Inspiration/research

Film:

- The railway children

- Thomas- the magic railroad

- Narnia

- Series of unforgettable events

- Hogwarts

Ghost train stories:

- The train that cuts across the West Yorkshire countryside from Leeds to the small town of Snaith departs just once at precisely 17:16, Monday to Saturday. Return trains depart twice: one at 07:16, one at 19:01.Given these infrequent departures, you’d expect packed carriages. But on a recent Friday rush hour – when Leeds train station, the second-busiest in the UK outside London, is swirling with commuters – no one, aside from me and my companions, remains on the line for more than a few stops. Soon, one carriage after another becomes completely, eerily empty. You could cartwheel down the aisles.

- Liverpool street- a man in overalls has is said to patrol the deserted platforms at Liverpool street at night.

- Bethnal green- the haunting sounds of women and children screaming have been heard by countless witnesses over an extended period of time, though no one has ever seen where they emanate from.

- Kings cross- a cosmopolitan young woman with long brown hair wearing modern clothing is said to walk the corridors of one of London’s busiest stations. The lady is said to scream loudly with arms outstretched- but when people come to her aid, she disappears into thin air.

- Bank station- Bank station is said to be haunted by a sinister spirit dressed in black known as ‘the black nun,’ with numerous sightings and reports of unexplained stenches in the tunnels, not to mention an undefined but persistent sense of sadness noted by workers and commuters passing through the station.

- Farringdon- known locally as ‘the screaming spectre of Farringdon,’ this unseen apparition has been terrifying passengers for years, her piercing screams sending shivers down the spine or anyone unfortunate enough to be within hearing distance.

- Covent Garden- one of London’s most famous landmarks, Covent Garden’s tube station has been the site of eerie goings-on for over half a century, with numerous witnesses claiming to have spotted a tall man in a hat, coat and gloves stalking the dark tunnels of the underground (and even the staff rest room)- believed to be the ghost of a murdered actor who used to frequent the bakery which was knocked down to make way for the station.

- Elephant & Castle- home to a variety of unexplained sightings, Elephant & Castle might just be London’s most haunted tube station. Members of staff and the public have reported hearing the sprinting footsteps of an unseen being along the platforms, doors being slammed open and curious tapping noises, with many attributing these occurrences to the ghost of a young lady who enters trains, but never leaves.

- Highgate- slightly less terrifying but equally baffling, the bizarre going on at Highgate station have left local residents nonplussed for years.

- South Kensington- this spooky scenario was first witnessed by a passenger on the last train of the evening, who claimed to have heard an unnerving high-pitched whistle, followed shortly by the arrival of another train with an unexpected passenger- a spectral figure in a peaked hat and coat hanging from the side of the train. Though the witness said the train disappeared into the tunnel, there is no record of this train having existed, and it was never seen again.

- Aldgate- while the mention of a ghost generally brings up thoughts of malevolent spirits with evil intentions, it seems not all of our ethereal friends are out to get us- many years ago, an electrician at Aldgate station slipped onto a live rail, knocking himself unconscious and sending over 20,000 volts through his body. Incredibly, despite this seemingly fatal error, he emerged unscathed- while colleagues insist that just prior to the fall they saw the luminous figure of an old lazy kneeling next to the stricken working, stroking his hair.

- British Museum- Abandoned since the 1930s, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the British Museum station has played host to plenty of supernatural happenings in fact, it might just be the home of the most famous London underground ghost of all. Legend has it that the disused station is haunted by the ghost of Amun-ra, an ancient Egyptian god, dressed in traditional Egyptian loincloth and headdress and a couple of years after the station’s closure, two women vanished from nearby Holborn station, with witnesses claiming they heard ghostly moaning around the time of their disappearance.

Artist:

- Toon Hertz- Creative digital artist, Toon’s work is a mix illustrations of children, monster movies, fantasy and dark surrealism.

- Rob Rowland- artist illustrator

Train:

- The railway is born 1830- 1880- The invention of railway was fundamental for development of the industrial revolution- Since ancient times man knew that wheels worked best on flat and smooth surfaces- Firstly in Italy the romans paved their main highstreets and then the rest of Europe, the

stone slabs were placed in two rows the same distance as the wheels on their chariots.- Overtime it was noticed how grooves were left, measured in Pompeii, only a fifth of an inch

closer together than the normal railway standard called the gauge the distance of the inner side of the rails

- 17th century the Alsatian miners of Leberthal, transported coal from the mines on carts, flanged wheels that ran on wooden rails. This idea spread quickly especially in England.

- In 1676 Roger North described with particular detail this technological breakthrough, ‘ He pointed out how just one horse was able to pull four or five wagons, each weighing about a ton. This is possible because the reduction in the pulling power necessary to move vechicle I proportional to the drop in friction between the wheels and the ground. Rails with their perfectly smooth and uniform rolling surface carry out this task perfectly.’

- When the steel industry began to develop, it was logical to substitute the wooden rails which would deteriorate quickly with metal ones.

- 1803 was the first public railway pulled by horses- 1769 was he first designed three wheeled road vehicle powered by steam boilers, but the

vehicle despite a speed of just three mph was uncontrollable and smashed against a wall.- The application of the steam motor to a vehicle was the turning point towards the first

locomotives.- 1804 was present the first true and proper steam railway locomotive- 1808 a circular track was created, rode the ‘catch me who can’ it hauled a carriage on which

anyone could ride by paying one shilling.- Steam Trains were developed and improved over the years to make them run better and be

more useful and make life easier to get from and to places.- ‘A classic American locomotive with wheel arrangement 4-4-0 stabling in front of fort during

the years of the American civil war. The war had a considerable influence on the history of the American railway.

- When railways began to spread in Europe, it was immediately thought that it would solve all of their problems, but the distance was enormous and the technical difficulties were huge.

- From 1870 various studies were made and routes proposed but only in 1875 was a final route chosen.

- In the 19th century electric and diesel traction were born starting with electric, a German engineer Werner von Siemens, experimented with the idea on a small scale.

- 1881 in England Magnus Volk, an electrical engineer built a short line of a two foot gauge through Brighton forest, this line was the first electrical railway in the world, it was fed 110 volts by a third rail.

Type of train:

-Mannin- 6296, No.16 (red)

-built in 1926 by Byer Peacock &

Co- Most powerful 2-4-OT - Travels in the isle of man from Port Erin to Douglas- Mannin no.16 was the last locomotive to be

supplied to the railway, purchased to haul the heavy Port

Erin boat train, a job which has previously taken two locomotives either double-headed or banked

- She remained in service until 1964 and later repainted into spring green

- Discarded from the railway, because on the account of her non-standard design, the previous coat having never been lined

- There were in fact two locomotives bearing this name, the other was a mock-up, but the fate of this loco is unknown

Isle of Man:

- Railways in the Ilse of man is the longest narrow gauge steam line in Britain that still uses its original locomotives and carriages.

- 3 foot narrow gauge railway was opened in 1874 and runs through the island’s charming countryside between the island’s capital and a range of destinations in the south.

- These tracks were built especially 3 foot wide to fit through the Isle of Man landscapes and small tight gaps, the Mannin along with its sister are the only type of train to fit on these tracks.

Platform:

- Opened in 1874, this narrow gauge railway is still running how it was back then as it is now, even though an ever changing landscape

- Like the landscape the steam trains have preserved their identity in an ever changing world

- This station was used in ‘Thomas and friends- the magic railroad,’ this was the station changed slightly for ‘shining time’

- Castletown railway station, is the busiest of the railway’s intermediate stations- This station is within walking distance of the main town and is in close proximity to the local

playing fields, and schools.

Characters:

- Girl- age 14- castle Rushen high school (Emily Taylor) hobbies dancing, roller skating – Red

- Roller blades over her shoulder with her backpack low on the shoulder.

- Boy- age 10- the Buchan school (Scott Taylor) hobbies instrument drum, guitar – dark blue, black

- Playing with a plastic airplane