Rent Great British Railways (2014)
1.0 of 5 from 1 ratings
4h 59min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Set covering the evolution of British Railways.
Southern Railway
This programme compares how things have changed on Southern Rail from the early days. It offers much rare footage beginning at one of the most important places on the system, the Ashford works, which were an oasis of steam with three of Harry Wainwright's C class locomotives employed there as shunters. As we travel on to the Channel ports, we can see how these towns have changed with little sign of their previous existence as important destinations for boat trains.
GWRA nostalgic look at the GWR 'God's Wonderful Railway' as it was in the 1950s and 1960s and more recently. Archive scenes capture the true essence of the GWR with its Brunellian stations and station platforms, engines, lines, freight yards and engine sheds. We can enjoy magnificent engines including some of the Castle and King Class that were turned out at Swindon. These include the 4079 Pendennis Castle, 5029 Nunney Castle, 7020 Gloucester Castle, 6000 King George V, 6024 King Edward I and others.
LMS
This fascinating programme visits the LMS, the largest railway company in the British Isles that served the heartlands of industry of the Midlands, the shipping of the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey, the holiday resorts o the North West coast as well as North Wales and Scotland. We see the significant changes within this operator between the age of steam and the modern railway. We start our journey at the now closed Atherton Bag Lane aboard a Stanier 8F, one of the workhorses of the LMS. We then move on to the most charming of railways, the Cromford and High Peak, with its many sidings, just as it is about to be axed.
LNER
We start our nostalgic review at the best known of all LNER stations, Kings Cross, and on the lines going out of here we see a variety of Pacifies. These include 60047 Donovan, 60059 Tracery, 60064 Tagalie and 60110 Robert the Devil, all named after famous race horses. As well as these wonderful steam locos we also see rushing through more modern units including Class 313s, 317s and HSTs. From here we go just a short distance to Liverpool Street Station and the Jazz Services steaming in and out including 70001 Lord Hurcomb, 70030 William Wordsworth and 70007 Coeur de Lion.
British Railways
Featuring rarely seen archive footage this programme offers a glimpse into Britains Railways as it recalls how things have changed from t he 1950s and the glory days of steam to recent times. We see the dramatic changes that have happened with the elimination of steam, pre and post-Beeching closures, the loss of freight traffic to road haulage and long distance passenger traffic to planes and cars.- Aka:
- Britain's Railways Then and Now
- Studio:
- Demand DVD
- Genres:
- Documentary, Special Interest
