Super 8 railway films list

[Melvin England]

My theory about the abundance of railway films on both 8mm formats is this....

A lot of us in this hobby are actually closet train buffs. When I was very VERY young, I was given an electric train set (Hornby 00) and started collecting more loco's, track, carriages etc. I still have it all but have not indulged in years. At the same time, the attraction of the silver screen and fascination with moving pictures and film making was also in my system. So, when I was 12 I decided to choose which path I was going down. The fact that I am writing this and you are reading this, gives you my decision and I have never regretted it even though if I ever stumble across a layout in a shop or elsewhere, I still get that little tingle of excitement !
My guess is that there are other film people in the same boat as me and are able to satisfy their 2nd passion by watching/buying these train films. I also think Steve's reverse theory of train buffs coming into 8mm because of the abundance of train films is also a very credible one, too. It cannot have done us any harm at all !

it is interesting to note that in my life I have attended TWO train collectors conventions. Let me tell you, the atmosphere and feeling in the room of the convention was EXACTLY the same as Blackpool. Buzzing! It seems that getting a crowd of like minded enthusiasts of whatever hobby into a room creates a certain ambiance which is the same across any hobbyist get together!

[Steve Klare]

Melvin, I doubt there is any single way in: all roads lead to Rome! I have a feeling that without that one film that one day I would have have gotten into film anyway, maybe just later.

There's a lot of satisfaction in model railroading: you build it and it performs as you want (-generally...). On a movie screen, the trains are much larger, there can be great sound and beyond that: they are the real trains.

I really wish I had time for model trains like I did years ago, but I do enjoy railroading on screen a lot! It's harder as you grow up and gain responsibilities: "I just spent three hours fixing the plumbing...do I really feel like laying track now?".

Hmmm! Maybe after I retire!

[Martin Davey]

Its interesting to note that being a railway enthusiast (for real trains) does not automatically mean you are interested in layouts. True to say that model railway enthusiasts will be interested in the real thing, but at my local railway society which has been running since 1948, there has never been a meeting where modelling is discussed as a subject during my 10years there, and most members do not have any interest in the subject of layouts and modelling, only real railways and operations.
In some ways I am reminded by those people who are interested in shooting on S8/ 16mm but have no interest in projecting movies or projectors. On first sight they are similar to us but then you realise they are not, despite using the same medium.

[Brian Fretwell]

There also seems to be a connection between steam railways and Real Ale, though I suppose of you are an engine driver, fireman or work on the track you need a good beer after your shift. Myself I am interested in all:- Railways, Film and Real Ale.

[Lee Mannering]

A small development. I've just completed a sound track for the Bluebell film I did a few shots for later issued by Collectors Club. 13 minutes of nostalgia which will be shown at my film collectors fair on the 25th Sept.

[Steve Klare]

I've been out of serious model railroading a couple of decades (As a teenager, I just may have put the Hobby Shop Guy's kids through college😉).

When I'm at the library, the issues of "Model Railroader" call to me from the magazine shelves: I used to read it every month. When I was younger, it was often (wrongly) considered just a kid's passion, and it took some explaining that a grown man who built a five foot high bridge across a canyon down in his basement wasn't "playing with trains" like a 5 year old with Thomas the Tank Engine. Well, Model Railroading is all grown up: those cheapy trains I started out with as a thirteen year-old are few and far between and the prices have become sized for somebody with a decent full time job!

The sophistication is way up too. My engines were DC powered with a little headlight that went out when the motor voltage went away. These days they are digitally controlled so several engines can operate on the same track. There is constant intensity lighting and flashing strobes and lighting in the cab. Control is no longer a big knob on a power pack with a direction switch, but a key-pad with dozens of buttons.

-best of all, model locomotives now come in "sound" and "silent" versions. (-just like that other hobby of mine!).

You can have whistles, bells, engine sounds, brake pumps, and conversation between the crew in the cab! (-hopefully nothing too personal!)