Love these old movies showing manufacture in the 50s and 60s. Just a show of human ingenuity.

Bloody gorgeous, back in the day when we had an industry.

I sometimes wish we could go back to these days. Great film

Great piece of narration by the late Richard Baker......one of my clients in his later years. Nice man - sorely missed.

Love it! Proper pronunciation, and proper haircuts

31430 is at now at the Spa Valley Railway. The owner has done and continues to do a bloody good job on the old girl!

It's amazing the amount of man hours going in to make a train and they were not rushing around, probably enjoyed every minute of it and no stress.

The guys whistling in the background in the workshop scenes is hilarious.

Superbly detailed film - great to catch a bit of the original Mirrlees engine sound!

What a thoroughly excellent film this is!

Don't you just love seeing workers wearing ... SUITS

The sad thing is nowadays, we can't even build a lego wall without having to have a focus group, steering group, 100's of project managers, public enquiries and huge timescales and budgets which are never met, call centers and car washes are the future...sigh!

The Class 31 locomotives were in production in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Skinheads, Cybercons and Toffee Apples were nicknames given to the Class 31 locos built without roof mounted headcode boxes.

As an American (YANK) LOL I FIND THAT LOCOMOTIVE A GOOD LOOKING EFFICIENT SIMPLE AND VERY SMART DESIGN !!! AND NOW CHINA MAKES JUNK TO SELL WORLDWIDE !!! (SAD AND INEXCUSABLE) ALL THE RELAYS ARE IN ONE CABINET ETC.. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. YOU BRITISH SHOULD BE PROUD OF YOURSELVES. BLOODY GOOD JOB MATE'S !!! ALL THE BEST !! FROM AMERICA.

1968 was the last year for steam power on British mainlines. 1961 in America, 2005 in China. Eastern Germany never really stopped. They used what they had, steam, diesel and electric, all at the same period. Thier are still several countries using steam locomotives regularly, even today.

I've never really liked class 31s but I must admit they did look rather smart in their original lined green livery. Certainly better than modern monstrosities like the class 68 and 70!

About this time BR was still going through years of under investment and decline. Great optimistic attitude as usual though.

Ha the Erection shop - that was a young mans game

That was jolly informative old bean, back from the days when we made stuff

I fully enjoyed watching this.

To be pedantic, Brush type 2 construction. Only became class 31 under tops AND after replacement of the Mirlees engines by English electric units.

Gladdens the heart to see these old 31's, beautiful engineering, I'd love one to nip to the shops.

The length of time these 1st generation diesels have been operating for is 50 or 60 years now! That's testament to their design. In the aeroplane world DC-3's using minimal upgrades will be flying in some cases 100 years in the next few decades. It just shows you. Ofcourse there are steam engines that have already achieved the century milestone already.

What a brilliant video full of vintage colour of a iconic loco the class 31.. thanks for sharing regards Tony

The railways of Britain have the most interesting history than any country in the world.

Great video, thank you for uploading :)

Fantastic film! Nice locos to drive!very reliable as well😀👍

Love the use of good 'ole tongue and groove for the cab flooring!

This is quite wonderful!

A very smart looking locomotive. Excellent film. Nice to hear Richard Baker.

Absolutely fascinating :D

I worked at Finsbury Park TMD and these were my favourite loco to work on, unlike the 47s whose engines were filthy to work on due to the heavy carbonisation of the oil or the 55s that were slip hazards in the engine rooms and were nearly always hot.

Great footage

This of course,was when we had an Industrial base back in the sixties. Try looking for it today.....it`s impossible to imagine that we were once leaders in many industries throughout the world today. Still,never mind...we have China to thank,sending us all that we were making ourselves back then? Great piece of railway history...used to watch these 31`s pulling the Cambridge buffet every day...those were the day`s folks!

what a beautiful construction!

Nice to see one of these old films in colour.

I really enjoyed that.thankyou for posting

9:18 the D5695 was preserved under its new class as BR 31 430 now called 'Sister Dora', it warms my heart to see such history preserved.

4:15 - 'erection shop'! OMG! My favourite phrase of the decade!

..and 2021 it`s closing, probably ending up a a retail park selling crap from the Far East. I visited these works in 1970 during my apprenticeship with BR and was amazed at the size of the Lathes and other machinery there. One lathe had a turbine rotor being machined and the machinist stood on the tool post operating it.

10.26mins.........Stratford TMD? What a fabulous slice of nostalgia this film is.

Thanks .... loved this ! .... Fred

Indeed the Class 31 was so reliable they had to re-engine the whole fleet !!!! Originally fitted with a Mirless engine that BR kept uprating (from 1250hp to 1600hp) to the point where most suffered serious failure. They were then re-engined with a Sulzer 1470hp plant. Very nasty locos, always developed problems whenever I had to drive one. Indeed two in multiple proved to be double trouble, one summer Saturday. But at least they managed to happily coast all the way from Cullumpton to Exeter. Which was downhill all the way, and luckily I had a clear road right into St.David's. Where they were found to be both dead as door nails. Although being almost two hours late, I'm not sure the tourist passengers were too happy. Fortunately I was finished and off home !

Love these old british DE locos, they were real beasts ... great sound

What a stunning locomotive.

I’ve had the pleasure of driving a Class 31

From being the envy of the world...to a mere shadow of what we were...sad days indeed?

excellent film, the 31's were re-engined due to cracks in the cylinder blocks (aluminium casting), it was more cost effective to replace Than repair

In the 1960s they’d deliver the new locos by rail from Brum via Cambridge shed 31A then out to the eastern main line and on the Liverpool St GE lines to Stratford. Cambridge Shed was hard to get round (Jobsworths ) Stratford despite having bonded warehouses nearby was easier. Great video. took me back.

Nice hearing all the whistling!

One of the engines that worked well out of the mid 50s " Modernisation" programme . Quite a few designs from other companies were dropped rapidly though design faults , breakdowns and poor performance . They certainly lasted the course .

The original version of this got a bit boring going on about the windings in the generaters and traction motors so I trimmed it down a bit but had to delete it because of copyright fears realy good film got lots of views and coments.

Fantastic video

What a job!

Brilliant locos

British Engineering at its best.

Excellent film

Very interesting video of the Class 31, a just recognise the voice of Richard Baker in his younger days. Watching the video is very good. Ian t.

Priceless.

I had the honours I guess, if you call it that, of driving class 31 206 on my local line at Rushden 3 years ago. Very interesting.

My God, we were a great country

WOW just WOW. My favourite class

Those were the days when we had an industry and a happy low paid work force content with fish and chips on a Friday and footy match on Saturday, pruning roses outside ones smart council house on Sunday.

Fantastic 👍

What a fantastic sound these Mirrlees power units had (assuming they used original sound in this film). Would it not be a great recreation project, sourcing one of these engines and put it back in a 31?

Had a relative who drove the original D550x series of Class 30/31's before they were withdrawn early because they were "non-standard". D5508 was "his loco"; Liverpool Street to Yarmouth South Town & back, stabled at Stratford. Later on, managed to travel over to Crewe TMD in early 1985 with him and a few over drivers before they had a cull of a number of locos there; I was in my teens whilst they were 60+. I ended up with a couple of toffee apple control keys from D5508 and (another loco that'll remain nameless) along with the carrying cases those control keys came with. All legal & above board as the Crewe TMD manager handed them over, along with sheet cuttings off other locos containing the TOPs numbers. Mind you, at least one loco survived. 14:06 - D5627 - aka 31203 - survived the cull of the 31's in the 1980/1990s and survives at The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway - pic: static.wixstatic.com/media/1e71c3_cb302fdbbf8c486daacba76d19523e2e~mv2.jpg

So reliable they had to be re-engined! Great video, thanks for sharing.

Never knew we ever built locos in my City......Still the crisp are the best.

Welding without an eye guard or face shield - BRILLIANT! - 2:18

Nice video

1B66 Cambridge Buffet from Kings Cross, worked that many times. (got mileage payment as well for two trips in a day)!!!

very interesting :)

Now we only have the odd 47 and 08 as a reminder of what once was...

people who whistle at work certainly take joy in their occupation...

Look at the skill we had. It makes me weep to think that all of our rolling stock now come from France or Switzerland, how can this be progress ?

I nearly bought one of these but couldnt find a railway that would let me leave her there to work on - end of line.☹ I love the H&S these days ( or rather the lack of it) bloke welding 4:12 right next to his mate who has no goggles or protection on FAG in his mouth🤣😂😅 9:11 British craftsmanship at its best - NO SPRAY GUNS in thise days - COACH PAINTED! I always wondered why the old locos shined like a Rolls Royce..........THAT is why , SUPERB.

The script is a bit off. The standard powerplants for the production series locomotives produced only 1365hp at 950rpm (the 30 pilot scheme locomotives were fitted with Mirrlees JVS12T engines produced ing 1250hp at 850rpm). Only D5545 nd D5635 to D5670 were produced with the 1600hp (950rpm) JVS12 engine. D5835 was intended to be built with a JVS12 engine producing 2000hp. However, the 1365hp engines were showing signs of fatigue failure n the fabricated engine housing and cylinder columns after running for only 500,000 miles and so all the higher powered engine trials were abandoned. Eventually all the locos, including the 20 pilot scheme locos, had their engines replaced with the EE 12SV engine producing 1470hp.

Mirrlees Bickerton & Day became Mirrlees National Ltd in 1961 until 1969 when they became Mirrlees Blackstone Ltd.

Always thought these are good looking locomotives. I did not know the difference between type 2 and class31, until now, that is.

the drivers cabs are lined insulated: put some wood floor in .Done !! 3:42

Strictly speaking Class 30 construction 😉👍

Brill video :)

cool

Bruh that engine they put in is dummy thicc

You know we always used to make our train, cars and other things ourselves nowadays we import all our stuff! i ask whats happened to us? weve gotten more lazy!

31's were great...

My first Hornby model :)

Love how meticulously they were made.

Does anyone know the year this film was made ?? Excellent quality & great sound !!! thanks

Great old footage there. With all that engineering and design knowhow, where did it all go so wrong?

I watch the video religiously

British planes, trains, ships, etc, all gone down the toilet!

Particularly like th way it ends with music like an episode of Star Trek

Suprising how many people dont know that deisels arent run by deisel specifically,that they powere electric motors which drive them...Genius..

Good locos but underpowered

These locomotives are NOT Class 31 locomotives being built they are Brush Type 2 (class 30) locomotives. The class 31 only came into existence when the power units where replaced from Mirrlees Blackstone with English Electric power plants during 1964 History need to be changed to stop this missing piece of history being stated each and every time

I wanted to know why don’t they dig a tunnel and do an extension for the main line Train so they extend the unused abandoned underground stations. Why couldn’t they use the part D78 Stock train doors on the sides and also restructure the front face of the A60 and A62 stock and remix and make them all together and also redesign them overhead line and also make them into 5 cars per unit and also having 2 Disabled Toilets on those 5 cars per unit A60 and A62 stock trains and also convert the A60 and A62 stock trains into a Scania N112, Volvo TD102KF, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXC, Gardner 6LXB And Gardner 8LXB Diesel Engines and also put the Loud 7-Speed Voith Gearboxes in the A60 and A62 stock and also modernise the A60 and A62 stock and make it into a 11 car per unit so it could have less doors, more tables, computers and mobile phone chargers. A Stock Trains and also having 8 Disabled Toilets on those A stock trains. why couldn’t we refurbish and modernise the waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel and make it more bigger and extend it to bank station, making it into a Triple-Track Railway Line so those 4 European countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden to convert the waterloo and city line Triple-Track Train tunnel into an High Speed train. The Third Euro tunnel Triple-Track Train line to make it 8 times better for passengers so they could go from A to B. then put the modernised 11 car per unit A Stock and put them on a bigger modernised waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel so it could go to bank station to those 4 European countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. The modernised refurbish 11 cars per unit A stock could be a High Speed The Third Triple-Track Euro Tunnel Train So it is promising and 37 times a lot more possible to do this kind of project that is OK for London Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. oh by the way, could they also tunnel the Triple-Track Railway Line so it will stop from Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex so that the Passengers will go to Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and also extend the Triple-Track Railway Line from Bank to Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Stations so that more people from there could go to Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden Easily. Why couldn't they extend the Piccadilly line and also build a brand-new underground train stations so it could go even further right up to Clapton, Wood Street and also make another brand new tunnel train stations in Chingford and could they extend the DLR. All of the classes 150, 155, 154, 117, 114, 105, 106, will be replaced by all of the Scania N112, Volvo TD102KF, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 8LXB Diesel five carriages to disabled toilets are air conditioning trains including Highams Park for extend doing roots which is the Piccadilly line and the DLR trains. Could you also convert all of the 1973 stock trains into an air-conditioned maximum speed 78 km/hours (48 MPH) re-refurbished and make it into a 8 cars per unit if that will be alright, and also extend all of the Piccadilly train stations to make more space for all of the extended 8 car per unit 1973 stock air condition trains and can you also build another Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive Companies and they can order Every 17 Octagon and Hexagon shape LNER diagram and unique small no.11 Boilers from those Countries such as Greece, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, can they make Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive speeds by up to 117MPH so you can try and test it on the Original Mainline so it will be much more safer for the Passengers to enjoy the 117MPH speed Limit only for HS2 and Channel Tunnel mainline services, if they needed 16 Carriages Per units can they use those class 55’s, class 40’s and class 43HST Diesel Locomotive’s right at the Back of those 16 Carriages Per Units so they can take over at the Back to let those Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s have a rest for those interesting Journeys Please!!, oh can you make all of those Coal Boxes’s 16 Tonnes for all of the 117 MPH Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s so the Companies will Understand us PASSENGER’S!! so Please make sure that the Builders can do as they are Told!! And Please do something about these very important Professional ideas Please Prime Minister of England, Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister of Germany, Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister of Poland and that Includes the Mayor of London.😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😅😅😀😀😀😀😀😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😉😅😉😅😅😀😅😀😀😅😉😅😀😅😅😉😅😀😀👏👏👏👏😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😅😅😀😀😀😀😀😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😉😅😉😅😅😀😅😀😀😅😉😅😀😅😅😉😅😀😀👏👏👏👏😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😅😅😀😀😀😀😀😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😉😅😉😅😅😀😅😀😀😅😉😅😀😅😅😉😅😀😀👏👏👏😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😅😅😀😀😀😀😀😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😉😅😉😅😅😀😅😀😀😅😉😅😀😅😅😉😅😀😀👏👏👏👏😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😅😅😀😀😀😀😀😉😅😅😀😀😅😀😀😉😅😉😅😅😀😅😀😀😅😉😅😀😅😅😉😅😀😀👏👏👏👏

I need to be stand corrected on this. I am sure that the power output of the Mirlees engine for the Brush Type 2 was 1,250bhp then 1,365bhp. Yet, I am sure that two members of the class was rated 1,600bhp and 2,000bhp.

Jolly good old boy..... imagine if i told you the rails we already there and the steam engine was back engineered... and look at that... industry in the UK.... a thing of the past these days..... just like Australia

Any scrap yard I can have a look at these that still have them