The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

Valentine: [proposing a toast] Our magnificent generals, General Gordon and General Booth.

---

Mrs Valentine: Do you know what time it is?
Valentine: Yes, my love: summer double time.

---

read more quotes from The Titfield Thunderbolt...

Writer T.E.B. Clarke ("Tibby") was inspired to write the Titfield Thunderbolt saga after a 1951 visit to the volunteer-operated Talyllyn Railway, which carries passengers along the Cambrian coast between Tywyn and Abergynolwyn, in Wales. "The Titfield Thunderbolt" reflects Clarke's fascination with the volunteers' preservationist spirit there.
Writer T.E.B. Clarke was a neighbor of Richard Beeching, then Director of ICI, at the time of filming. Beeching's 1963 report "The Re-shaping of British Railways" resulted in the wholesale closure of many branch lines like the one portrayed in the movie.
Before deciding on the Camerton branch, also used previously for Arnold Ridley's "The Ghost Train", various other lines were considered including the former East Kent and Kent & East Sussex. Both of these former Colonel Stephens' railways have been preserved in part and now operate as privately-owned Heritage railways
read more facts about The Titfield Thunderbolt...