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Running Days - 11 Nov-Dec 23 - The Polar Express™ Train Ride
County School Station Tea Room - Closed until February 2024
Dereham Station Tea Room - Closed until February 2024
FILMING & TELEVISION
The Mid-Norfolk Railway with its 15 miles of operational track offers numerous locations and possibilities for filming and production work.
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Several of the locations can be successfully used for filming set in most eras. Although the stations are typically painted in the colours used by British Railways in the 1950s and 1960s, the Railway also has a large number of more modern trains which can be used to set the scene in almost any era. We are unique in that we can offer a Countryside rural station, or Dereham could pass as a busy commuter station.
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The railway is also available for still photographic shoots.
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For further information or an informal chat, please contact us.
Previous Productions
The potential of the Wymondham – Dereham – County School railway line for filming has been recognised ever since the dying days of steam. The British Transport Films Unit used County School Station in 1959 for the production “The Diesel Train Driver” – an instructional film to introduce drivers to the modern diesel railcars being introduced into traffic following the withdrawal of steam.
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After withdrawal of passenger services, County School Station was used in 1966 as one of the main locations for the Anglia TV produced soap opera “Weaver’s Green”. County School Station was again used in 1992 disguised as Gare de Nouvion in the penultimate episode of the British comedy classic “‘Allo ‘Allo!”.
More recently, local film producers Capriol Films featured County School Station as Eynsford Station for a film, “Peter Warlock – Some Little Joy”, about the life of the early 20th century composer, Philip Heseltine – better known as Peter Warlock.
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October 2009 saw a successful film shoot at Dereham Station by local company, Independent Studios UK (now Timereel Studios). The film, “Haunted London”, featured scenes taken in the ticket office, station master’s office and on the platform in the guise of Tulse Hill Station, London (c. 1950s).
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Documentaries have included a production for Discovery Channel, minor filming for STV, and “Beeching’s Tracks” narrated by Nicholas Crane in 2008. The heritage diesel railcar was used by Talkback Thames TV for filming between Dereham and Thuxton as part of BBC2’s "Great British Railway Journeys" with presenter Michael Portillo, BBC Television's "Inside Out" with David Whitley, and more recently for the BBC1 Drama, "The Bodyguard" (behind the scenes pictured above) and Netflix's Bollywood version of "The Girl on the Train".
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The railway has also been used for a television advert for the Belgian beer Leffe to be shown in Germany. See here for video.
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Railway Training and Safety Filming
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Whilst the railway has been used in recent times for documentaries and dramas, the railway also offers a suitable location for railway training and safety filming with numerous manned and automatic level crossings, some double track sites and an operational mainline connection allowing access for track plant and machinery.
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