The story concerns a family who move from London to "The Three Chimneys", a house near the railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign Office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying.
Explanation:
The Railway Children is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in The London Magazine during 1905 and first published in book form in 1906. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film version is the best known. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography credits Oswald Barron, who had a deep affection for Nesbit, with having provided the plot. The setting is thought to be inspired by Edith's walks to Chelsfield railway station close to where she lived, and her observing the construction of the railway cutting and tunnel between Chelsfield and Knockholt.[1]
Contents
1Plot summary
2Characters
3Adaptations
3.1BBC radio dramatisations
3.2BBC television series
3.3Film
3.42000 version
3.5Stage versions
4Allegations of plagiarism
5In popular culture
6References
7External links
Plot summary
The story concerns a family who move from London to "The Three Chimneys", a house near the railway, after the father, who works at the Foreign Office, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of spying. The children befriend an Old Gentleman who regularly takes the 9:15 train near their home; he is eventually able to help prove their father's innocence, and the family is reunited. The family takes care of a Russian exile, Mr. Szczepansky, who came to England looking for his family (later located) and Jim, the grandson of the Old Gentleman, who suffers a broken leg in a tunnel.
The theme of an innocent man being falsely imprisoned for espionage and finally vindicated might have been influenced by the Dreyfus Affair, which was a prominent worldwide news item a few years before the book was written. The Russian exile, persecuted by the Tsars for writing "a beautiful book about poor people and how to help them" and subsequently helped by the children, was most likely an amalgam of the real-life dissidents Sergius Stepniak and Peter Kropotkin who were both friends of the author.[2]
The book refers to the then current Russo-Japanese War and to attitudes taken by British people to the war. This dates the setting to the spring, summer and early autumn of 1905, and also accounts for the very hostile opinions of Tsarist Russia expressed in the book.
Characters
Father: A high-ranking civil servant, very intelligent and hard-working, and a devoted husband and father. He is wrongfully imprisoned for espionage, but is eventually exonerated.
Mother: A talented poetess and writer of children's stories. She is devoted to her family, and is always ready to help others in need.
Roberta: Nicknamed "Bobbie", she is the oldest and most mature of the three children, and the closest in personality to their mother.
Peter: The middle-child and only boy. He is intelligent and resourceful, though at times rather insensitive. He considers himself the leader of the three and usually does take the lead in crisis situations.
Phyllis: The youngest and least mature of the children.
Ruth: A servant of the family, dismissed early in the story for her treatment of the children.
Mrs Viney: Housekeeper at The Three Chimneys.
Mrs Ransome: Village postmistress.
Aunt Emma: Mother's elder sister, a governess.
The Old Gentleman: A director of the railway, who befriends Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis and helps when their mother is sick. He is instrumental in freeing Father, and in locating Mr Szczepansky's family. He is the grandfather of Jim.
Albert Perks: The station porter, and a friend of the children. He enjoys their company, but his pride sometimes makes him stuffy with them. He lives with his wife and their three children.
Mrs Perks: Wife of Albert Perks.
Dr Forrest: A country physician.
The Stationmaster: Perks' boss. Rather pompous at times, but has a good heart.
Bill (engineer): An engine driver and friend of the children.
Jim (fireman): Bill's fireman, and a friend of the children. He arranges for one of his relatives to mend Peter's toy locomotive.
The Signalman: Operator of the railway signal box. He has a young child who is sick.
Mr Szczepansky: A dissident Russian intellectual, imprisoned in Siberia for his views, who escapes to England to seek his wife and children.
Bill (bargeman): A barge-master, initially hostile towards the children. He changes his attitude towards them after they save his boat (with his baby son Reginald Horace aboard) from burning.
Bill's Wife: She disapproves of her husband's initial attitude towards the children, and encourages them to fish in the canal while he is not around.
Jim (schoolboy): The grandson of the Old Gentleman, whom the children rescue when he breaks his leg in the railway tunnel during a paper chase.
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