1970s Railway Accident Documentary Series.

[kylemore]

I remember back in the 70s one of my favourite programmes was a series which examined historical railway accidents with the help of models and appeared to be low budget but was fascinating nevertheless, I can't remember any other details, does anyone else remember this and have any details?

 

[MadMac]

I think that was part of the BBC “Horizon” series and was called “Rail Crash”.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I remember back in the 70s one of my favourite programmes was a series which examined historical railway accidents with the help of models and appeared to be low budget but was fascinating nevertheless, I can't remember any other details, does anyone else remember this and have any details?

Presented by OS Nock. It covered Armagh, Hawes Junction and I think Abbots Ripton, among others. Being in black and white, it is unlikely to be repeated now

 

[yorksrob]

Being the BEEB of the 70's, it might have been wiped of course.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Here’s the IMBD entry for it.

"Horizon" Rail Crash (TV Episode 1972) | Documentary

Rail Crash: With Paul Vaughan, Brian Blessed.

www.imdb.com

It was once on YouTube but appears to have been taken down.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Is this the one?

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYE2WQnY3qg8VMxv703o5t7GupIVfIjNV&feature=shared

Seems to have been uploaded in six segments; curiously it's part one of six that seems to be missing.

 

[jfollows]

I think that was part of the BBC “Horizon” series and was called “Rail Crash”.

I remember watching this at the time, and was fascinated.
I was thinking “I don’t remember it being in black and white” but then I remembered that our television was black and white so I didn’t think about it at the time. We watched snooker in black and white then!

 

[SargeNpton]

I remember back in the 70s one of my favourite programmes was a series which examined historical railway accidents with the help of models and appeared to be low budget but was fascinating nevertheless, I can't remember any other details, does anyone else remember this and have any details?

I think that it was shown on Sunday mornings, perhaps on BBC2. Most, if not all, of the incidents it examined, were documented in the classic "Red For Danger" book by L.T.C. Rolt.

 

[jfollows]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887535/ says May 8 1972 which was a Monday, and I remember weekday evenings, so perhaps Sundays were later or a repeat?

 

[nlogax]

EDIT: YT have blocked the upload on copyright grounds which may explain why the existing upload is short of the first part. The best advice I can give would be to download the episode directly from the BBC Horizon Archive on Archive.org.

https://archive.org/download/BBCHorizonCollection512Episodes/BBC Horizon - s1972e16 - Rail Crash.mp4

If this is breaking any forum rules then the above link may disappear, in which case send me a PM if you'd like a copy.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I did my BR rules and regulations at the much missed training center at the Grove , Watford - a pretty full-on course I have to say (unsurprisingly) - and we watched this twice with one of the instructors (senior regional inspectors brought in for the course) - commenting on the particular points to make as relevant to our studies.

A bit basic - but this was 1979 - he was Scottish and keen to point out that some of the actual filming was done inside Quintinshill - presumably in its last days......

 

[Richardr]

Per the BBC it was on:

Monday 8th May 1972: 21:15
Thursday 15th March 1973: 21:25
Sunday 18th March 1973: 17:20

and as a schools programme Tuesday 4th December 1973: 11:10am

At 100 mph a passenger train has got no chance of dodging out of danger like a car; what is more, if it does hit something there are about 500 tons of metal and people flying about. And yet in the compartment of a British passenger train you are, statistically, nearly 200 times safer than in your car.

Clayton Tunnel in 1861, Armagh in 1889, Quintinshill in 1915, Norton Fitzwarren in 1940, Lewisham in 1957... this film is the story of the accidents that have most changed the system.

Using the few remaining steam trains, the film re-creates the circumstances of those accidents and then follows through the way in which the system has improved. It's a history of the way our modern technical wizardry is founded on the principles so dearly bought with the lives of earlier travellers.

Contributors​

Narrator:Paul Vaughan
Film Editor:Ted Walter
Editor:Peter Goodchild
Producer:Mick Rhodes

The repeats included in their billing:

"...it fulfilled all three of the basic obligations of the Corporation's overall duty to inform, educate and entertain" (The Times)

 

[John Luxton]

I think that it was shown on Sunday mornings, perhaps on BBC2. Most, if not all, of the incidents it examined, were documented in the classic "Red For Danger" book by L.T.C. Rolt.

I think that it was shown on Sunday mornings, perhaps on BBC2. Most, if not all, of the incidents it examined, were documented in the classic "Red For Danger" book by L.T.C. Rolt.

The Sunday morning programme was "Steam Horse Iron Road" which I recall opened with some film from the Titfield Thunderbolt Knock and Rolt were among the presenters of the idividual episodes which covered the history of railways.