starring: Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins

Paddington and his adopted family go on the hunt for a stolen book, which Paddington had planned to buy for his Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday

This sequel to the first live-action Paddington movie (qv) culminates in an exhilarating railway chase sequence using the Belmond British Pullman and the Kozlovas Circus train. Unfortunately, all of this is CGI created with the only apparent ‘live action’ taking place at Paddington station itself. There are initial shots of the ‘frontage’ (where Marylebone was used in the first film) and then a shot of the trainshed from Bishops Bridge with an HST and Class 57 diesel visible. The lead power car of the HST appears to be 43172 in its commemorative poppy livery and the 57 would have been at the head of the Night Riviera sleeper. The Pullman is hauled by LNER new build Class A1 4-6-2 No.60163 Tornado and a ‘Heathrow Express’ Class 332 EMU is briefly visible behind. The circus train consisted of a ‘shed’ type construction applied to a single FYA Freightliner flat wagon with the rest of the train then being created by computer. During the chase sequence the train is hauled by LMS ‘Crab’ Class 5MT 2-6-0 No.13065 from the East Lancashire Railway suggesting that some running shots may have been filmed there. Nonetheless, CGI works wonders when it comes to creating scenes. The railway viaduct at the end is the Nidd Viaduct on the former Leeds-Thirsk line near Harrogate, which closed to rail traffic in 1951 and is now in use as a cycleway. In another shot, the coaling stage from Didcot Railway Centre is seen completely surrounded by countryside!! The Freightliner flat was brought into Paddington one night using DBS Class 66 diesel No.66075. The loco then moved the wagon down the platform for the filming of one sequence but of course did not appear in the completed scene. Tornado is crewed, sorry stolen, by the Brown family, with a young Jonathan Brown nonchalantly driving the loco as he wishes to make steam trains cool again! This is a wonderful touch for railway enthusiasts even if he does initially deny liking trains because they are uncool. The opening scenes show Jonathan working on a scale model of an LMS Fowler 4-4-0 which he locks away in a cupboard when his friends come around. There is one final railway shot. Early in the film there is a montage sequence of travel and transport with a stock footage shot of a passenger onboard a train taking tea!

This is thought to be somewhere in the Primrose Hill area and although the railway bridge is real, the steam locomotive crossing it is not. LMS ‘Crab’ Class 5MT 2-6-0 No.13065 has been added to the scene for effect.
Where on earth did this shot originate from? What is unquestionably a scene from a BR promotional film has ended up in Paddington 2 during a montage sequence about the growth of travel and transport.
Paddington Bear and Jonathan Brown taking care of a fabulous working scale model of an LMS Compound 4-4-0
The rather uninspiring Praed Street entrance to Paddington station and the reason why Marylebone station was used as the entrance to Paddington in the first film.
Paddington station late at night with the Heathrow Express ticket office lit up like a beacon.
An interesting view of Paddington station, as viewed from Bishop’s Bridge. On the right, a Class 57 diesel stands in platform 1 at the head of the Night Riviera sleeper whilst an HST is in platform 4.
An overview of the platforms at Paddington. The kozlovas Circus train is in on one, with the Belmond British Pullman in on 3. In the far background, a Heathrow Express Class 332 can be seen.
This rather good shot shows High Grant about to board the circus train. Hard to believe that only ONE wagon of this train was created for the film, the rest was then created by a computer.
A broadside view of LNER new build Class A1 4-6-2 No.60163 Tornado
All the train scenes that follow during the exhilarating chase sequence are entirely CGI, though of course the locomotives are real. Only those scenes using readily identifiable features will be shown. Here Tornado takes the British Pullman past Didcot Railway Centre’s coaling stage, transferred to the middle of nowhere by the production crew! The origin of the signal box is not known.
Finally, this is the former railway viaduct across the Nidd near Harrogate. It closed to rail traffic in 1951, the trains in this shot have been added for effect.