Past Film Projects

Railway for Hire were delighted to provide one of our modern trains to provide the appropriate backdrop for this viral-inspired music video by Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw. Epping Ongar Railway helped provide the train, with North Weald station providing green room and make up facilities, the crew getting into the Christmas spirit with festive mince pies and warmed by the station’s traditional open fires between takes.

Railway for Hire were pleased to welcome Boy George and his team down to the railway to film his music video. We chartered a special train for Boy George and the shoot included both afternoon and evening filming. This train composed of stock of various arrangements from the chosen vintage period, giving backdrops for a wide range of scenes. The train operated and moved to the production unit’s exact requirements, enabling fast re-setting and re-takes to get the right shots for every scene.

Railway for Hire can act as an ideal backdrop for contemporary productions. In this advert for the BBC iPlayer radio shot at the railway, Railway for Hire provided the modern train and platform scenes. Our “can do” team operated the trains to the director’s requirements and instructions to ensure a successful shoot.

The railway features at the dramatic opening of this film, where Richard E Grant’s character commits suicide, which then forms the stimulus for the central character’s journey. Extensive use was made of the Up platform at North Weald, which due to its simple fittings and countryside background, can be dressed to used to represent many of rural stations in the UK, both now and in the past.

The crew selected their coach from our wide range of modern examples and chartered their own train to undertake the filming for this sequence. Railway for Hire operated the train to the crews’ exact requirements and timings, both adjusting the speed and setting so the sunlight light effects were correct and re-running back and forth through several background vistas. Within the train was a support coach providing space for the production crew and equipment, meanwhile our private approach road and turning circle at our centrally located station housed all the location vehicles and catering to support a successful shoot, delivered to the client’s tight timescales and budget.

The railway was used to film scenes for this innovative advert for a major high street bank’s new product. Railway for Hire’s team assisted the location manager with the choice of the location, as our wide range of track types enabled us to provide some modern trackwork that exactly matched the rail in the studio scenes they had already filmed. The filming was undertaken during the Winter, and the snow was carefully removed from the surfaces required to feature, with the remaining snow used to assist with the CGI process.

Liberty X and their film crew took over the railway for a whole day and evening shoot in 2004. The railway provided an ideal backdrop, our flexible and “can do” approach enabled the necessary equipment access for the dramatic closing scenes to be shot.