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Brightlingsea Railway

1953 , Brightlingsea (Essex)

Cat no. 199

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The Brightlingsea Thunderbolt leaves the station on the day of re-opening following the 1953 floods.

The film shows the Brightlingsea Thunderbolt, engine No. 46468, stationary on the track. The crew are aboard and there are schoolchildren inspecting the engine. There is a close-up shot of the crew. A party of schoolchildren are shown arriving at the station along with other local groups. There are some close-up shots of people and a shot of the car park. The train departs with people waving from the windows. The film ends with the British Rail staff posing for the camera.

Featured Buildings

Brightlingsea Station.

Other Places

Brightlingsea Station.

Background Information

Despite the author's title, this train left Brightlingsea Station on the first day it re-opened after the floods of 1953 had necessitated expensive repairs. The first train to leave the station was the 6.40 am commuter train to Wivenhoe. This train left at 1.20 pm. It contained 120 primary school children who had a free ride to Colchester. The idea of The Brightlingsea Thunderbolt came from the film The Titfield Thunderbolt. The last train to leave Brightlingsea did so on June 14th, 1964.The railway at Brightlingsea was closed temporarily from 31st January, 1953 when the line was damaged during the North Sea Surge that caused flooding along the East Coast.Mr. Sellens owned cinemas in Brightlingsea, Sibel Hedingham and Colchester.

Manifestations

Brightlingsea Railway

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