The Great Train Cinematography

Two great pieces of train cinematography were premiered at an event in Two great pieces of train cinematography were premiered at an event in Newtown Railway Station over the weekend when the station’s ticket office was converted to a cinema for the night!

Shown to an invited audience on the evening of Friday the 12th of March the Cambrian Country and Coast Gazer films brought a touch of train tinsel-town to mid Wales! The films showcase and promote the wonderful views from the train window on the fantastic and contrasting Cambrian rail network with the intention of motivating viewers to then sample the train attraction for real!

Featuring their own original musical soundtrack the films have been produced by local company Dimension Studio who are film maker Charlotte Durie and composer Dexter Jones. At the premiere Charlotte commented “It was a real pleasure working on these projects. We have some of the best coastal scenery in the Kingdom and Dexter's music reflects the emotion of it beautifully.”

The short promotional films, produced for the Cambrian Railways Partnership (CRP), show highlights of the views on the Cambrian Main Line between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth and the Cambrian Coast Line between Machynlleth and Pwllheli. 

According to Lembit Öpik, Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, "Train travel has always held the hint of romance and enigma. These films bring out both in a most evocative style.  In a world where everything seems to be about money and measures, the feel of these productions harks back to a time when people still valued the simple pleasure of noticing the world in terms of its beauty and serenity.  It's a window on the present, with the outlook of the past, all set the rhythm of the railways.  Anyone who sees these films will want to visit Wales - and by train."

Following the premiere the films have gone on general release and are available to view at www.thecambrianline.co.uk 

As well as the films the CRP have recently launched MP3 downloadable audio guides which tell people what they’re seeing out of the train window as they travel. These were produced by well known broadcaster Tim Richards and are already proving very popular and are also available for free to download from the website.

Gerwyn Jones on behalf of the CRP said, “Last year an event was held here at Newtown to celebrate 150 years of the railways in the area – it’s great that now working with local people we have been able to produce these films and audio guides that through modern communication media have the potential to reach a huge audience spreading the word about this spectacular part of the world and its railway!”

The premiere was kindly hosted by Mr Peter Compton, the proprietor of Newtown Station Travel, who said “It’s great to be able to arrange a fun social event like this which links the railway with the community it serves as well as promoting train travel of course!”

In producing the films and audio guides the CRP received support from Tourism Partnership Mid Wales - the launch of the films was timed to coincide with the build up to Wales Tourism Week which starts on Monday the 15 March 2010.