A Switchback Railway
About A Switchback Railway
Riders sit in a small car on a switchback railway at a fairground at Alexandra Palace. The car climbs the track, turns 180 degrees at the top, and comes down a parallel rail. Blandford Hall is visible behind the ride.
Cast & crew
More about A Switchback Railway
Robert W. Paul directed this black-and-white actuality. Michael Brooke, on BFI Screenonline, writes that it was enough of a success that James Williamson and the Riley Brothers released their own switchback-railway films a few months later.
Themes
Reviews
Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline calls the composition dynamic and says Williamson and the Riley Brothers followed it with their own switchback films within months.
Look
Paul frames the car against the palace grounds so the climb, the turn, and the descent stay in view.
Notes
- A switchback railway is the ride that later roller coasters come from: up one track, a half-turn, and down the other.
- The camera is set so the car's climb and the turn read in one shot, with Blandford Hall in the background.
Scenes
- The car reaches the top, turns, and drops back on the parallel track.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (A Switchback Railway.ogv)
