BBC4 - The Golden Age of Steam Railways

mike65

Anyone catch this Monday night, the repeat is on 22:00 Wednesday

Two-part documentary telling the remarkable story of a band of visionaries who rescued some of the little narrow gauge railways that once served Britain's industries. These small railways and the steam engines that ran on them were once the driving force of Britain's mines, quarries, factories and docks. Then, as they disappeared after 1945, volunteers set to work to bring the lines and the steam engines back to life and started a movement which spread throughout the world. Their home movies tell the story of how they helped millions reconnect with a past they thought had gone forever.

Very interesting and featuring some clips from this short film below which captures the rustic charm of North Wales and the railway in 1965.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogVDMJ0_FUw

corktina

mike65 wrote: »

Anyone catch this Monday night, the repeat is on 22:00 Wednesday



Very interesting and featuring some clips from this short film below which captures the rustic charm of North Wales and the railway in 1965.


ah the BBC...accurate and informative,good continuity, would that all railway programmes were like that

steamengine

The Ffestiniog railway is featured in the programme. In restoring the line a section known as 'The Deviation' had to be constructed to circumvent a reservoir. This basically consisted of a spiral which involved a cutting and 300 metre tunnel through rock, embankments and a bridge. All this work was carried out manually by volunteers just like the navvies of old - truly awesome and well worth watching. There was an interesting quote form one of the 'stalwarts' of the project - 'There is no such thing as railway enthusiasts - only enthusiastic railwaymen'.

corktina

yep and you should see some of the comments about that guy and his opinions of volunteers on other forums!

steamengine

corktina wrote: »

yep and you should see some of the comments about that guy and his opinions of volunteers on other forums!

No doubt, but he and they got the job done - can't be all cups of tea and old shaggy dog railway stories.

Hilly Bill

steamengine wrote: »

The Ffestiniog railway is featured in the programme. In restoring the line a section known as 'The Deviation' had to be constructed to circumvent a reservoir. This basically consisted of a spiral which involved a cutting and 300 metre tunnel through rock, embankments and a bridge. All this work was carried out manually by volunteers just like the navvies of old - truly awesome and well worth watching. There was an interesting quote form one of the 'stalwarts' of the project - 'There is no such thing as railway enthusiasts - only enthusiastic railwaymen'.

Its one of the most scenic rail journeys in Wales.

mike65

bump, repeated on BBC4 at 8 pm tonight (Saturday)