This is the best documentary I've ever seen. Screw Louis Theroux, this documentary has everything. Insular Yorkshireman? Check Fare dodging? Check 90's fashion? Check. Trust me, if you want an in depth look into how BR ran in the early 90's then look no further.
THIS IS A GREAT VID! ...I know BR used to get some stick for the catering (as in the famous curlled up sandwich) etc BUT it wasnt all that bad tbh , Now with it all being split up on routes by difrent companies / franchises etc its gone to pot ! i traveled a couple of yrs back from Bristol to Edinburgh paid for 1st class as it was a long journey ( before Virgin lost the west coast line franchise) .....1st leg was with Xcountry to Birmingham ....the food and the service was crap and substandard ....BUT when we changed at Birminghm new street it was a virgin train! the service and food was top notch ( even had propper cups, saucers etc , ) free wine , THE STEWARD WAS ROUND ALL THE TIME ASKING IF YOU WANT ANY MORE ETC even the food was propper food (just like it shows in this vid) and NOT pre packaged /heated up in a microwave by the stward / stewardess as was the case on Xcountry! I do miss virgin on the westcoast line as for what we paid for 1st class now we are stuck with Xcountry and im afraid i just would pay it now with the running the show! just not worth it ..even on the return journey it was X country all the way back on a sunday and they had served what food they had to standard class passengers (as they make the revenue off that) and 1st class was left with nothing that should have been incuded in the 1st class price ..and on a 6 hr journey from edinburgh to Bristol we saw the stewardess once so couldnt even get a coffee!
Class 47/4 ... Thirty year old diesel locomotive in this documentary during 1991. These are still around though more like 55 years old and of course not in great numbers. 555 Class 47s of all derivatives were originally built at Brush and in Crewe.
843dbt Thank you. I once had a trainspotter-type book that said it was 555 but I think what it should have been informing me was 47001 to 47555 were the original TOPS numbers.
Good lord. Didn't know all this slimy crap about "issues" was prevalent then, I call it wankspeak, don't remember it on the Southern Region at the time. Of course now they're all at it, especially polichickens...Those push pull 91 sets always seemed a bad idea to me. Much better to have a loco at each end, like an HST, or an MU set with multiple motors. I recall well having to repair traction motors due to snow ingress. The snow'd blow up and get sucked in to the self-ventilated motors, and flashovers was the result. Older electric trains used sealed motors, and they just kept plodding on. Glad I'm retired.
DVTs stuck on the end of everything didn't appeal to me either back in the 80s when the craze began in Scotland with those Mk 2E Brake conversions. I used to be on the Western where the w**kspeak you refer to (nice one BTW) was moderate until you hit Reading out of Paddington and crossed onto the patch controlled by the great Tony Barry. Possibly the most repellent thing to be found on the railway anywhere!
Most of them probably took retirement ( especially those on old-school Contracts)& those who were youngsters in their 20s & 30s carried their service over to the new contractor.
Doesn't even take that now to stop the oh so superior modern plastic trains. Found that one out for myself at the controls of a 375 Electrofarce. A little bit of ice on the juice rail, and the computer said no. Glad I'm retired from the lunatic asylum that is today's railway.
I work on London Underground and some of my mates are train operators. As good as the job can be, it does come with a lot of stress, so I think the drivers can be within their right to whine and complain from time to time.
All the drivers were old men from a different era. Old dogs!! Love them!! Bless them. They are probably all gone by now...
absolutely bloody brilliant
Haven't seen snow like that in London in all my life. Crazy
Lady says it all at around 23mins. True today, and never changes, just now cash is stolen in huge quantities
This is the best documentary I've ever seen. Screw Louis Theroux, this documentary has everything. Insular Yorkshireman? Check Fare dodging? Check 90's fashion? Check. Trust me, if you want an in depth look into how BR ran in the early 90's then look no further.
rshepherd45 look up old dirty and late. covers nse in 93
Pity the picture and audio quality has deteriorated so much
why didn't they have a commentary on these old documentaries?
THIS IS A GREAT VID! ...I know BR used to get some stick for the catering (as in the famous curlled up sandwich) etc BUT it wasnt all that bad tbh , Now with it all being split up on routes by difrent companies / franchises etc its gone to pot ! i traveled a couple of yrs back from Bristol to Edinburgh paid for 1st class as it was a long journey ( before Virgin lost the west coast line franchise) .....1st leg was with Xcountry to Birmingham ....the food and the service was crap and substandard ....BUT when we changed at Birminghm new street it was a virgin train! the service and food was top notch ( even had propper cups, saucers etc , ) free wine , THE STEWARD WAS ROUND ALL THE TIME ASKING IF YOU WANT ANY MORE ETC even the food was propper food (just like it shows in this vid) and NOT pre packaged /heated up in a microwave by the stward / stewardess as was the case on Xcountry! I do miss virgin on the westcoast line as for what we paid for 1st class now we are stuck with Xcountry and im afraid i just would pay it now with the running the show! just not worth it ..even on the return journey it was X country all the way back on a sunday and they had served what food they had to standard class passengers (as they make the revenue off that) and 1st class was left with nothing that should have been incuded in the 1st class price ..and on a 6 hr journey from edinburgh to Bristol we saw the stewardess once so couldnt even get a coffee!
BR did their best with the tools available.
WOW! Food serving looks 5 star.
23:09 and 45:20... two warnings of things to come...
That must have been the last time a train arrived on time at Kings Cross...
You're not wrong.
Nonsense
Class 47/4 ... Thirty year old diesel locomotive in this documentary during 1991. These are still around though more like 55 years old and of course not in great numbers. 555 Class 47s of all derivatives were originally built at Brush and in Crewe.
512 not 555.
843dbt Thank you. I once had a trainspotter-type book that said it was 555 but I think what it should have been informing me was 47001 to 47555 were the original TOPS numbers.
Driver at the end climbing into a blue bin bag I assume is to keep warm the drafty old loco?
yep, ever driven a '47 ?
Good lord. Didn't know all this slimy crap about "issues" was prevalent then, I call it wankspeak, don't remember it on the Southern Region at the time. Of course now they're all at it, especially polichickens...Those push pull 91 sets always seemed a bad idea to me. Much better to have a loco at each end, like an HST, or an MU set with multiple motors. I recall well having to repair traction motors due to snow ingress. The snow'd blow up and get sucked in to the self-ventilated motors, and flashovers was the result. Older electric trains used sealed motors, and they just kept plodding on. Glad I'm retired.
DVTs stuck on the end of everything didn't appeal to me either back in the 80s when the craze began in Scotland with those Mk 2E Brake conversions. I used to be on the Western where the w**kspeak you refer to (nice one BTW) was moderate until you hit Reading out of Paddington and crossed onto the patch controlled by the great Tony Barry. Possibly the most repellent thing to be found on the railway anywhere!
Wonder what happened to these staff when it was privatized. .. think Virgin run this line now
Most of them probably took retirement ( especially those on old-school Contracts)& those who were youngsters in their 20s & 30s carried their service over to the new contractor.
Wrong type of snow!!!!!!!
Doesn't even take that now to stop the oh so superior modern plastic trains. Found that one out for myself at the controls of a 375 Electrofarce. A little bit of ice on the juice rail, and the computer said no. Glad I'm retired from the lunatic asylum that is today's railway.
What a whingey, whiney lot those drivers are.
'Cunt lugs' Classy!
Anyway why would I want to drive a train?
I work on London Underground and some of my mates are train operators. As good as the job can be, it does come with a lot of stress, so I think the drivers can be within their right to whine and complain from time to time.
Driving trains & dealing with the hazards that go with it is always stressful, a bit like a professional Lorry, bus or coach driver.