Railway Collision

An impressive early film special effect

Orson Welles famously compared directing a film to playing with a train-set, and director Walter Booth does both in this early film. It would be a very lucky filmmaker who managed to capture a real-life train crash on film. But with a bit of skill and ingenuity you could create an effective facsimile - as early 'trick' film specialist Booth does here, with the kind of detailed model set-up we associate with much later films.

Originally intended to be viewed in a Kinetoscope 'peephole' machine, this short film was soon adapted for public screening, with one (somewhat dubious) report suggesting that some audience members were convinced it was footage of a real accident.