Where are The Railway Children now – incredible then-and-now photos 55 years on

Jenny was just 18 when she appeared in the film version of The Railway Children, playing Roberta Waterbury, the mature and responsible leader of the children. Jenny had also played the role in 1968 BBC adaptation of the book series.

The film kick-started Jenny’s career, who followed up the project with the critically acclaimed film Walkabout and TV series The Snow Goose, the latter of which she earned an Emmy Award for. After moving to the United States, Jenny entered the world of Hollywood with roles in Child’s Play 2, Logan’s Run and An American Werewolf in London.

The star, now 72, continues to secure major roles, playing Councilwoman Hawley in the Marvel cinematic universe, Florence Bell in Queen of the Desert and reprising her role of Roberta in the 2022 sequel to the classic film, The Railway Children Return. Since 2012, she has starred in the BBC’s Call the Midwife as Sister Julienne, and in 2017, during an interview with The Church Times, the actress revealed that she pitched the episode around cystic fibrosis, an illness that killed two of her siblings.

Sally was aged 20 when she appeared in The Railway Children as Phyllis Waterbury, the sweet-natured and optimistic member of the family. The actress already had an extensive amount of credits before appearing the film, appearing in River Rivals, Thirty-Minute Theatre and Take Three Girls.

Sally continued acting for several years following the release of the film, appearing in the likes of Z-Cars, Doomwatch and Oh, Father!. The star’s biggest role was as Jo in Man About the House; the sitcom was broadcast between 1973 and 1976, and Sally also appeared in the film adaptation in 1974.

Towards the end of the 1970s, Sally decided to retire from acting to start travelling around the world. She returned to the stage in the 1980s, but decided to retire from acting following the birth of her daughter. Speaking to the Daily Mirror in 2019, Sally said: “I thought, I’m not going to be my best while I’ve got a little child, so I won’t do any acting. I’ll take seven years out and when she’s old enough I’ll go back to work. But the timing didn’t turn out well.

“That was the time of Big Brother and reality TV starting, and they’d stopped making nice comedies. I’ve done a few chat shows and things like that, but actual acting is what I want to do. I’d say the chances of that happening are zilch. The actresses of my ilk who are still working are doing things like campervanning with four other famous people. No way I’d do that. Nor would I go on Big Brother or in the jungle – they can offer me £10 million and I still wouldn’t do it. But I’d still say I was very, very lucky because I’m proud of the work I did.”

Gary played the mischievous Peter Waterbury, who had a massive interest in the technical aspects of the railway. Gary was 16 when he appeared in the film, and while he pursued a brief acting career, appearing in Catweazle, The Shadow of the Tower and Alexander the Greatest, in 1973, he retired from acting.

The star isn’t entirely out of the public eye, as he currently presents a Friday radio show on Kpiss Radio, which is stationed in Woodstock, New York. Speaking about his departure from acting, he admitted: “I’d love to give you a deep Freudian answer but there isn’t one. I gave it up, or it gave me up, depending on which way you want to look at it. I had an awful, difficult transition between youth and adult professionally. The truth is I didn’t make it. I couldn’t crack the barrier of being typecast and was always looked at as a kid in short trousers.”