THE LOVE RACE

GB
1931
1hr 21mins
Dirs: Lupino Lane and Pat Morton
Starring: Stanley Lupino and Dorothy Boyd

A mix-up with suitcases lands a wealthy racing driver into an embarrassing situation with his fiancée at a party

This musical comedy is poor by Lupino’s standards (he produced some good work at the time) but it does feature some railway scenes at the end. There is a distant shot of an approaching steam locomotive (possibly an ex-LNWR 0-6-0), a shot of a car smashing through level crossing gates, a closeup ground-level view of a train rounding a bend hauled by LNER A1 Class 4-6-2 No.2563 William Whitelaw, and a shot of a local train passing across the wreckage of the crossing gates hauled by ex-Midland Railway Class 483 No.559 (in LMS colours). These Johnson-designed locos formed the basis for the later LMS Class 2P 4-4-0 to which they were very similar and to which they were also classified. The shot of the A1 is probable stock footage but it has been suggested that the remaining scenes were filmed on the Harpenden-Hemel Hempstead cross-country line around the Redbourn area.

The approaching locomotive in this shot maybe ex-LNWR in origin. What is perhaps more interesting is the smoke of a second steam train visible in the left hand background. It also looks as though the furthest set of rails is out of use.
The car smashes through the level crossing gates
An LNER express rounds the bend hauled by A1 Class 4-6-2 No.2563 William Whitelaw (renamed Tagalie in July 1941)
Class 483 4-4-0 No.559 passes over the smashed level crossing. A rare locomotive to be seen on film.