Children's Railways
Children's Railways
"An enchanting film about one of the 33 childrens' railways in the Soviet Union. In Kharkov, children are trained to operate real trains--they learn safety and signal procedures. We follow a group of youngsters as they check out their first train. Then we board the train for a ride, with the young passengers and crews." 01:53:01:- MS of a boy (or girl) in a train attendant's uniform, talking on a phone. EST shots of beautiful gardens and parks, including one of a boy running along a garden path. MS of a boy and his grandmother standing by railroad tracks, looking at still trains (good CU's of the blond boy looking wistfully upon the choo-choo engines). CU's of military style officer's hats being taken from a hat rack. MS's of boys and girls in uniforms, walking through said gardens and parks. INT schoolroom, as kids in uniforms learn to be train engineers: CU's and MS's of 2 boys talking on black phones, giving one another info about their respective engines. CU's of a model showing the Soviet Union's 33 childrens railways. Good CU's of train models. MS's of young engineers (modelists) constructing the toy RR engines. MS's of the models being raced in a competition. MS's of boys wiping clean a diesel locomotive; CU's of boys inspecting undercarriage. MS of 2 boys inspecting the RRX. CU of the tracks shifting. LS of the locomotive rolling from housing, towards camera. 01:59:05:- MS of a father taking a Sunday walk through a park with his 3 boys. LS of folk dancers performing in a park; good CU's of kids smiling on. MS's of kids buying tickets for the children's railway (salesperson is also a kid). MS's of kids boarding the train. LS of kids picking seats on train. Great CU's and MS's of kids leaning out windows, waving to the parents. MS's of kids in uniforms talking on phones. CU of boy blowing whistle (all aboard). LS of the train departing. Travelling MS of the parents waving goodbye to the kids. MS of phone operator (an older kid) calling in to the train. 02:02:38:- great MS's and CU's of kids enjoying the view, happily hanging their heads out the window. MS's of the conductor talking with the passengers, helping one into the bathroom. Subjective shot of the tracks. MS of the driver helming the steel beast (nice shots inside the engineer's cab). LS of a father (a professional engineer) boarding a full-size train. Subjective shot of the RRX. LS's of the train in motion. LS of the kids train pulling into another stop. More great CU's of kids waiting to get on. Excellent MS's and CU's of kids enjoying the train ride, eventually joining together in song. MS of the passengers deboarding. MS of the conductor collecting left behind toys.