Thursday 3rd June - The train arrives, Bernard Cribbins and Press! Press! Press!

by Chantelle Francois

Today was the day I met a legend of the acting world. Bernard Cribbins – Star of the original 1970 film adaptation of The Railway Children. I might get slated for saying this but I am going to say it anyway... what got me excited was seeing the incredible actor from Doctor Who.

And he didn’t disappoint. He wondered around in a world of his own, cracking joke after joke and when the cameras were on him, he was exactly the same. He was simply class.

Bernard was on site for a particularly important day in the making of The Railway Children Waterloo. Today was special because the Gentleman's Saloon Carriage used in the original film arrived on set in the early hours of the morning. It certainly was a momentous day.

To mark the occasion, we put on a press photo call and London Tonight were filming for a segment of their show. In front of the cameras were Bernard and Marshall Lancaster, who is playing Perks in our production. It was a symbolic gesture, the original Perks passing his cap to the new Perks. And it certainly made for an exciting event.

I did a lot of running around that day. I can tell you, the distance between the office and the platform is just LONG!!! It was a major work out. I needed a serious sit down after that morning. But boy it was fun. Seeing the crazy media world in full action was brilliant.

There were a lot of photographers, all wanting to get the best shot. So there was the inevitable scrum and raised voices as they all looked to get what they wanted as soon as possible. I even got in on the action with my camera phone to catch a few snaps of the occasion.

Walking into the carriage from the original film for the first time was a surreal moment. We have all seen it in the film and there I was, standing in it. There is only one word for this moment - Weird!

But what made it even weirder was walking in to hear the interviewer say to Bernard: “I have just one more question.” To which he quickly interjected: “YES! I will marry you!”

Now that is something I will never forget!