GB 2019 1hr 56mins Dir: Danny Boyle Starring: Himesh Patel and Lily James
During a global blackout, a struggling musician is transported to an alternate reality where the Beatles never existed
This romantic comedy has some interesting railway scenes. Quite a bit of the action takes place in a recording studio that utilises a room in the former station building at Buckenham in Norfolk. During these scenes ‘Sprinter’ DMU’s of both Class 153 and 156 pass through and in one shot a pair of Direct Rail Services (DRS) Class 37 diesels thunder past outside the window. One of the pair is in DRS blue whilst the other is in the older BR large logo blue. There is also a sequence filmed at Liverpool Lime Street station and though we get good glimpses of the station entrance and the concourse, the only train that appears to be visible is a Class 390 ‘Pendolino’ EMU. In addition to this there are a couple of brief shots of the interior of a Jubilee Line train of 1996 tube stock during the blackout sequence.
This is the interior of a Jubilee Line train as viewed through the interconnecting car doors
Buckenham station in Norfolk with the recording studio ‘active’ in the former down side station building. The station is located on the Wherry Line, 7 3/4 miles out of Norwich. There was no form of dramatic licence placed on the part of the producers here. The station building really is used as a recording studio.
A ‘Sprinter’ DMU passes through the station. In fact, pretty much everything passes through the station as Buckenham is one of the least used stations in the country. These two shots were taken from the path that runs adjacent to the line at this point. The up platform is on the opposite side of the level crossing, out of shot to the right.
No prizes for guessing this location. Lime Street station, Liverpool.
Himesh Patel runs onto the concourse at Liverpool Lime Street
A Class 390 ‘Pendolino’ EMU can be seen in platform 6 of this shot. Just visible on the very far right is a Transpennine Express unit, though from this angle it is impossible to work out what type.
Back at rural Buckenham again, and a Class 153 ‘Sprinter’ passes through. The DMU is in the former East Midlands Trains blue. As mentioned, the platforms are staggered either side of the level crossing which still has handworked wooden gates. The former station building is shown here to good effect.
In this fish bowl view a Class 156 in Greater Anglia white passes through
For the record, here are the Class 37 diesels. Visible outside the window is a DRS blue-liveried example…..
…..paired on this occasion with one in the old BR large logo blue
