Secrets of the Railway Children: How a classic tear-jerker nearly had film crew weeping

The tear-jerking scene depicting Jenny Agutter's character, Roberta, running along the platform at Oakworth Station towards her father crying "Daddy, my daddy" as he emerged from a cloud of steam remains one of its defining images.

But the filming of the iconic reunion of "Bobbie" and her father proved to be less seamless than the final cut and had actually been postponed after the wrong train was delivered to the set.

The fascinating insight into the 1970 screen production of Edith Nesbit's children's novel is just one of many gems to be revealed in a new book produced by Keighley and Worth Valley Railway where the film was shot.

Compiled by railway volunteer and former Oakworth station master Jim Shipley, The Making of The Railway Children, invites readers to peer behind the scenes of the film through the eyes of the railway volunteers involved in its production.

Mr Shipley said: "The film is still hugely popular and will no doubt receive a further boost with its re-release in cinemas and on DVD. It is a true family classic and people still stop off at Oakworth station to look for Mr. Perks or to recreate the famous 'Daddy, my Daddy scene.'"

The famous scene suffered a minor setback when a train which had been modified to create the steam effect was confused with another one.

"It was necessary for that scene to have lots of steam blowing out and for 'Daddy' to emerge from that," said Mr Shipley. "What they ended up with at the set on the day of filming that scene was a completely different train from what had been asked for. It did not have the necessary equipment to enable 'Daddy' to emerge from the cloud of steam."

In a bid to keep to schedule, the film crew tried to attach a long pipe to the train but their valiant efforts only served to damage its injector.

Mr Shipley said: "Lionel Jeffries (the film's director) came along and said 'It's all right, we have a contingencies budget. It's not a problem. Can you come along and do it tomorrow?'"

The 52-page book, which has been produced to coincide with the 40th anniversary this year of the making the classic movie, includes around 70 photographs, most of which are previously unpublished, plus recollections, anecdotes and gossip from some of the volunteers who were involved.

Among the collection of memories, its pages offer fans a glimpse of how some of the film's most striking images were produced – including the memorable landslide scene.

"The big tree that falls over was a fibreglass tree," revealed Mr Shipley. "There were three series of channels into which were set a variety of trees – some artificial and some real.

"They were pulled up and down on a rope. It was all done by trees going up and down in those channels which were set into the side of the hill. When the big tree got to a certain point it triggered an explosion because at the bottom of the bank there were sleepers. The vertical sleepers were holding back a lot of earth. As the tree came down the bank in the film it got to the end where there was an explosion which tipped all the sleepers over. There were trees and chaos everywhere."

Having spent 15 years as the volunteer Oakworth station manager Mr Shipley came to see first hand how much the film meant to people.

"After 15 years I was a real-life Mr Perks," he said. "People were coming to Oakworth wanting to know where Mr Perks lived. In my time I saw people go there and kiss the platform."

The Making of The Railway Children will be officially launched on Sunday at Oxenhope railway station on board what became known as The Old Gentleman's Saloon after it was used in the film.

The Making of The Railway Children will be available at Keighley and Worth Valley Railway shops, selected outlets in Keighley town centre or by calling 01535 645214.