THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING

GB
1964
1hr 02mins
Dir: Terence Fisher
Starring: Willard Parker and Virginia Field

A crack space pilot returns to earth to find the planet has been devastated by some unknown force leaving few survivors

The pre-credit sequence of this science-fiction film shows stock footage shot of ex-LSWR D15 Class 4-4-0 No.465 on a passenger train followed by a train driver slumped at the controls of his locomotive. The ensuing crash is made up of footage from The Wrecker (qv) with ex-SECR F1 Class 4-4-0 No.148 being derailed in the film’s spectacular staged crash. There is also a shot of a commuter dropping down dead on the platform of Shepperton station!

This is the shot that opens the film. Drummond D15 No.465 passes on a passenger train. This is quite rare as only ten were ever built (and five of those were classified G15).
The train driver slumped at his controls. This is obviously a set.
The stock shot of the fabulously destructive crash scene from the 1929 silent movie The Wrecker, used in this film and in the 1936 film Seven Sinners (qv).
The commuter on the platform of Shepperton station.