| Railway relic films |
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| A few films featuring railway relics have found their way onto YouTube, including a couple we made. We've built these into pages on our site. To step back in time, click on their title. |
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A short, silent film capturing one of Britain's forgotten minor railways.
BFI Films (1930)
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A delightfully evocative film recording the last days and dismantling of the Scarborough to Whitby railway. Frank Dean (1967)
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Cine film taken from the leading end of a train as it passes slowly over the swing bridge between Throsk and Alloa.
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Colour film showing movements at the terminus of the Alnwick branch.
(1964)
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A video charting the refurbishment of Bilston Glen's majestic viaduct
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Another film featuring the 24 mile S&D line from Evercreech Junction, with Sir John Betjeman. BBC (1963)
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A five-parter looking back at yesterday's railway when steam was still king.
(1958)
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Rare footage of the last train ever to cross this remarkable structure.
(1964)
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Short clip on external website (British Pathe) showing the viaduct's girder sections being dismantled. (1937)
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Short clip on external website (British Pathe) showing the viaduct's brick piers being blown up. (1938)
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Archive photos of the railway that served Liverpool Docks, before closure arrived in the 1950s.
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A Yorkshire farmer up-sticks and moves his business to Sussex by train.
(1951)
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Film of the coastal route through St Andrews which transformed the town into a popular tourist destination in the late 19th century.
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An aerial celebration of some of the North's great disused viaducts.
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A silent collection of shots showing the workings of the long-gone Great Central Railway in and around Leicester. (1960s)
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The last days of the Hayling Billy, set to music.
(1963)
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Jim Clemens' film chronicles the rural lines around the two county towns.
(1964)
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Three contrasting films capturing different views of steam on the island.
(1960s)
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John Betjeman takes a trip along the North Norfolk coast before Dr Beeching closed the line.
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Film of a diagramed steam working from Eastbourne to Tunbridge Wells West.
(1965)
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A 1984 regional news report records the journey of the last passenger train from Newcastle to Consett.
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A walk up the old line from West Bridge to Desford Junction.
(1964)
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Rare footage of the much-missed Liverpool Overhead Railway which was dismantled in 1957.
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A local landmark captured as it was taken apart.
(1966)
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A delightfully evocative journey by DMU along the erstwhile branch from New Mills to Hayfield, in the foothills of the Peak District.
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Capturing the life and death of the Great Central around Nottingham.
(1964)
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Footage showing both steam and DMU services on the now-closed line into the heart of the Lake District.
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Take a trip along the old Port Road, passing over the viaducts at Loch Ken and Big Water of Fleet (1965)
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Enjoy the freedom of the open railroad by taking your car onto the tracks.
Pathe News (1962)
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The story of the Bala & Ffestiniog, told by the last guard to travel the line.
Four by Three (1997)
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A video report on the campaign to reopen Queensbury Tunnel as part of an ambitious cycle network.
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Dr Richard Beeching explains the reasons behind the extensive cuts to the network triggered by his notorious Sixties report.
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A nostalgic journey along the defunct Somerset & Dorset Railway.
(1984)
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A short video in which interior photographs of the tunnel are set to music.
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A video report on the detailed examination of Rhondda Tunnel as part of its proposed reopening as a cycle path.
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A high quality film recalling a gentler way of getting around the Isle of Wight.
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Evocative cine film of the former Suffolk branch, accompanied by Flanders & Swan's 'Slow Train' lament.
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Cine film showing the awesome Severn Railway Bridge shortly after being fatally damaged by a drifting oil barge.
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A newsreel item recording the dismantling of the bridge's 22 surviving spans. (1967)
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A two-part documentary recalling the former Border Counties route from Hexham to its junction with the Waverley line at Riccarton.
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An award-winning classic demonstrates British Rail's dedication to blizzard-battling. BFI (1963)
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Clearing a stretch of the Stainmore route, blocked by severe winter snows.
BTF (1955)
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Steam trains and DMUs travel the line between Barnard Castle and Bowes.
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A retired Devon signalman recalls the life, times and decline of the county's rail services.
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The reminiscences of two firemen who used to work the Wensleydale Railway. Four by Three (2004)
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A video report on the official opening of Torksey Viaduct as a footpath, linking communities either side of the River Trent on the Notts-Lincs border.
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An evocative film from 1973 recording an exploration of two South Wales tunnels by a group of like-minded people.
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A video offering insight into some of the techniques employed by Victorian engineers to drive railway tunnels.
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Two films showing the old GN line between Derby and Nottingham, including Bennerley Viaduct.
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Colour cine film showing the last days of the truncated Wansbeck branch.
(1966)
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A different world on the railway of yesteryear.
National Library of Scotland
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A timelapse view of the former Hull & Holderness branch, closed in 1965.
(1957)
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A short film charting the construction of Woodhead Tunnel and the associated electrification of the trans-Pennine route from Manchester to Sheffield.
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A 25-minute film, part of which captures the early stages of work to construct a new double-track tunnel at Woodhead. BTF (1951)
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A collection of scenes from the heavily engineered line along the North Yorkshire coast, featuring Staithes, Sandsend and Whitby.
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