GB 1974 1hr Dir: Frederick Wilson Starring: Lois Marshall and Joseph McKenna
A group of children on holiday in Morayshire thwart criminals in their attempt to steal a secret aircraft
This adventure film from the Children’s Film Foundation is based on the 1963 Jane Duncan novel Camerons on the Train and makes good use of the Aberdeen-Inverness line with both Forres and Elgin stations featuring. Both Elgin East and West appear, masquerading as ‘Rioch’, whilst Forres represents the fictitious ‘Moorlands Junction’. There is a lot of rare footage of Swindon Class 120 ‘Cross-Country’ DMUs, though continuity errors show both 3 and 6-car trains on the same journey! Unfortunately, the quality of the production has now deteriorated to the extent that individual vehicle numbers can not be readily identified. A nice touch though is that one of the childern is reading a copy of Locomotives Illustrated No.11 with a Class 76 electric locomotive on the front cover! For those interested in aviation, there is some equally good footage of aircraft at both RAF Kinloss and Lossiemouth, with Jaguars, Buccaneers, Nimrods and SAR Whirlwinds all featurng. Fabulous stuff indeed.
The Camerons speak to the guard before boarding the train at the start of their holidays. This is Elgin East, the former Great North of Scotland Railway station in the town that closed to regular passenger traffic on 6th May 1968.
A Class 120 DMU about to depart from Elgin East. The track through the platform was removed in 1990, but the adjacent goods yard is still largely intact.
The British Rail refurbishment scheme was slow and haphazard, and many DMUs clung on to their original interiors far longer than was originally intended. Here, the Cameron children enjoy the ride in the open saloon of a Class 120. Note the original wood panelling with oval mirrors and the big comfy seats.
A Class 120 recedes away from the camera whilst working a service on the Aberdeen-Inverness main line. Note the tail lamp on the rear of the train, an archaic yet still trusted device used on trains well into the 1980s.
Several ground level views appear during the train journey sequences. This is probably the best of the bunch.
A Class 120 DMU arrives into Elgin West with Aberdeen on the destination blind. The former Highland Railway station was practically adjacent to that of the GNSR station at Elgin East. When that one closed in 1968, the ‘West’ suffix was dropped from the Highland Railway station.
Another three-car Class 120 arrives into Elgin (West)
Crooks make their escape by boarding a train ‘trackside’ at Elgin East
Class 120 DMUs cross at Elgin
Another shot of a passing 3-car Class 120
We have now moved to Forres, the next station west of Elgin. Yet another Swindon Class 120 is arriving on a service for Inverness.
A Class 120 pulls away from Forres in this view looking west towards Inverness. The vehicle number is not readily identifiable, but going on the available evidence of Scottish allocated sets it could be 59680, a TSLRB.
One of the final views shows a six-car Class 120 formation approaching the camera
The film ends with a semi-distant panning shot of a three-car Class 120 DMU running along a low embankment
