007 and model train layouts
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USAPosts: 4MI6 Agent
I'm thinking of doing something for my dad this Christmas that would combine to of his favorite things James Bond films and model trains.
I've searched online and haven't seen any Licensed model trains that are film related so the next best thing would be to come up with a layout I could work into his train table which is still a work in progress.
Has any one ever come across anything like that either in real life or online? Also looking for suggestions as to what would make a good layout. what iconic scene or scenes do you think I could use? And where could I find the pieces to make the layout?
I'm starting from scratch so any input would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
I've searched online and haven't seen any Licensed model trains that are film related so the next best thing would be to come up with a layout I could work into his train table which is still a work in progress.
Has any one ever come across anything like that either in real life or online? Also looking for suggestions as to what would make a good layout. what iconic scene or scenes do you think I could use? And where could I find the pieces to make the layout?
I'm starting from scratch so any input would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
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Hunter S. Thompson
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Comments
FRWL has a prolonged train scene, but mostly shot inside - it is the Orient Express though which I am sure you can buy and then add some Bond associations to the layout.
Skyfall - the opening sequence has a stunning bridge you could attempt to recreate. Even put the characters fighting on top of the carriage.
Octopussy - I was sure there was a circus train set at one point. May be worth checking out (although could have been from Indiana Jones!)
Just a few ideas. Good luck!
I dunno what scale your dad's layout is, but you seldom find models outside of the train circuit in the correct scale.
In the UK for instance, 00 gauge is 1:76, whereas the nearest model kit scale is 1:72, close but not right.
As far as train journeys in bond films go, in addition to Lancaster's post above, theres the short train ride in Casino Royale as bond makes his way to Montenegro and also took a train trip at the end of Live And Let Die.
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Here's another idea... The Goldeneye Armoured Train.
Thanks. I'll look into the Orient Express idea and the Skyfall bridge
Hunter S. Thompson
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I am considering the scale, and your right, models tend to be larger then train models. My dads lay out is the larger O gauge, but it is a bit of a bump when I've looked at the memorabilia and collectibles
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I actually wasn't thinking of train specific scenes from the bond films just iconic locations or set pieces that are in the bond universe. My first thought was to build or try to find England's Parliament and Big Ben or Tower Bridge and use Q's boat from "The World is Not Enough" but I thought why stop there.
I wanted to hear from other Bond enthusiasts about what they thought as the most memorable set piece.
Personally I would love to recreate the boat chase scene from "Live and Let Die" where they run through the bayou as police cars chase them along the road or the point in "The Spy Who Loved Me" when they drive the Lotus off the dock.
Even just the odd locales might work. Could I put a volcanic hide out in? Or an Ice Hotel? Or the Ocean lair?
I would love to hear your thoughts and Ideas
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I don't think anyone out of the film business has done a model of Legoland, well apart from official planning ones, I've certainly not seen any home brew attempts.
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Far from being an expert on model trains, much recent idle time online helped me ID those coaches as Rivarossi! The majority of the Orient Express sets have elaborately decorated coaches, but upon closer examination of FRWL, the coaches were pretty plain and even in slight disrepair. The Rivarossi, along with one or two other brands offer coaches with the white topside and the more simple solid color sides. The distinction of the actual engine from FRWL are the horse blinders (don't know what to call them) in the front, which similarly are on the engine used for two most popular Murder on the Orient Express movie. Then upon further reading, it seems that there is really no "definitive" Orient Express locomotive since the engines are routinely switched out at different stops during a single trip, just as the coaches are added and removed along the way.
In FRWL interestingly, the last car in the beginning of the journey at Istanbul is a coach, whereas the last car when Bond and Tania get off the train is a box car; so it may be a continuity error, or an example of cars being switched around during stops in the same journey.
It’s also remarkable how there’s an utter dearth in behind the scenes information on the shooting of the Orient Express scenes with the actual train. It seems the usual stuff is all about the interior shoots in the studio, almost always about the fight scene. Bit I’d love to find more details about the procurement of the locomotive and rolling stock, where they came from and if they’re even authentically sourced from those used on the various Orient Express lines. For example, a Google search of the locomotive number seen in that famous publicity shot with Ian Fleming reveals that the locomotive is now, or always have been from the Turkish national line.
If any Bond expert/author is reading this (John Cork, Charles Helfenstein), or you Bond magazine editors out there, FRWL is a seriously underexposed entry, especially for the fact that it’s a foundational Bond film and that the others from DN up to OHMSS have all gotten an over abundance in analysis; TB for example have gotten the “treatment” in fairly recent issues of the Nond mags and even in at least one book, The Battle for Bond.
The classic that is FRWL needs a serious deep dive!
Ordered the 3D-printed locomotive body awhile back but have yet to do anything with it.
http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/topic/4058-goldeneye-train/
I rewatched the FRWL train scenes recently, and I'd also forgotten about the green coaches which appear in certain shots. I think a lot of those travelling shots look like stock footage, or at least assorted second unit shots of different trains. There doesn't seem to be much continuity between trains. When the Orient Express pulls out of Istanbul the coaches appear to be the blue ones, very similar to the models shown earlier (except that they are missing the distinctive oval windows on the coach doors). In later scenes when Bond gets out at the various stations I think they are still the blue ones, but certain travelling shots (especially the one where the train passes through a lit-up station the coaches are clearly green). Goodness how many different trains and locomotives are actually featured in this whole sequence in the film.
On the D-O there was only one CIWL through sleeper from Paris to Istanbul and back; one of only two carriages to go all the way apart from an SNCF 1st/2nd class compartment seating-car. All other cars in the train were from the involved state railways, Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Yugoslavian, Italian etc., and these were only in the consist for parts of the journey. Just like the locomotives would be changed frequently, at terminal stations and at the borders. So, yes, there was no definitive "Orient Express" loco but just normal types from the different state railways, and a mixture of different seating cars (mostly dark green at the time), and this train certainly did look a bit run-down.
The Rivarossi Pullman coaches with oval door windows shown above are older, more luxurious types than what can be seen in the film. The CIWL sleeper in FRWL shows Turkish lettering on one side because it was one of a series of fifteen built in 1948 for the CIWL's luxurious Ankara Express. This was a more modern type (Y or Yb) and did have conventional rectangular windows in the doors. The carriage used for filming was no.3893 (which is still preserved in Germany). Models of type Y sleepers have been made in H0 by L.S. Models which are much better than the older Rivarossi cars. An example would be this model, L.S. 49151, a CIWL Yb with epoch III lettering (but without the Turkish), of course like most models from L.S. sold out quickly:
http://www.reisezugwagen.eu/?p=10459
The locomotives: The Turkish state railways TCDD provided two locos for filming: 45503, a 2-8-0 (http://www.trainsofturkey.com/index.php/Steam/45501) which can be seen arriving at "Zagreb" (also filmed at Istanbul Sirkeci station; there are also photos of Ian Fleming posing with this loco), and 56501, a larger 2-10-0. The latter was a former German BR 52 war locomotive, so H0 models can be found easily, although none have been produced yet with TCDD lettering. But it would be easily renumbered, and a large headlight would have to be fitted on the smokebox door. (http://www.trainsofturkey.com/index.php/Steam/56501)
I don't think that a model of the 45.5 (a French design) has been produced.
Also seen in the film are a few other loco types - stock footage that doesn't really fit but of course is too briefly seen in the cinema. One is a RENFE (Spanish railways!) steam loco approaching (filmed in sunlight, one can even read RENFE on the buffer beam), and another is a British 4-6-0 (Stanier Black 5 class?) with green British Railways Mark 1 coaches (night shots). What's interesting here is that the buffer beam and a ground signal are green too while they would be red in reality, so some filter must have been used to make supposedly maroon coaches appear green in the film.
Of course, Spanish or British Railways would be seen nowhere near the Orient Express route.
Another Bond locomotive that would be available in model form is the East German 62 015 from Octopussy. Although in reality this was filmed at the Nene Valley Railway with a disguised Danish 2-6-4 tank loco (the BR 62 is a 4-6-4T, so has one more small axle at the front). The 62 015 was made in H0 (Liliput L106202) and N gauge (Fleischmann 705201) in East German DR versions.
I like your explanation of the 'green' coaches. I always used to think that they were maybe BR Southern region coaches, but I was always thrown off by the green buffer beam. Of course some sort of colour manipulation makes perfect sense, and the green signal should also have given me a major clue. As for the locomotive in this shot, I'd suggest that it is a rebuilt Royal Scot. For one thing, the loco appears to have smoke deflectors, and although I can't make out the number very clearly, it looks like it could be 46153.
Any pictures? Also, was the model of Piz Gloria something you made or something commercially available?
What can I say other than "WOW!!!" Thank you, Rainier Wolfcastle, this is such a treasure trove of information re: the FRWL Orient Express. I've tried to look for info and found a snippet from a magazine issued shortly after the release FRWL (but can no longer find!) that said how the Turkish government greatly assisted the production by assembling the locomotive, carriages and other rolling stock for the movie, and what you've posted pretty much corroborates that.