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The Thirty Nine Steps was a 1978 film featuring Robert Powell as Richard Hannay. During the film Hannay flees to Scotland on a train, but is forced to make a daredevil escape on a bridge when after police boardthe train. The scene was railway action scenes were filmed on [[Victoria Bridge]] using [[LMS Ivatt Class 2 46443]] (in MR livery as No 644) and five of the SVR's LMS carriages with 'Midland' stickers applied. The scene also featured the first film speaking part for an SVR 'extra' - the driver shouting out "Come on, there's another train due, come on!" was the SVR's John Price<ref>SVR News 50</ref>.

==Filming on the SVR==The railway sequence, set in early 1914, begins in the ticket office at London St Pancras Station. The action scenes used [[LMS Ivatt Class 2 46443]] (in MR livery as No 644) and five of the SVR's LMS carriages with 'Midland' stickers applied. The scenes filmed on the SVR, which last around 5 minutes in total, comprise:*Hannay boarding the train (filmed on the island platform at [[Bewdley]])*A wide shot of the train passing the [[Safari Park|Spring Grove]] area just west of [[Bewdley Tunnel]] *A distant shot of the train passing Trimpley Reservoir (re-used in the 1980 film [[The Elephant Man]])<gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">Thirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Trimpley.JPG|Passing Trimpley</gallery>*The train crossing [[Oldbury Viaduct]]<gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">Thirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Oldbury.JPG|Crossing Oldbury Viaduct</gallery>*A lineside shot of the train just west of [[Bewdley Tunnel]]  After a cutaway to a short scene where his pursuers order all trains leaving St Pancras to be searched, the railway sequence continues:*The train on [[Eardington Bank]]*The train from emerging from Arley Station Bridge having passed through the station at speed (re-used in the 1980 film [[The Elephant Man]]). #<gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">Thirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Arley.JPG|Emerging from Arley Station Bridge</gallery>*The train passing through a station at speed, filmed from a footbridge over the line (Bewdley again).*A brief lineside shot on an embankment (location uncertain)*The train stopping at another station ([[Highley]]) where the police come aboard and the train is seen setting off again. #<gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">Thirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Highley.JPG|Stopped at Highley</gallery>*Film of the police searching the train (between Highley and Arley?) #*The train approaching the bridge, where Hannay pulls the communication cord to bring it to an emergency stop. #<gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">Thirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Bridge1.JPG|Approaching Victoria BridgeThirty_Nine_Steps_screenshot_Bridge2.JPG|Stopped on Victoria Bridge</gallery>*The escape scene on the bridge. #*A parting shot of the train setting off through [[Eymore Cutting]].*Hannay climbing down from the bridge. For most of the early scenes the locomotive is facing north. In the escape scene and other scenes marked # it was turned to face south. The main escape scene was filmed on [[Victoria Bridge]] and also featured the first film speaking part for an SVR 'extra' - the driver shouting out "Come on, there's another train due, come on!" was the SVR's John Price.<ref>SVR News 50</ref> Another SVR volunteer, Barrie Geens, played the part of a policeman during the search on the train, for which he was paid £7 a day for the week, plus "lots of free food".<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/2360466988/permalink/10153711899011989/ Barrie Geens' recollections on the Unofficial SVR Facebook Group]</ref> <gallery mode=packed heights=150px style="text-align:left">File:39steps1.jpg|Robert Powell as Richard Hannay hanging from the underside of Victoria BridgeFile:39steps2.jpg|SVR volunteer John Price as the driver during filmingFile:39steps3.jpg|Preparations for filming at Victoria BridgeFile:39steps4.jpg|SVR volunteer Barrie Geens as a policeman during filming</gallery> Hannay’s train journey is via the Midland Railway from their London terminus at St Pancras to Dumfries. The film contains several anachronisms and 'oddities':*Although the train journey is set in 1914, the locomotive and carriages are of a more modern (late LMS) appearance.*The 'Midland Railway' carriage that Hannay boards carries the number [[LMS 24617 Corridor Composite|W24617M]], a BR era number for an ex-LMS carriage allocated to the BR Western Region. A "First Class" symbol on his carriage window is also in the BR ‘Totem’ style.*As the train first sets off, a number of GWR carriages are visible through the window. It is unlikely that GWR carriages would have been at St Pancras in 1914.*During the first sequence, the train is seen on a single track line, unlikely for a mainline express route from St Pancras to the north.*The escape scene takes place on a fictional bridge in Scotland, presumably south of Dumfries which was Hannay’s destination. The landscape at Arley is rather out of character for that area. == Other adaptations==The 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film 'The 39 Steps', which was only loosely based on the novel, starred Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll. It was remade under the same title in 1959, starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. Both versions used a contemporary setting.  The Thirty Nine Steps was the third film adaptation of the book and is generally regarded as the closest to the novel, both being set just before the First World War. The film’s producer Greg Smith claimed "the Hitchcock version was about 20 percent Buchan and 80 percent Hitchcock. Our goal was to turn it around and make the film 80 percent Buchan and 20 percent invention." A television spin-off television series [[Hannay]], also featuring Robert Powell, was included scenes filmed on the SVR during 1987. It ran for 13 episodes from 1988 to 1989.

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*[httpshttp://www.youtubeimdb.com/watch?v=fpHsmXZupsk#t=31m30s title/tt0078389/ The Thirty Nine Steps on YouTubethe Internet Movie Database]<br>*[http://www.imdbreelstreets.com/titlefilms/tt0078389thirty-nine-steps-the-1978/ The Thirty Nine Steps Stills taken from the film on the Internet Movie DatabaseReelStreets.com] [[Category:Featured articles]]