I wish I was in the 1950s. Everything seems so elegant and the post war economy was booming. Everyone was not staring constantly at their smartphones. They appreciated the world, they talked, they laughed. I feel like a man out of my time.

Such well spoken narration. I wish people still spoke like that today.

A beautiful and profoundly moving little film that depicts an era much better than now in which people rose to challenges and took pride in what they did, no matter how humble.

at 84 yrs this brought out emotional feelings. thank you

This is the most beautiful, and poignant, ode to railways I've seen. The production and direction, to have covered such a wealth of trades, from upholstering, to victualing, scheduling, signalling and driving, are masterful.

As one who travelled annually on The Elizabethan and its predecessor The Capitals Limited from 1948 for at least eight years, I found this short movie very nostalgic, especially as one of my trips included a trip up the train and through the tender for a half hour on the footplate of Kingfisher (60024) travelling at 90 mph or so. It's all very much as I remember it, including the livery of the dining car attendants and the taxis waiting at Waverley Station! Thank you for posting the movie!

The sound, the smell of steam/oil/smoke, and the elegance of a steam locomotive is magnificent. I come from that time, as a boy, counting coal trucks, and collecting numbers. The work was labour intensive and hard, involving many men of many trades, at all hours of the day and night, in foul and good weather, but still even for that, wonderful. No deisel can evoke such passion as a steam locomotive in full flight. Just look at Silver Fox go through her paces, with that special siren whistle. You needed skill and experience to operate one of these locos. Not just a switch! No just chucking coal into the firebox, there is an art to it, and only correct placement and quantity will raise the required steam pressure. Drivers too, had to be on their toes with signals, and control of the engine in all weathers, be it day or night. My grandfathers both were steam engine drivers, one uncle senior instructor at BR, three other uncles firemen, and one uncle top link engine driver on the expresses out of Euston. The A4 Class Silver Fox, seen here on the Elizabethan none stop service, was a top link beauty of an engine as were the Princess Coronation Class locos out of Euston. If steam had continued, this is definitely what I would be doing right now! Steam, it is in my blood!! Just watching this film shows you why every boy wanted to be a loco driver. I miss this time!!

One of the absolute best of post war docos. Genius work.

It's wonderful how these films have become important social documents. Beautifully filmed by a unit that knew how to make a film. Whilst they may be great social documents today there sole purpose then was to get people onto trains and buses, they were commercials, pure and simple. I believe the unit had a couple of days with Silver Fox, there's a moment in the workshops when another A4 was featured but has a well positioned coat covering up the locomotives number as this wasn't 60017. There is often much criticism of the 'dated, rhyming commentary' but I love it, Paul Le Saux, the writer created a masterpiece and his words crop up in many BTF films.

what a lovely non fictional film made during the age of steam. I remember watching this just before I went off to College back in 2012

1954: We're going to be 4 mins late on a 6.5 hr journey - disaster! 2020: We're going to be 4 mins late on a 6.5 hr journey - triumph!

I really enjoyed the video, from an era when the railway was high in society where pride and service were the priority, people showed respect and the trains efficiently run, before privatisation and crew reductions...The poetry narration was well done, great photography, a splendid effort in all and thank you.

Mister Mungo had a tough job. Excellent video. Love the poetry. The 1950's were a better, simpler time. I was 10 yrs old in 1954 and had the opportunity to experience those old locos at Union Station in Columbus Ohio. The steam, acrid smoke and the sounds are memories I will take to my grave.

Only the wonderful English can add such beautiful language to this film. The excellent skills of these workers and their pride in their craft is apparent and sadly disappearing. 🇺🇸

If I could travel back in time I’d put myself on this train, can’t imagine how amazing travel like this must’ve been, seeing a different era is so magic Love being on the footplate, about 3 years ago for my 21st birthday I did a driving experience at the Great Central Railway honestly it was fantastic.

A marvellous film.Great Narration.Remarkable photography and editing.Mainly a a fabulous theme.So much hard work and team work goes in to run a prestigious train faultlessly.A nostalgic and admirable film indeed.

Absolutely smashing! It isn't merely the train that is nostalgic, the scenery, dirty environment and people play their part. I reckon we were better off post-war than we are now?...

An entire documentary done completely in limericks? This is clearly something magical.

Another class British Transport Film.

Those station scenes reminded me so much of the early 1950's travelling with my parents and brothers to a holiday destination in Wales. The smell, the grime, soot and steam.

I first viewed this film at a NRHS chapter meeting in the 1970s. It never gets old.

I just love the poetry that this is set to...heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time..

Amazing BTF film my little boy 4 yrs old makes us put this on at least twice a day. Bless him he loves A4's I really don't know where he gets it from apart from Spencer on Thomas The Tank Engine.. I remembered this film as a child and searhed it on here. Vastly underrated and what amazing dialogue and music, great film and thanks for uploading

Tony Thompson was married to my Granny's sister. Died quite young - I never met him. I've tried to find him on the internet before without luck. And now suddenly - I can see the film he was most known for. For some reason the version on the BFI site is cut short at 15 minutes.

This film deserves some sort of an award!

A beautiful piece of film. It takes me back to a time when skilled people were plentiful and we knew how to make things. Either the staff in the film were old or just looked it. There's no substitute experience.

I recently saw some rather sad photos of Silver Fox in the 1960's awaiting scrap and already with some bits stripped off. What a magnificent locomotive she looks here.

How nice to watch these images of a time gone by..... I can stil get carried away by this picture.... being 60 years of age I can stil connect.... younger people probably can’t anymore.... grown up in an also technical world.... but a digital one.... mechanical perfection is taken for granted by now... Greetings from the Netherlands,thanks ever so much for this vid!!!!

When Britain was British. Oh, how I’d love to have been there (here) then.

Can I just put in a word for Paul Le Saux who wrote the commentary.? It fits perfectly with Jimmy Ritchie's photography . I worked for BTF in its final years and have great respect for the unit. The camera department under the leadership of Ron Craigen, a consummate technician, had three cinematographers of which Jimmy Ritchie was the greatest, although the other two Billy Williams and David Watkin did pretty well after leaving BTF, both winning Oscars for Gandhi and Out of Africa respectively. Times have now moved on and in the age of the selfie films like those produced at BTF will never be made today.

Great video, brought back memories of steam train travel when I was a kid. LMS line from Sheffield, Thames Clyde Express, Master Cutler etc. Thank you.

Watching and listening is more enjoyable than travelling.

I particularly liked the comment about the experience of dining on a train depends on the state of the track. Travelling at speed on a narrow gauge track always produces a rocking motion even at the best of times. I remember travelling on an express from Bath to London in the 1960s. I had missed lunch and was famished so I decided to eat on board. A student grant didnt run to a banquet so I settled on mushroom soup and a bread roll. As the train picked up speed it started rocking wildly. I watched fascinated as the waiter with my soup came staggering from side to side down the aisle with the plate adeptly held aloft in one hand, using the other to steady himself. He arrived at the table and stood swaying for a moment while he judged the best moment to place the plate on the table. Which he did with a fast deft movement. Of course the minute the plate hit the table the soup sloshed from side to side and within seconds there was soup all over the place. Just enough left on the plate for me to wipe up with my bread roll 😂

Wonderful. The station master's top hat at the end is the icing on the cake.

The engine was Silver Fox, LNER class A4, the fourth built in that series of engines where Mallard was the most famous one. Built on 18 December 1935, she was withdrawn on 20 October 1963. She achieved 113 mph in 1936. Unfortunately, she was not preserved. Legendary 2512.

A true master piece of filmography

Ein wunderbarer Bericht. Und alles in Versform vorgetragen. TOLL !!!

I have read his book 48 years on the footplate, Roland Ruffell, he has a bench named after him at Levisham station on the north Yorkshire moors railway.

Wow! Quite a production. Well shot and edited. Love the B&W photography.

The narration is positively poetic.

What a grand Railway Information Film one of many produced by British Transport Films. Alan Wheatley, one of the speakers, was an Actor who appeared in The Adventures of Robin Hood as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

How proud must any relative/descendant of the footplate crew must be. Such a responsible job, but so little recognition

Nothing like this today whatsoever. 😢

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?” ― Tennessee Williams.....

My uncle drove Q1s at Feltham Yard…….he always said it was bloody hard work pushing trucks up the hump.

A first rate film that is always a real joy to watch even including the opening concourse sequence filmed at Victoria (Eastern Section). 🙂

How can one to miss something that never had? I do not know... but I know I miss that time... Thanks for post.

Hats to Mr. Narrator . 👏

Wow, two years before I was born. Totally different times. Beautiful train. 👍😊

The Narrator is Brilliant. Takes advantage whenever he can rhyme.

What a different country it was then.

Camera assistant 'WD Williams' is Billy Williams, future cinematographer on 'The Exorcist', 'On Golden Pond' and 'Gandhi'.

My paternal grandfather was a fitter with the GIP and CI Railway from 1900 onwards. He was very talented.

Congratulations. So nice and beautiful video.

Nice commentary in form of poetry. Thanks Mikeknell.

very interesting, thanks for posting :)

The good old days of steam. I wish i was there!

The narrator rhymes this for me and for you; that’s perfectly fine , ‘cause I like it too!

Train journey in train is always enjoyable that to in a steam engine train is so nice.train lover.tamilnadu.india.

As a boy travelling from London to Edinburgh for summer hols to visit family with mum and dad this brings back happy memories. But one in particular was the scene where they pick up water.... I was looking out of an open window when we hit the water trough.... gota bit wet. So into the toilet with dad to get dry and a small wash.... 😁

There ain't no thirty year old driver manager going to tell these guys how to do their job.

The young lady running beside the train, waving goodbye to someone...broke my heart for some reason...3:22

How civilised! Tea in a real cup and a proper meal service. Also a bar and compartments too! First class rail has moved backwards - certainly by Cross Country.

The good old days but it was bloody hard work great film

Thank you a good one

What a treat !

This was just great when I was a boy the engine I had was called the silver king Hornby I think thanks for posting

"Watch fireman mungo doing his stuff" . Taking water at high speed was a skilled job so I am told. Lowering the scoop too early would damage the troughs, and not getting it up quick enough would cause the tender filler cap to overflow causing the first two coaches to get a soaking and anybody else sat inside that had windows open!.

Absolutely amazing 👏 the poetry 😍 👌

I was taken by the scenes as the train departed Kings Cross. So many well-wishers waving goodbye to the passengers. Not something that happens any more, sadly.

In 2019 when we thought the union of South Africa boiler ticket was up, I travelled to the ELR autumn steam gala. It was supposed to be the last time and on the last train of the day as she piloted the last train of the day, I pretty much receited this word for word in the carriage behind! Brilliant!! And that hooter!!

What a wonderful film…and so sumptuous the narration, using rhyming verses.

A beautiful commentary.

When I was a youngster, in the 1950s, I sort of assumed that the fireman popped a bit of coal on from time to time. After all, that’s what we did at home on the living room fire! How wrong I was. The fireman is actually shovelling coal on and off for the entire journey and placing it across the firebed floor and adjusting the fire door angle to get steam when it’s needed and not when it isn’t. It’s a precision that deserves enormous respect. There’s an instructional film on KZfaq about how the smoke leaving the chimney tells you all about the fireman’s role and how he knows wether he’s getting it right or not: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bLenmaV0qcDVqI0.html

Channel 81 Talking Pictures has alot of these films. They are good to watch

What a beautiful film!

Wonderful!

I am no poet but that was absolutely brilliant thanks

so nostalgic! There doesnt seem to be the air of dedication to the job of tending the locos, greeting travellers, or railway manners now!

First Class and entertaining documentary. Thank you. I well remember those halcyon days.

Oh how I wish for those days again ( born in 1951)

My mother's grandfather drove the Cornish Riviera and wrote a locomotive Engineer's & Fireman's examination guide book. I've never seen it except 2 pages, It shows the mechanical drawings of the pistons & connecting arms that drive the wheels.

London to Edinburgh non-stop must be one of the longest non-stop train schedules of all time. Amtrak tried a non-stop New York to Washington train once, but that was electric power, and the distance was 100 miles shorter than Kings Cross to Waverly. Santa Fe once entrusted passenger trains from La Junta, CO to Los Angeles, CA, over 1,100 miles, behind a single 4-8-4 locomotive, but that wasn't non-stop. The New York Central's 20th Century Limited ran non-stop from Chicago to Buffalo (westbound) and Toledo to Albany (eastbound) as far as the pampered passengers were concerned, but it stopped several times during the night to change crews. The special tenders that allowed crews to be changed while the train was moving were unique, or at least rare, in the steam era.

great old film beautifully made

In 1954 from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley non stop took 6 1/2 hours in 2023 from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley it takes 4 hours and 45 minutes including stops. We have come far

They were tough cookies all right in them days! I think I saw this back about 1980 at a WLLR film night in a pub in Llanfair Caereinion when I was a volunteer there, and it's really great to see it again! Thanks for posting.

The U.K. was the cool, full color place where The Beatles, Monty Python, Twiggy, Petula Clark, Soho, Marianne Faithfull served as guides to Americans like myself in how to be cool. Yet all this cutting edge vibrancy came from such a black-and-white, methodical and workaday place as post-Empire '50s Britain. I suppose all places are paradoxical in that way.

Невероятный по впечатлениям фильм ! Аплодирую стоя !

This video is fabulous! Thank you for sharing.

Massive team work...

top link crews in action , impressive viewing

wonderfully preserved film! would be fun to see a contemporary (2020) version of the same train line. It'd probably have to be a satire though. 66 years later the landscape and the service will have changed considerably.

If we look back to 1950s and now perhaps it was the better era in everything.

Thank you for showing this

Anyone else notice that the opening shot is actually of Waterloo, not Kings Cross? The Southern Railway locos give it away.

A stark (factual) reminder of how railway development has unfolded over the decades since this classic film was made The distance by train between London Kings Cross and Waverley Stations is approx 575km, which in 1954 took 6 hours plus non-stop (according to the film's narrative) Today, the same journey by Virgin Pendolino takes just over 4 hours 30 mins Compare that with France where a journey from Gare Montparnasse in Paris to Bordeaux St. Jean, distance approx 545km, can be made in just 2 hours 5mins! It seems dear old blighty has been left behind, firmly in the slow lane!

Fantastic!

Notice how everyone was dressed up in those days.

Narration by Alan Wheatley, who played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1950s series The Adventures of Robin Hood

Проникновенный фильм. Сценарий и операторская работа на высоте. Текст второстепенен.