The Severn Valley Railway has announced that it played an important role in the new film release on Netflix, Enola Holmes.
Last year, the railway hosted the star-studded cast, which included Millie Bobbie Brown, Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin, over the three days of filming.
The film shows off Kidderminster and Arley stations, along with GWR steam locomotive 2857 and vintage carriages.
Filming was completed in July 2019 with tight security in place.
Duncan Ballard, the SVR's contracts manager, made arrangements for the production company and was lucky to get close to all the action. He said: “We were sworn to secrecy about the whole project, although it caused quite a stir when the film crew was here. It was exciting to see the stations transformed into fictional locations for the film. Although they look a little different on camera, they are clearly recognisable as ‘ours'. The production company chose to use locomotive 2857 because it had exactly the look they were after, and our ‘toplight' carriages also fitted in well with their plans.”
“Catching a glimpse of the actors was definitely a thrill. The SVR has hosted many film and TV crews over the years, but you can't help being impressed when so many top Hollywood stars come to Kidderminster!”
Helen Smith, general manager, added: “Appearing in such a high profile film is a great boost for us, and it's certainly attracting visitors who want to see the locations and rolling stock that were used in the movie. I highly recommend the film to anyone who loves a great adventure story, and especially those who love to see heritage trains in action. I must admit to closing my eyes in one scene where one of our precious carriages appears to suffer some serious damage, and all I can say is thank goodness for special effects!”
Filming for Enola Holmes took place between Kidderminster and Arley when that section of line was closed to the public. Kidderminster Town was renamed Basilwether station, and parts of the concourse at the station were repainted in maroon colours. Arley station was repainted green and was renamed Ferndell.
Enola Holmes is a film based on the spin-off series of books about Sherlock Holmes' younger sister and is number one on Netflix (at the time of writing).
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Another winning idea: Use a heavy freight locomotive, of a class that was not introduced until 1903, to represent a passenger locomotive in a film set in 1884. Still, I suppose we are lucky they didn’t use a Black 5 in BR livery… 🙄