Nowhere is this connection more deeply felt than in the history of British film, where railways and cinema have developed a mutually enriching relationship. The golden age: railways as cinematic backdropsDuring the 1930s to 1950s – the so-called golden age of British cinema – railways became more than just modes of transport. It’s also loosely based on real events that sparked the beginnings of the steam railway preservation movement. Trains as metaphor and movementIn many British films, trains symbolise escape, journey or transformation. Documentaries and realismBritish railway films haven’t only been fictional.