Tjilla Trail

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  • Release Date: 1st January 1970
  • Asset ID: 801120
  • Synopsis: Tjilla is aborigine for snake - and the Tjilla Trail is a railway which snakes through nearly 300 miles of rugged virgin country in Western Australia. They built the railway to carry iron ore from Mount Whaleback to Port Hedland, and they built it in record time. This film tells the story of its construction, and of the wildlife surrounding this Tjilla Trail.
  • Shotlist: 00:02:00 START Two galahs in the wild. CU of sun at sunset. WSs the outback as the sun starts to set. Hedgehog on a rock. CU of a spider hanging from its web. WS geyser spouting from behind hill. Hieroglyphics on a rock. Animal skull lying on the ground. Bird walking on a rock. WS two kangaroos. WS two ostriches. LA WS flowing river. CU snake in tree. LA train approaching from POV track, caption 'Tjilla Trail'. 00:03:33 POV from under train as it passes through outback, intercut with bird taking off, CU of spider, two kangaroos running, lizard. LA WS train passes along outback away from camera. CU kangaroo. Trav aerial shots over outback. CUs of claw of digger collecting iron ore. CU driver operating digger. Trav aerial shot over iron ore mountain. WSs train driving along hill in the outback. LA trav shot of track from POV train. 00:04:38 Trav aerial shots over Port Hedland. WS two men hammering at port. WS of bird lying. Australian lizard creeping around long snake. CU two kangaroos. Man hammering marker into ground. MS man using theodolite. WS lizard. CU engineer. Engineer working at the bottom of a hill. WS engineer shovelling stones off rocky slope. WS truck driving along dust road. CU of controlled explosion. GVs man using bouncing machine with men in BG. WS men tipping soil out of container. 2S men hammering. GVs men guiding bridge joints into place. MS man welding. WS truck driving past bridge. 00:06:05 GVs construction machinery driving through outback. GVs tractors driving through mud bog. WS tractor leaning on its side stuck in the mud, man brings cut down tree for support. 00:07:09 CU black snake, camera pans back to flood amongst trees. CUs snake. CU lizard. GVs men on machine laying sleepers. CU a line of rails moving. WS man walking on the rails. WS rails moving. GVs engineers waving their arms guiding. CU rail sliding into machine. LS tractor and men working along rails. HA trav shot of machine driver. 00:08:38 Men standing with legs apart, a leg on each side of the rail track as it moves, camera passes beneath them (very good shot). Shot of the men from behind (also very good shot). HA shot of the men (very good). CU of rails moving. WS of men on rails. HA railway track on a corner. HA two men walking beside track. CU gadget moving along track with two men walking beside. CU men pushing steel frame along track. CU man pushing machinery on track. GVs of men and machinery. CU man hammering line. 00:09:30 WS truck drives around corner of dust track. CUs of camel's face. Camel standing next to railway line with train behind. WS camel walks away. hedgehog walking. CUs snake slithering through flowers. WS bird on a rock. CU bird in a nest. 00:10:40 HA WS wagon train driving through outback. CUs men walking alongside the train with ballast falling from it. HA train driving along track with ballast dust coming off. CUs ballast plough pushing ballast along railway track between and around the sleepers. 00:11:07 CU man on machine lifting the track. Machine runs across track, working on the ballast to make the surface smooth and firm. WS machine on track working on the final stages of the track laying process. Men using hoses on the track. CUs of men and the machine. CU of Australian lizard. CUs of machine prodding the ballast. The lizard crosses the track. 00:12:13 WS spectators sitting under parasols. Men in hardhats next to track as train approaches. CU of spectators. WS of group of men in hardhats hammer the last silver spike into the railway line. LA one of the men gets on the train. CU of silver spike. Las the train moves off. WS of spectators from underneath train. LA WS people run across track. CU controlled explosion. GVS of bulldozer digging up soil. WS dumper truck drives off with soil. LA from POV under construction vehicle with view of other machinery. CU dumper truck decants soil. CU iron ore on a conveyor belt. CU of machinery with black soot billowing out. Silhouette of machine operator from within machine. CU iron ore falling onto pile with dust billowing up. WS construction site with iron ore falling off crane in distance and dust billowing up. 00:13:52 Trav aerial shot over railway line with train travelling on it. Trav aerial shot over port. WS train approaches. CU ship with tug boat at its side. MS man with hardhat. WS the man stands in front of giant wheel turning on arid slope. WS machinery on a track, camera pans back to a building and conveyor belt at Port Hedland. CUs of men in hardhat. CU iron ore on conveyor belt. 00:14:51 WS ship captain waving. WS ship with flags sailing next to port. Trav aerial shot over railway track with train travelling on it. Trav shot of track from POV train. View of outback from side of train as it travels along track. Trav WS outback from train. LA train drives by hill. CU kangaroo jumping. WSs train passing between cliffs (good hazy shot). WS flock of birds flying off. WS birds flying past windmill. WS pool of water with bridge in BG with caption 'A BP Production…made at Cinesound Studios, Sydney, Australia'. Credits over the following shots… CU snake swimming through water. CU train. CU snake under track. BCUs train. CU snake's tail going over track. CU black snake lying on track. BCU train. LA from POV track of train travelling away. CUs black snake on track slithering over track. HA WS of wagon train. BP shield logo. 00:16:32 END.
  • Production Company: BP
  • Licensing Restrictions: None
  • Viewing Restrictions: Public
  • Format: BetaSP_Small
  • Alternative Language Notes: None