British Rail

[adamp]

Im not too sure wether this is the right forum for it, but im really interested in Britains railway network before privitisation.
So I was wondering does anyone know any good (long) and interesting documentaries about it including stock that was made/why it was removed from service etc..

Thanks in advance.

 

[support-uk-rail]

Are you reffering to relatively recent nationalisation? As in post 1985?

 

[Respite]

There was that crappy Railwatch program on BR around 1988/89. Mike smith & a few other minor tv people attempting to show BR's day to day operation over a week long show but as usual ending up all smug & full of themselves whilst making sh*t jokes about sandwiches & not actually grasping what the hell was going on!

 

[adamp]

Yeah seen the only vids on youtube with Railwatch...interesting, but just crap
Was looking at bfi.org.uk on their website but dont fancy paying £20.00. Looks like an interesting DVD from 1950's to 1985 I think. Looking for something more from 1960's to now really.
I find all the old ATP stuff interesting aswell.

 

[Nick279]

some of the best books I have on railway network history are the Regional History of Railways in Great Britiain and the sister series Forgotten Railways by various writers, each volume covers each region of BR from the building of every line to the closures, I use these all the time for reference work, and although out of print you can still pick copies up reasonably priced.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
A Regional History of Railways in
Great Britain.
Publishers; David St John Thomas.

Vol 1 The West Country
Vol 2 Southern Region
Vol 3 Greater London
Vol 4 North East England
Vol 5 The Eastern Counties
Vol 6 Scotland
Vol 7 The West Midlands
Vol 8 South and West Yorkshire
Vol 9 The East Midlands
Vol 10 The North West
Vol 11 North and Mid Wales
Vol 12 South Wales
Vol 13 Thames and Severn
Vol 14 The Lake Counties
Vol 15 The North of Scotland
Vol 16 Ireland



The Forgotten Railway Series
David and Charles

Forgotten Railways, Main Volume
Vol 1 North East England
Vol 2 East Midlands
Vol 3 Chilterns and Cotswolds
Vol 4 North and Mid Wales
Vol 5 Scotland
Vol 6 South East England
Vol 7 East Anglia
Vol 8 South Wales
Vol 9 North West England
Vol 10 The West Midlands
Vol 11 Severn Valley & Welsh Borders
Vol 12 South West England

 

[adamp]

Thanks for that link Nick, considering buying "Diesels and Electrics in Action" and "The East Midlands"

Other than books, any programmes out there?

 

[Nick279]

thats my collection, I`m afraid I`m terrible at collecting books, there is such a welath of interest our there though. Yes i have that one, "Diesels and Electrics in Action" and "The East Midlands", good luck with your quest.

 

[Snapper]

Im not too sure wether this is the right forum for it, but im really interested in Britains railway network before privitisation.
So I was wondering does anyone know any good (long) and interesting documentaries about it including stock that was made/why it was removed from service etc..

Thanks in advance.

What exactly are you interested in apart from rolling stock disposal? (normally only three reasons for withdrawal: It was either crap, life-expired or non-standard)

Other books which detail the political and financial structure (without which its impossible to get a real grasp of how it really worked) are 'The Train that ran away' by Stewart Joy (ISBN 0 7110 0428 5)

Also try:

'The Railway Navvies' by Terry Coleman (ISBN 14 020903 4) and 'I tried to run a railway' by GF Fiennes (ISBN 0010071)

 

[Nick279]

'The Railway Navvies' by Terry Coleman (ISBN 14 020903 4) , yes i can certainly recommend that one, an excellent book

 

[me123]

Yeah seen the only vids on youtube with Railwatch...interesting, but just crap

I have to say, I enjoyed them and the oppertunity to see what goes on must have been of interest to many people out there. I particularly enjoyed seeing an HST cab ride.

Presewnters were bloody awful though

 

[Juniper Driver]

There was that crappy Railwatch program on BR around 1988/89. Mike smith & a few other minor tv people attempting to show BR's day to day operation over a week long show but as usual ending up all smug & full of themselves whilst making sh*t jokes about sandwiches & not actually grasping what the hell was going on!

Yeah I remember that.hock:

 

[David]

Also try:

'The Railway Navvies' by Terry Coleman (ISBN 14 020903 4) and 'I tried to run a railway' by GF Fiennes (ISBN 0010071)

The Railway Navvies (There is a cheaper copy available, but I've used that one as it shows the cover.)

There is also an extensive section of books about railway history, some of which may be what your after.

 

[driver9000]

Yeah seen the only vids on youtube with Railwatch...interesting, but just crap
Was looking at bfi.org.uk on their website but dont fancy paying £20.00. Looks like an interesting DVD from 1950's to 1985 I think. Looking for something more from 1960's to now really.
I find all the old ATP stuff interesting aswell.

I have all the bfi volumes of British Transport Films DVDs and find them absolutly fascinating, £20 isnt a bad price for a 2 DVD set - I suppose it all depends on what your looking for though.

The Railwatch TV prgramme was awful looking back at it now, but in 1989 when I was 7yrs old it helped cement the idea in my head that I wanted to be a train driver, nearly 20yrs later Im happy to say I acheived my goal in becoming a qualified driver a couple of years ago - shame its not on HSTs though

 

[P156KWJ]

lol I've seen a British Rail VHS tape from 1994 about shunting handsignals for my staff training