Runaway Railway (1965)
A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine "Matilda." They get help from a pair of men claiming to be enthusiasts but who turn out to be robbers who plan to hold up the mail train
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hyped garbage
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
I've just seen Runaway Railway for the first time and found it very enjoyable. This has been released in the UK on Video and DVD as part of a double feature of Children's Film Foundation Movies with Junket 89 being the other. There were four of these double-feature volumes released and I now have three of these.A group of young railway enthusiasts attempt to stop the closure of the local railway by trying to raise money to buy it and the steam engine Matilda. They get help from a pair of men saying they are also enthusiasts. What the children don't know though is that these men are impostors and are really robbers who plan to rob the mail train. They find out the truth when a lorry is parked on the line. After a lengthy chase with the express train, Matilda ends up in London crashing into buffers at the terminus and the children are pleased when the branch line and Matilda are reprieved. The two robbers are then arrested after hiding under coal in Matilda.This movie was made when Dr Beeching was closing railway lines all over the UK and also after the Great Train Robbery, so in a way it combines those two things. It was filmed on the Longmoor Military Railway in Hampshire.The cast includes some well known British faces: Sidney Tafler , the late, great Ronnie Barker (The Two Ronnies, Open All Hours, Porridge), the third Dr Who Jon Pertwee and somebody else who has connections with Dr Who, Robeta Tovey who played Dr Who's (Peter Cushing) grand-daughter in Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD.Runaway Railway is worth watching if you get the chance. They don't make 'em like this anymore.Rating: 4 stars out of 5.