The Railway Children

By Carole Green
BBC York & North Yorkshire

The National Railway Museum is the unique setting for this classic children's tale

When it was first staged in summer 2008, there wasn't many theatre productions as ambitious as this one.

The new adaptation was directed by Damian Cruden who first had the idea for the show 11 years ago.

"When I applied for the job it was one of the things I put forward on my CV as something I thought we should do.

"In planning terms, from approaching the National Railway Museum with the idea, it's taken us about three years to put it together.

"We build a theatre in a space that is not a theatre. We need a railway track and we build the theatre around that track."

The rail track runs through the auditorium and there are 30-foot-long platforms either side of the track. The acting takes place on both platforms and on various stages on rails, which move up and down the full length of the railway shed. The 550 audience members sit on terraced rows of seats on the platforms.

Some of the most exciting moments in the production came when Stirling Single, a real steam locomotive, arrived on set. The man responsible for looking after the engine was Russell Hollowood from the Collections team at the National Railway Museum. He says, "She weighs 39 tonnes and is pulling a carriage as well. There's steam too. Not proper steam generated by the train, but it looks like it's under steam."

The Railway Children production 2008

Russell says staging such an unusual production threw up a few pitfalls, "We worked from models and then had to multiply everything by fifty! One of the most difficult things, logistically, was installing a railway bridge and a 13-metre window above it."

Staging such an unusual and ambitious play was a huge operation to undertake. Dan Bates, the Chief Executive of York Theatre Royal says, "We built a beautiful old station and it's been a huge amount of work. We even had to close roads to move the train across the road."

But Dan says the years of planning, hours of work and collaborative effort paid off, "The National Railway Museum brought the trains, we brought the theatre and The Railway Children is such a perfect match for both those things. It's a little piece of history and a memory that people will have forever."

The Railway Children was published in 1906, and is the story of three children, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, whose lives change dramatically after their father is arrested on suspicion of being a spy.

They move with their mother from London, to a cottage near a railway line in rural Yorkshire, where they hope to one day see their father again. They gradually adapt to their changed circumstances and finally become part of the community when they bravely prevent a rail disaster.