The 1970 film The Railway Children is an adaptation of E. Nesbit’s classic novel and tells the story of the Waterbury family, whose lives are dramatically changed after their father is unjustly imprisoned.

The story begins on Christmas Eve, when Charles Waterbury, the father of three children—Bobbie, Phyllis, and Peter—is arrested on a false charge of selling state secrets.

The family is forced to leave their comfortable home in London and move to a modest country cottage called “Three Chimneys” near a railroad track in Yorkshire. The mother, Mrs. Waterbury, tries to keep the family together, and the children gradually adjust to their new life near the railroad.

The children meet a local elderly gentleman who regularly travels by train, and they also befriend Perk, an eccentric railroad employee who helps them and becomes their friend.

Several incidents unfold at their new home, in which the children demonstrate their heroism and kind hearts.

Family / Drama

United Kingdom, 1970, 109 min

Titles in other languages: The Railway Children

Cast: Lionel Jeffries;

Crew: Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins, Sally Thomsett, Brenda Cowling, William Mervyn, Deddie Davies, Amelia Bayntun, Ann Lancaster;

Parents’ Guide:

1 scene featuring a dress with a low neckline. Several instances of kissing in the Czech subtitles. Tobacco given as a gift. Approximately 1 instance of alcohol consumption. A boy steals someone else’s coal. A boy disrespectfully runs across graves in a cemetery. A somewhat reckless decision to let a stranger into one’s home.

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