Disc One

Waterloo Sunset

The Southern Region’s last steam-worked main lines from Waterloo to Salisbury and Weymouth are recalled on this all-colour programme which features cine film made between 1958 and 1967 by John Laird, Brian Robbins and Geoff Todd. After an extended opening sequence at Waterloo and footage of Nine Elms shed, we follow the former London & South Western main line down to Basingstoke.We head west from Worthing Junction to Salisbury before resuming our journey south through Eastleigh to Southampton.

Disc Two

Rails in the Isle of Wight

We begin with John Laird’s 1964 films of the steam railway in all its glory with the coverage of the lines to Ventnor and Cowes.  This is contrasted with the scene in the 1950s as portrayed in rare colour films made in 1953 on the soon to be closed lines from Brading to Bembridge, Sandown to Merstone and Newport and from Newport to Freshwater.  The final steam sequences filmed by Geoff Todd and Derek Norman show the last years of steam operation on the island and the preparations for electrification.

The Isle of Wight’s ‘new’ tube trains are shown at first on trial on the mainland, looking quite incongruous at locations such as Clapham Junction.   The era of the first generation tube trains in their all-blue livery is then covered and the story is brought up to date with their 1990s replacements, the new station at Smallbrook Junction and scenes recorded in 1994 showing the wonderful atmosphere of the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.

This programme offers much rare footage made on the railways of the south east of England between the 1930s and the 1960s.   The films begin at London Bridge in 1931 with a ‘Schools’ class 4-4-0 in original condition.   Rare colour footage taken in 1938 at London Bridge and Sutton follows.   A LBSCR 4-6-4 tank is then shown working a train between London Bridge and Norwood Junction. After sequences showing steam in action in 1931 at East Croydon, the scene shifts to Folkestone with both main line expresses and boat trains on the Harbour branch, in black and white from the 1930s and colour from the 1950s.  

Coverage of the Golden Arrow and other SR steam hauled Pullmans is followed by extracts from a 1939 cab ride on the electric Brighton Belle.  Carrying on the Brighton theme a sequence on Brighton steam survivors features an Atlantic, a Remembrance 4-6-0 and the Brighton works shunter, a Terrier in LBSCR style yellow livery recorded at the works, on the Kemp Town and helping the citizens of Caterham to celebrate the branch centenary of their railway.The last part of the programme deals with some of the delightful branch and secondary lines in the south east.  

This programme begins with a trip up the now preserved Severn Valley line from Kidderminster to Bewdley.  Both ex-GWR diesel railcars and steam locomotives are seen before we head across the River Severn to explore the branch to Tenbury Wells and Woofferton.

The final part of the programme follows the last passenger train on the ex-GWR branch from Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog.   The two pannier tanks in charge of the train make a stirring sight as they blast up to the summit near Cwm Prysor, over 1,200 ft above sea level.

 Whilst narrow gauge railways were never as significant in Britain as they were in Ireland, many fascinating lines were operated over the years, some of which are still very much in business.

Following a visit to the lines at Dinorwic quarry, BR’s Vale of Rheidol is then recalled in the era of both blood and custard and chocolate and cream carriage liveries.   Delightful 16mm colour footage of the Manx narrow gauge and the Ravenglass & Eskdale in the early 1950s is followed by coverage of some unusual industrial lines in Scotland.

The final part of the programme is devoted to a brace of pleasure lines filmed mostly in the 1950s.   These include the pier railways at Southend and Hythe, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch and the Volks Electric Railway in Brighton.

This programme, which explores both well known and almost forgotten narrow gauge byways throughout Britain from the west of Scotland to the south coast of England, not forgetting the Isle of Man, will be a delight for all of those interested in the narrow gauge and minor railways of Britain.

This programme sets out to offer a real feel of what it was like to observe the busy railway network of the Midlands in the last decade of steam operations.  Not surprisingly, in an era renowned for its heavy industry, freight workings and the locomotives designed for heavy goods duties, play a prominent role in the proceedings.

These engines are contrasted with their LMS built successors, the 8F 2-8-0s.  Other types which feature in the films are Black 5s, Horwich Moguls, Fowler tanks, Jinties, Ivatt 2-6-0s and several of the British Railways Standard designs ranging from Britannia Pacifics to the Class 4 Moguls.   These machines, often work stained and unkempt, are seen on a succession of coal and steel trains and long mixed freights, traffic flows which have either been shut down or nowadays go by road.

Passenger traffic is not forgotten.   LMS Pacifics are seen at work on the main lines and in one poignant sequence several of these magnificent machines are seen making their last journey to the scrap yard.   The role of the Great Western in the Midlands is not overlooked.  Branch lines such as that which once served Alton Towers are explored and in once lovely sequence the venerable LNWR saddletanks which shunted at Wolverton works parade for the camera.   Centred on Staffordshire, but with much of the footage drawn from the surrounding counties, this programme will bring back many happy memories to those who watched the trains go by in the 1950s and 60s and will be a revelation of a lost age to those too young to recall those halcyon days.

Few projects have stirred the imagination as much as the building of the Channel Tunnel.  The sheer scale of the enterprise and the immense effort involved in creating the Tunnel, can only be admired

The story of the construction of the Tunnel is interwoven with the vital role that railways played in its execution.  The large narrow gauge railway network built to service the construction work is explored as is the building and testing of the locomotives and rolling stock which were to be used on Eurotunnel’s ‘Le Shuttle’ service.   The programme also looks at the futuristic Euro star trains which provide the through passenger services between Britain and the continent.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the Channel Tunnel will be engrossed by this programme.   Those who believe in railways and who feel that they should play an enhanced role in our lives will be inspired by the Tunnel and the trains which use it and at the vision they present of what can be done if both the finance and the will to develop a railway for the twenty first century, can be brought together.

Branch lines and secondary routes have always had a special appeal.  This programme recalls many such English byways in films made in the 1950s and ‘60s.  The railways portrayed ran through landscapes which ranged from the green and pleasant shires of rural England to the very heart of the Metropolis.

Among the Southern Region branches and secondary lines visited are those to Lymington, Swanage, Hayling island, the Guildford to Horsham service and the network of lines centred on Tunbridge Wells West, which served Oxted, Hailsham and Lewes.   Films of the former Midland & Great Northern joint system in East Anglia, where closure in 1959 was the first major portent of the drastic cuts which were to be made to the railways of England in the 1960s, and that ultimate in byways, the roadside tramway, which ran from Wisbech to Upwell, conclude the programme.