The film was directed by Lionel Jeffries and stars Dinah Sheridan, Jenny Agutter (who had earlier featured in the BBC's 1968 dramatisation of the novel), Sally Thomsett, Gary Warren and Bernard Cribbins in leading roles.
Charles Waterbury, the father, works at the Foreign Office but, the day after Christmas, he is arrested on suspicion of being a spy, a fact hidden from the rest of the family by his wife.
The three children, Roberta (known as Bobbie), Phyllis and Peter, find amusement in watching the trains on the nearby railway line and waving to the passengers.
When Mrs Waterbury falls ill with influenza, Bobbie writes to the gentleman, who delivers food and medicine to the house to help their mother recover.
The girls fashion their red petticoats into flags to warn the driver of the impending danger and the train stops in time.
The railway company and villagers hold a party for the children, and they are given lifetime train-passes and personalised engraved watches.
Discovering that Mr Perks does not celebrate his birthday, the children secretly ask for gifts from the villagers that he has helped in the past and deliver them to his house.
Bobbie again contacts the gentleman and asks him to help; he informs her that since meeting them and reading about the case, he has been convinced of their father's innocence.
Later a group of youths are engaged in a paper chase, which the children observe, and one boy injures his leg in a railway tunnel.
After Jim leaves, the children remark on their long absence from waving at the train passengers and resolve to go to the railway the following morning.
Confused, Bobbie stands on the platform, where in the lingering smoke she sees her father, who has just alighted after being exonerated and released from prison.
[5] The 1951 script was reworked and adapted for television again in 1957, with location scenes filmed on the now-closed Cranleigh line.
The series starred Jenny Agutter, and the fledgling Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, with its station at Oakworth, was used for location scenes.
"[2] However, he said "I found the climate of the... story just right for me, a way in which to start entertaining people and help not destroy our industry.
Her contract forbade her to reveal her true age during the making of the film and she was also not allowed to be seen smoking or drinking during the shoot.
Jeffries admitted he was tempted to play the role of Perks himself, but eventually decided to cast Cribbins "because of his lovely calm comedy.
[12] At the time of filming, there were still very few heritage railways in Britain and only the KWVR could provide a tunnel, which is important in a number of scenes.
A wide variety of vintage rolling stock was used in the film, including examples from the Metropolitan and London and North Eastern railways.
Sally Thomsett received a nomination for Best Newcomer in a Leading Role but again lost out to an actor from Kes, in this case David Bradley.
It had a London, Midland and Scottish Railway 0–6–0 tank shunting locomotive in GN&SR livery with Synchrosmoke, two period coaches, an oval of track and a station.
Bachmann Branchline currently produces a 00 gauge train pack from the film, albeit a more accurate set.
In November 2012, a second updated version was printed with added information, in particular about Gary Warren, who disappeared in the mid-1970s after retiring from acting.
He had been tracked down by a member of the official Catweazle fanclub and the author had permission to write a more updated version of what had happened to him.
The BBFC noted that the children did trespass on the line, but only to warn an approaching train of the danger of a landslide on the track ahead.
In 2021 BBC Radio 4 broadcast The Saving of Albert Perks, a monologue by Bernard Cribbins in which the now adult Roberta returns to Oakworth with two Jewish refugee children who have escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport.
[26] In May 2021, a sequel titled The Railway Children Return, starring Jenny Agutter, started filming in and around Oakworth.