Cotton Mill Express
Imagine you are sitting at your desk one day, a little bored with the document you are sweating over, when your phone goes. It is a TV company, milking you for information about trains, you talk for 40 minutes about aspects of early railway history. You enjoy talking and the person on the other end is clearly interested in what you have to say, so you warble on.
Now comes the bolt from the blue. The lady explains that they are filming some parts of a TV programme on the Cotton Mill Express and it would be lovely if I could join them. Dan Cruikshank is starring and they would like you to talk with him. I nearly fell off my chair, but this was for real. I was going to go and do TV with one of the most erudite and intelligent presenters on the planet. Could I be available? Is the pope a catholic? I’d mud wrestle my own mother for a chance like this!!!!
TV is like the medieval church, it holds a power to overawe and control we mere mortals and the TV moguls are ruthless in there ability to exploit it. So I dutifully wrote out a load of research notes for Dan. You will see the articles over the next few months!!!!! The director rang me up and spoke for a good forty five minutes to explain exactly what he wanted from the shoot and I was not to worry about meeting Dan. Man was I loving this!!!!!
So the day came and I was up at ten to five am. Quick breakfast, pressed smart casuals and off to Preston for an 8.00 am meet. All goes well and by 7.05 I’m parked up at Preston. I dozed, relaxed and watched people wander by, then it’s 07.45 and it’s time to meet the crew. But where are they? I wander aimlessly round Preston station, watch Pendolinos and Voyagers cruise in and out, but can’t see any TV people. Is this some kind of complex wind up? Then I notice a small knot of people and suddenly see Dan doing his stuff to camera.
I’m greeted, introduced to the crew and presented to Dan and off we go. Before I have really had a chance to take all this in, the Cotton Mill Express barrels into platform 2. Man, it was going so fast I wasn‘t sure it was going to stop. But it did and the next thing I know I’m being filmed getting on the train. “Good” says the cameraman, “let’s do it once more”, as the director had blocked my exit from shot. We did it and we’re going to go one more time, when the doors were bolted, whistles blown and we were off. “Can’t we wait one minute” says the director? “No” says the carriage attendant.
We settle into our seats, and the crew star talking over what shots to do. I’m miked up and the country side whistles by. The express takes the curve at Newton-Le-Willows and we glide from the West Coast Main line onto the Liverpool & Manchester railway. I point this out to the crew and Dan says “well let’s do the death of Huskisson”. The crew agree and I’m sat opposite Dan, who is just checking his script/notes. Then we are off; so who was William Huskisson and I dive into the Member for Liverpool’s sad story. Just like the director wants, I lay on the gore from eyewitnesses accounts of his death. “Great”says the director.
Dan is the consummate professional, polite, erudite and massively knowledgeable. As we work, members of the public keep wandering by and some stop, stare and for some reason point at Dan. He remains polite to a fault, chatting and exchanging pleasantries; it is fascinating to watch at close quarters.
Now we are doing the eating on trains shoot. So we wander down to the dining car and take our seats. Soup is served and we are off again. “How did people eat on early trains Russell?” – Well Dan blah blah blah. We eat our soup, talk and it all goes very smoothly. I’m loving this, what a way to earn a living. Little did we know as we finished our soup, that this lovely bubble was about to be burst. We had noticed when crossing Chat Moss, the train was going rather slowly. But by the time we had regained our seats the train was at a stand still. What was going on?
Word filtered back along the train that something had gone bump under the locomotive. We were simply stopping to check it out and would soon be moving again. The crew began to check there watches, would they make the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry on time? A quick phone call told them they had till 15.30, then the replica planet class loco would have to drop its fire.
Just as this information was being digested, the outside cameraman trotted up to the crew to announce the loco was buggered. The young man was in a good position to know this as he had been filming on the footplate. He had heard the train crew talking, and it was clear we were going no further. Next, the news was made official, the locomotive had certain problems and we were going to be put in a siding at Eccles. A rescue locomotive had been dispatched from Carnforth. Disaster on the Cotton Mill Express
Suddenly were marooned on a train in the middle of urban Manchester. The film crew went into overdrive, checking what footage had been captured, where units were and re-scheduling appointments. Dan was fully involved in these discussions and I sat awaiting developments. Dinner was off, although we were given another bowl of soup and we ate through crews own supplies. Time dragged and we talked, and a kind of Dunkirk spirit developed all along the train. Some passengers took the bar apart and others read the Sunday papers. It was like Gormenghast on wheels.
After four hours, and a B&Q angle grinder being used to cut lumps of the locos shattered big end, life returned. The diesel would push the train into Manchester Victoria, where it would terminate. We had seven minutes to get that footage in the can. So off we went, and that was it. Job done. Dan was massively impressive, after four hours he just clicked into gear.
Next, we were in Manchester Victoria. I said my goodbyes and the TV bubble rushed off to the Museum of Science & Industry. I climbed onboard a bouncy castle, changed at Salford Crescent and made my way to Preston. It had been a fascinating day that had given me some insights into different worlds. An experience I will never forget.
As my DMU sailed into Preston, you’ll never guess what I saw being towed toward Blackburn, that dam Cotton Mill Express. Why anyone would spend £150 pounds on such a trip is beyond me. But why would anyone give up a Saturday to do some TV? Different folks ay?
[Cotton Mill Express 2010 - see www.railwaytouring.co.uk/index.php/the-cotton-mill-express---170710.html]
Russell Hollowood
Exhibitions Developer
National Railway Museum
