Vintage railway film - Rail Report 12; This year by rail - 1972

This vintage railway film, produced by British Transport Films in 1972, was report No. 12 in a series of 13 topical films, produced since the far reaching plan for the modernisation and re-equipment of British Railways in 1955 started to take effect, to log the many developments - new services, equipment, techniques - wherever these have been introduced. They provide a unique pictorial record of the progress of British Railways.
Commercial and technical developments on British Rail: new freight loads, air conditioned carriages, an ultrasonic test-train for checking the permanent way, a lecture train, and a new station for motorists - all part of the railway scene in the 1970's.

Пікірлер: 108

  • @toddhunter3137
    @toddhunter3137 Жыл бұрын

    Mark 2 intercity seems luxury to what we have this day💯

  • @kevinheard8364
    @kevinheard83642 жыл бұрын

    I'm an "officially 'elderly'" person. I enjoy these very much! Thank you SO much for your channel

  • @gwrstudios5181

    @gwrstudios5181

    2 жыл бұрын

    Did you watch these when they came out

  • @rudolphguarnacci197

    @rudolphguarnacci197

    2 жыл бұрын

    I am, too.

  • @TheSynthnut
    @TheSynthnut2 жыл бұрын

    Such optimism, shame so much effort was squandered by successive governments. Think where we would be now if we had continued to genuinely support rail...

  • @rudolphguarnacci197

    @rudolphguarnacci197

    2 жыл бұрын

    What? The government broke something? Never!

  • @billpugh58

    @billpugh58

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes, the paying public stayed away in droves and bought their own cars instead!

  • @elrjames7799

    @elrjames7799

    9 ай бұрын

    @@billpugh58 Yes, but the nut mentioned where would we be now, not then.

  • @PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars

    @PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars

    4 ай бұрын

    All true, but had the job been done properly, more freight would have stayed on the rails and with proper investment, which didn't happen, I believe things would have been very different. As the son of a railwayman, I believe BR was chronically underfunded and mismanaged.

  • @stephensmith799
    @stephensmith79910 ай бұрын

    Wonderful. A special shout out for the BRMk2D. The best travel experience ever placed on UK rails, never bettered.

  • @scooby2142

    @scooby2142

    7 ай бұрын

    Correctomundo

  • @stephensmith799

    @stephensmith799

    7 ай бұрын

    @@scooby2142 A comfortable ride with enough sense of being on rails, seats lined up with the window, generous two a side seating in groups of four, ample luggage storage, simple interior colour scheme with minimal patterning, low seat backs allowing for views to the vestibule or the half barrier at the centre of the coach, effective air con, fantastic crash resistance, no bogie hunting, no rattles, unfussy BR blue and light grey livery, tinted double glazing, good loos, excellent longitudinal lighting by concealed fluorescent tubes, easy to use hand holds attached to each pair of seats, overall clean, simple ‘Sixties’ modernist design which was very restful on the eye. Everything which today’s cramped and claustrophobic airliner style rolling stock lacks. Designers: please study the BRMk2Ds or just build more of them adjusted to take automatic plug doors used in later BR carriage designs.

  • @toddhunter3137
    @toddhunter3137 Жыл бұрын

    I love watching these old films. ❤️

  • @bobsmodelrailways
    @bobsmodelrailways2 жыл бұрын

    I remember these short films at the Pictures, before the main picture. Loved it especially when it was a railway one!

  • @bryn494
    @bryn494 Жыл бұрын

    The crest of the 'modernization' wave as the swinging sixties was about to morph into the swingeing seventies. A lovely trip down memory lane :)

  • @-DC-
    @-DC-2 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely cracking film 👍

  • @AndreiTupolev
    @AndreiTupolev2 жыл бұрын

    9:02"The motorist can step straight onto British Rail's Inter-City network" Without even bothering to lock his car, it seems

  • @HexAyed

    @HexAyed

    2 жыл бұрын

    A lock wouldn't delay someone who wanted to nick a car in the 90s, let alone the 70s, Just use a duplicate key lol

  • @obiwankenobi687

    @obiwankenobi687

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@HexAyed might not delay them but it doesn’t mean you’d just leave your car unlocked anyway 🤣

  • @NgaugeShelfLayouts

    @NgaugeShelfLayouts

    2 жыл бұрын

    If he had locked the car the cameraman would have been trapped...

  • @buckodonnghaile4309

    @buckodonnghaile4309

    2 жыл бұрын

    Car locks weren't invented til 86. It was kind of a big deal.

  • @rudolphguarnacci197

    @rudolphguarnacci197

    2 жыл бұрын

    Locks are to keep honest people honest.

  • @markjosephbudgieridgard
    @markjosephbudgieridgard2 жыл бұрын

    What a great vidio really enjoyed that.... A snapshot of Great Britain in the early 1970s the cars the fashion.... The young lady in pink hotpants and of course the gorgeous vintage locomotives.... These vintage BTF are so enjoyable 👍

  • @jamiew1664
    @jamiew16644 ай бұрын

    "this ever more crowded island".... lol, and that was in '72.

  • @dcan48
    @dcan482 жыл бұрын

    Great video, thank you.

  • @jonallaway2002
    @jonallaway20022 жыл бұрын

    These old railway films are great. Thanks to whoever posts them.

  • @rodnelson2651
    @rodnelson26512 жыл бұрын

    This is a time machine! It brought back so many memories! Thank you!

  • @SMILEVIDEOTRAINS
    @SMILEVIDEOTRAINS2 жыл бұрын

    superb. love these bygone vids

  • @leewilson2140
    @leewilson21402 жыл бұрын

    Year I was born!!😃

  • @AndreiTupolev
    @AndreiTupolev2 жыл бұрын

    Those taped announcements (recorded by Her Majesty the Queen) were still in use well into the 90s. It was the pride with which they declared "This train conveys buffet car facilities" that I liked 😋

  • @BibtheBoulder
    @BibtheBoulder2 жыл бұрын

    Oh for a class 55 and a rake of Mk2's along the ECML nowadays....

  • @gazza1858
    @gazza18582 жыл бұрын

    Brilliant video.

  • @secretspyfrog593
    @secretspyfrog59311 ай бұрын

    ahhhh.... the year I was born

  • @Keithbarber

    @Keithbarber

    9 ай бұрын

    I turned 3 in 1972

  • @craigsibley8161
    @craigsibley81612 жыл бұрын

    Nice trip back in time 👍👍👍 2 years before I was born....

  • @djwarren5081

    @djwarren5081

    Жыл бұрын

    I was 18 that year. Remember it well.

  • @modelrailroader5619
    @modelrailroader56192 жыл бұрын

    Wow, all that “modern” equipment! It certainly looked like the sky was the limit for railroads.

  • @matthewgartell6380
    @matthewgartell63804 ай бұрын

    4:06 wondered where John candy got his idea for trains, planes & automobiles

  • @mvg2x34
    @mvg2x342 жыл бұрын

    I’m amazed at these videos outlining the modernization effort GB took in the fifties and sixties. America let their system rot.

  • @JohnAsmith-rw6uo

    @JohnAsmith-rw6uo

    8 ай бұрын

    Really l think we have the most efficient railroads in the world

  • @rocksreynolds3642
    @rocksreynolds36422 жыл бұрын

    I really enjoyed that, thanks. Worth watching for the rake of rarely filmed UTV timber wagons at the start. How simple the future seemed for rail back then before politics screwed it (and a lot of other things) up during the 70s.

  • @stephensmith799

    @stephensmith799

    7 ай бұрын

    Since privatisation by John Major, what was ‘Europe’s second most cost effective railway’ now costs taxpayers five times (5 x ) more to run🤨☹️🫣😏

  • @nigelarmstrong252

    @nigelarmstrong252

    7 ай бұрын

    @@stephensmith799 Don't blame John Major, blame us joining the EEC / Common Market, as described in the film. By joining, we were obliged to make the railways and other industries open to competition, imposible as a state controlled entity. I'm no fan of Major but he came along far later than any of this. These changes were all part of Wilson, Heath etc.

  • @stephensmith799

    @stephensmith799

    7 ай бұрын

    @@nigelarmstrong252 You have been badly misinformed. Seventy percent of UK Rail Franchises are at least minority or majority owned by foreign state owned railways, including DB (German Government owned), with hefty foreign state owned railway holdings by Italy, France, The Netherlands state railway and the Hong Kong Rapid Transit system, owned by the Chinese government. There is no EU requirement for rail privatisation. (It was a Brexit untruth along with the Straight Cucumber nonsense and the claim that Brussels was going to outlaw low cut dresses on bar maids🤣😅🤣. Our rail fares are, I think you’ll find, the highest in Europe. Foreign governments are delighted with UK subsidies for their own railway systems. Another thing which they must be pleased with is that with every UK rail strike, our government pays for the shortfall in earnings for that day. The franchise holders lose nothing. This is prolonging industrial disputes. Privatisation had nothing to do with the EU, Ted Heath or Harold Wilson. (Unless you have any other information to offer.) A similar sorry story applies in Bus Franchising and the Water and Sewerage Companies (£61billions in debt due to inflated payouts to shareholders and chief executives). I’d be pleased to hear from you an example of a privatisation success or a Brexit benefit. 🙏Please. I’d be pleased to be proved wrong as I am subject to the gravity of facts rather than magical thinking.

  • @nigelarmstrong252

    @nigelarmstrong252

    7 ай бұрын

    @@stephensmith799 Britain signed up to join the EEC / Common Market in 1972 and joined in 1973 during the Heath government. The name "Common Market" is a clue to what followed over the years as Britain followed most rules/requirements to the letter where many continental European countries were less obedient. One of the rules, (91/440 is the earliest I can find online) and it relates to railways. The EEC doesn't use "Privatisation" as a term, they use "competition" and "markets" etc. In the name of competition, member state's railways should be available to any other member state or company to tender / operate services. British Rail was obviously a state owned network since 1948 when it was nationalised. As a state owned entity, the EEC directive couldn't be applied/adopted. To comply with the directive, BR had to be broken up into seperate entities that could then be offered to the markets in the name of competiton. Granted, Major was in government when it happened but he inherited the requirement by Heath taking us into the EEC back in 1972. Had we not joined the EEC or simply ignored the directive, we'd probably still have a state owned British Rail today. If the subsidies given to franchisees in passenger and freight had been applied as funding to British Rail, we would have had and possibly still have a great railway network. I used the railway a lot back in the 70s and 80s so I know exactly what the network was like back then. With some pro railway management and more investment, it would have been fantastic. We were once self sufficient in railway engineering, producing our own motive power and rolling stock. BREL was a success in this production for home and export markets, started in 1970 and closed in 1992. (Note the year). From 1992 onwards, the almost total decline of home manufacture and move to total import of railway motive power. Look at the timeline of how our railways changed and compare it with the timeline of our joining the EEC. As we got deeper in, the more compliant we became. Major was in power in 1991, yes, but even if it had been a Labour government, it would still have happened. Like it or not, joining the EEC/Common Market was the death knell of British Rail and was also the catalyst for the privatisation of all our utilities. Thatcher was initially pro EEC because she was pro Market Capitalism. When she saw that the EEC was becoming a social union, she became very anti EEC. This is one of the main reasons that Major and his collaborators stabbed her in the back and forced her out. I'm totally pro railways and would renationalise the network tomorrow. The structure would be different than in the past but it would be regarded in the same light as water and energy, as part of our national infrastrcture and wholly controlled at a national level. The government has done nothing to implement anything as part of Brexit. If anything, Brexit should theoretically enable us to secede from the directive and re-establish a state control of the railways. EEC = European Economic Community. Sold to us as the "Common Market".

  • @imcadam121
    @imcadam1212 жыл бұрын

    Superb!The year that I was born,too.

  • @Tom-Lahaye
    @Tom-Lahaye2 жыл бұрын

    Nice film. Only the sound editor had no clue of types of locomotives, of all of the sounds to choose from he got it right one time. Deltic sounds like a class 25 or 26, 25 sounds like a Deltic, 26 sounds like a 37, the only time he got it right was the last minute with the class 50, which actually sounded like the class 50

  • @a11csc
    @a11csc2 жыл бұрын

    another gem

  • @grumbeast
    @grumbeast2 жыл бұрын

    Awesome film!.. I just love the optimism, just wish it had been justified

  • @AndreiTupolev
    @AndreiTupolev2 жыл бұрын

    That timber train - 350 tons? - would be quite a challenge for a solo Class 27.

  • @djwarren5081

    @djwarren5081

    Жыл бұрын

    Probably a 60 or 66 today. No wonder they were always worn out.

  • @djwarren5081
    @djwarren5081 Жыл бұрын

    I enjoyed the ever congested roads comment. Less than ten years after the Dr Beeching report closed half of the existing railways.

  • @009Workshop
    @009Workshop2 жыл бұрын

    Look very good

  • @Gannett2011
    @Gannett20112 жыл бұрын

    18:09 That Chairman's coach is pretty utilitarian! You can't imagine chairmen of railway companies these days travelling by train! And the European Community Education train...I couldn't help but think of the "£350m to the NHS" bus of the Leave campaign! Seriously, a great film. The optimism was infectious.

  • @billpugh58

    @billpugh58

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes, this was when britain was in serious economic trouble and was saved by becoming a member of the EEC trade area.

  • @JohnAsmith-rw6uo

    @JohnAsmith-rw6uo

    8 ай бұрын

    ​@@billpugh58lt was saved by Maggie Thatcher.

  • @AndreiTupolev
    @AndreiTupolev2 жыл бұрын

    The Paddington Evaluation Centre. - BR's equivalent of Bletchley Park 🕵‍♂️

  • @Ass_Burgers_Syndrome
    @Ass_Burgers_Syndrome2 жыл бұрын

    Can someone help me locate where that shot is taken from at 16:15?The train looks like a C stock or maybe A stock on LU but i can't figure out where that is

  • @squeaksvids5886
    @squeaksvids58862 жыл бұрын

    9:01 Didn’t need to lock you car back then!

  • @barryroberts2196
    @barryroberts21962 жыл бұрын

    So many great ideas there. Pity most of them went down like a fat kid on a see saw !

  • @fordson51
    @fordson512 жыл бұрын

    First comment. Thank you for posting this one.

  • @ssss-df5qz
    @ssss-df5qz2 жыл бұрын

    "The visual patern is easily understood...." Was half expecting a "even a woman can do it!"

  • @maghost_rider5698
    @maghost_rider56982 жыл бұрын

    To think that 4 years before this was filmed steam was in its final days on BR

  • @warphammer
    @warphammer9 ай бұрын

    Is that Michael Edwardes there at 11:50? Early days for him if so.

  • @Radio478
    @Radio4782 жыл бұрын

    👍😍 get trucks off the road

  • @volvos60bloke
    @volvos60bloke2 жыл бұрын

    11:39 - wow.

  • @MalcolmCrabbe

    @MalcolmCrabbe

    2 жыл бұрын

    14:45 ?

  • @AndreiTupolev

    @AndreiTupolev

    2 жыл бұрын

    14:45Pink hotpants and boots 😏

  • @gibbo9089

    @gibbo9089

    2 жыл бұрын

    12:15 naughty weekend with his secretary. Don't tell the wife.

  • @nevillebloodybartos

    @nevillebloodybartos

    Жыл бұрын

    I absolutely would 👍🏻

  • @robertwilloughby8050
    @robertwilloughby80502 жыл бұрын

    At 9:15, that is one seriously tall lady!

  • @ontrackrailfilms1652
    @ontrackrailfilms16522 жыл бұрын

    Nice old footage but badly dubbed. A Deltic that sounds like a 25.

  • @jimihendrix991
    @jimihendrix9913 ай бұрын

    A train specially for the 'joining' of the Common Market (EU).... I wonder how that panned out... 😉

  • @dieseldave3879
    @dieseldave38792 жыл бұрын

    👍

  • @johnsometimesoffandsometim8933
    @johnsometimesoffandsometim8933 Жыл бұрын

    2022 look at the state of things now

  • @srfurley
    @srfurley2 жыл бұрын

    I note the Gateway logo on the sign. My father worked for wiggins Tempe, and while he was based in an office in London I remember him doing some work at a Mill in Fort William, so it was probably this place, He retired early with ill health in, I think 1969, and died soon afterwards; what date was this film?

  • @09weenic

    @09weenic

    2 жыл бұрын

    1972

  • @TheRubberDuck
    @TheRubberDuck2 жыл бұрын

    Shame that back in the 1970's BR knew what problems it faced and attempted to rivel that of the car, air travel and motorways but yet today its no wonder why people opt for any way of travel except rail travel due to the fact that in most cases a car can get to a destination quicker than a train, the actual cost of rail travel which continuously increases year on year but the public are not getting a quicker or more efficient journey..

  • @GaryNumeroUno

    @GaryNumeroUno

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Duckie... I think your bill interfered with your pronunciation good buddy. It is "rival". Have an awesome day.

  • @fatwalletboy2
    @fatwalletboy22 ай бұрын

    BTF had some very strange music scores

  • @atilllathehun1212
    @atilllathehun12122 жыл бұрын

    A young Mr Bean at 12.15, and Victor Meldrew train announcements at 13.22

  • @gavinmellon9313
    @gavinmellon93132 жыл бұрын

    Privatisation ruined our railways. Vast profits that should be invested here is instead going to the French and German railways. A real shame as it could have been so much better.

  • @prof.hectorholbrook4692

    @prof.hectorholbrook4692

    16 күн бұрын

    Utterly agree.

  • @neiloflongbeck5705
    @neiloflongbeck57052 жыл бұрын

    Tallington is still sending out concrete structures by rail. Before Covid they had a new siding laid. The gypsum mine is no longer in production.

  • @neiloflongbeck5705

    @neiloflongbeck5705

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@GaryNumeroUno sentence corrected.

  • @GaryNumeroUno

    @GaryNumeroUno

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@neiloflongbeck5705 cheers good buddy. Sad the traffic finished up. It seemed to be a successful business case.

  • @neiloflongbeck5705

    @neiloflongbeck5705

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@GaryNumeroUno the mine was worked out in the 1990s.

  • @nevillebloodybartos

    @nevillebloodybartos

    Жыл бұрын

    Yes…. Tallington to the Isle of Grain in kent

  • @truetothegame2928
    @truetothegame29282 жыл бұрын

    sidsy darcy ,,, rip

  • @AndreiTupolev
    @AndreiTupolev2 жыл бұрын

    11:48Zoom is nothing new

  • @richardchadwick4028
    @richardchadwick402811 ай бұрын

    Lost more than we've gained.

  • @56independent42
    @56independent422 жыл бұрын

    15:19 90? Hah! My train can do 100 and others can do 120 and those on the continent can do 220!

  • @flyingcod14
    @flyingcod142 жыл бұрын

    15:55 "The electro-hydraulic tilting mechanism will ensure complete comfort for the passenger..." wonder how they got on with that? 🤢🤮🤮

  • @TheSynthnut

    @TheSynthnut

    2 жыл бұрын

    Would have been fine if they stuck with it and didn't send a load of drunk journos on the first trip too. Typical British tactic we then end up buying it back from the Italians having abandoned it didn't we. The UK government really hated railways .

  • @elboobio5920

    @elboobio5920

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@TheSynthnut Unfortunately they still hate the railways, no profit in it for the greedy buggers. We could have the greatest public rail transport service in the world with all our infrastructure. Yet it is the butt of all jokes due to the lack of investment and foresight.

  • @Spookieham

    @Spookieham

    Жыл бұрын

    Was killed before it was ready thanks to pissed journalists. It was rushed into use before the kinks were engineered out. Various groups in BR wanted it killed. Years ahead of its time

  • @rachelcarre9468
    @rachelcarre94682 жыл бұрын

    *Scotch forests

  • @YellabellyRover

    @YellabellyRover

    2 жыл бұрын

    It's where Scotch mist comes from.

  • @johnclarke2997

    @johnclarke2997

    2 жыл бұрын

    Glen Forest is a nice whisky

  • @memofrf
    @memofrf2 жыл бұрын

    hahahaha.

  • @marvwatkins7029
    @marvwatkins70292 жыл бұрын

    Sorry old boy, but your much vaunted 'APT' didn't quite work out as you planned, eh, wot? And as for Darby...

  • @paulprescott7913

    @paulprescott7913

    Жыл бұрын

    The technology gained during the APT trails was sold off to Siemens, and the APT itself spent many years at the rtc Derby visible from the road.

  • @Spookieham

    @Spookieham

    Жыл бұрын

    The APT was put into use too early. Plus the inaugural run had all the journalists utterly pissed before they even got on the train - no wonder some felt ill.

  • @bobtudbury8505
    @bobtudbury85052 жыл бұрын

    just keep the labour party well away from the railways

  • @billpugh58

    @billpugh58

    2 жыл бұрын

    Beeching was a hard bitten Tory. The Tories sold the railways off to the deutsche Bahn and French national rail:) sorry to burst your little bubble of misplaced outrage.