Great Railway Journeys of the World - Changing Trains - 1980
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- Опубліковано 1 кві 2021
- First shown on BBC2 on 18th December 1981, this was my favourite of the original series of "Great Railway Journeys of the World" programmes. This recording was made on 10th August 1986 when the series was repeated. Thanks to modern technology it has been squeezed off a VHS tape and onto the interweb.
This is probably my favourite episode from this superb series - which has never been bettered - each episode is perfectly crafted and made to very high standards. Eric Robsons intelligent and well informed commentary together with the photography and Herbert Chappell's jazzy score strike the perfect mix.
I was in Hungary in 2022, they still use that little announcement tune at train stations to get people's attention. When I heard it I knew I had heard it before on this programme!
I was born in 1983 and my dad had this taped off the tv, one of my earliest memories was watching this and I often wondered when he taped it, so 1986. I could vividly remember certain scenes in it such as the scrapyard at the end. It got taped over some time in the late 80s and I never seen it again for years but could always remember it. Along with other episodes in the series.
I have a similar story. It was on a VHS tape at my grandmother's house in the 1980s and I must have watched it more than 20 times as a kid. Watching it now makes me feel 8 again.
I remember travelling Switzerland and Austria by train in the 80s. It brought back memories. Thank you.
Oh, what have we lost? Civilised rail travel across Europe mean the provision of a quality Restaurant Car; not a trolley-dolly dispensing plastic sandwiches. Thank you for uploading this excellent BBC production.
You are very welcome 😊 and thank you for your comment.
50 years on there's a similar non tourist/non museum operation still going with steam trains in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Tuzla area.
Hard to believe it's nearly forty years since I watched the glamorous Transalpin and heard the perfectly matched 'powering on' accompanying music of the programme... which I've hummed every now and then ever since! Thank you for uploading - as others have said, only segments seemed to be available before.
Watching the waiters serving lunch - with panache, freshly cooked onboard, it seems to me things have gone backward when the 'best' available nowadays are microwaved snacks on disposable plates!
As for Swiss connections: Many years ago I remember asking at the ticket office in Interlaken if it may perhaps be possible to take a train to A, a boat to B, a cable car to C, a chairlift to D - and a Postbus back to A on a single ticket......"Of course" came the reply.......and naturally every journey connected within minutes to the next. Oh - how good it would be to have the Swiss organising public transport in the UK!
The 1980 Transalpin seems modern even to todays standards.
The Mistral 69 coaches were a truly timeless design
This was also shown on 12th October 1983 at 18.30. 39 years ago from right now. lol 😀
I remember watching it when first broadcast. I feel so old!
Thanks for posting this! This is my favourite episode too. I especially enjoy the part about Le Cisalpin. I used to love those Mistral 69 carriages. I consider myself privileged to have been able to use them on several occasions between Amsterdam and Antwerp on the Etoile du Nord. My dad and I would sometimes go on special train trips for the sole purpose of riding on the Mistral 69 carriages. Beautiful and timeless design.
I agree!
Thank you so much posting this complete version. The only versions I've been able to find previously have bits missing or is a poor quality cine film strip from the Internet Archive. This was my favourite episode too. I know Herbert Chappell's music isn't to everyone's taste, but I love it.
This episode was originally going to be presented by Bill Grundy, but according to Eric Robson's autobiography he "apparently [fell] down the neck of a whisky bottle, in Zurich" and the footage which had been shot was repurposed with Robson doing the narration and linking. I think what we got is much better than if Grundy had been involved.
I find it frustrating that all of Series 2 of 'Great Railway Journeys' from 1994 is on iPlayer, but not Series 1.
Hello! Thanks for your comments. I had never considered the composer of the music until you mentioned it but I think Herbert Chappell got it spot on. I wonder if the music is available anywhere else?
Thank you for sharing the piece about Bill Grundy. I never knew that and like you I think we got a much better programme with Eric Robson. However, my belief that Eric got on a train at Victoria has now been dashed and maybe he wasn't "travelling east too..." after all!
I think I have all of series 1 on VHS so will try to get them on here soon. I'm hoping to get a dedicated capture card so maybe I can get the quality up a bit too.
I'm afraid the music doesn't seem to be available separately - I've looked. If you could get the other episodes on that would be fantastic!
I did not know that about the host! I quite like it as is. Hope Eric got to enjoy some of the earlier parts as well.
@@dswarner1571 If you need encouragement, then you have that and my wholehearted support. I remember the series well from my teen years and would love to see again!
@@davidjames38589 According to Robson's autobiography,he was sent out after the film crew had finished their work - but with strict instructions to follow the exact same route in its entirety. This wasn't just so that he could provide an honest commentary; but so that he could write a properly first-hand and authoritative account for the tie-in book.
Apparently he encountered problems getting into Czechoslovakia (as it was then);because,whereas the BBC film crew had a raft of permits,he (as a solo traveller) had none!
Unique among Great Railway Journeys episodes in that the host traveller appears at the beginning, but not again for the rest of the episode, only giving narration.
Story is one Bill Grundy was meant to present this episode but had a mishap in Switzerland on a preliminary trip and had to return home. He was host of BBC's tea time Today show til it was canceled in early 1977.
Yes! If you read Aspectify's comments a bit further down there is a bit more info on Mr Grundy's exploits. Thanks for commenting.
Yes I always wondered why you never saw him during the rest of the show. All the others focussed quite heavily on the narrator. This does seem an absolute age ago though. This was the golden age of rail travel for me. At the time...we didn't even know it.
They still run the VRB steam train on weekends in September or October. Pioneer railway in Budapest still going strong. Everything else "modernised", I guess better than "discontinued".
And forty years on, the only trains still running are the ones that were already museum pieces. Everything else has been reequipped or discontinued aside from the TGVs at the end. The Cisalpin whose future he pondered was effectively gone three years later.
Indeed David. Having been a rail enthusiast for most of my life, it's only in the last 8 years that I've really paid attention to what is going on the other side of the channel, particularly France. But even there in that short space of time so much has changed, probably for the better as far as the "passenger experience" is concerned but the character has all but gone.
@@dswarner1571 I suppose the only consolation is that when the TEEs et al were new, people said the same thing about the character being gone. Still can't see people getting misty-eyed over Thalys or new Pendolino trains being retired.
Great video Dean, brings back memories of travelling on some of these routes.
Brilliant, thanks for uploading
Zurich to Vienna is brilliant :)
That's a journey I've not done but would like to. When did you do that journey?
Yes, despite being just another Railjet.
Just thought of something: when these were made, steam on BR had only been gone for 12 years. Must have felt much different to see steam in the wild compared to me, who never did.
West German steam had only been gone for seven years, and French steam for five. East Germany wouldn't dieselise until the Berlin Wall fell and over in Poland, steam still had a full 34 years left to go. Of course, steam in Western Europe on the lines ordinary travellers wanted to take had finished by the late-60s and you had to go and hunt it down on regional lines after that.
#Bluebellrailways
@@passengersplace w german steam finished in 1977 right?
i thought french ended in 71 with just some special traffic hanging around
e german finished when? obv the pacifics were still in traffic into 1982/5. but do you know if anything clung on on freight? im sure i read articles about as recently as 1991 db were saddled with freight traffic with steam in e germany. aside from that db suddenly found itself lumbered with a load of narrow gauge steam and a full blown steam workshop lol.
You might not have needed 'a dash around Paris'as some of the trains carriages use to be shunted around the Paris peripheral loop line linking the main stations.
Funnily Chris Lohner actually ended up doing the announcements for 40 more years, and she will be the voice of ÖBB for years to come - albeit somewhat more artificial sounding - in digitally "rearrangable" form. Even the voice messages in the driver's cabs of the locomotives were done by her!
Has anyone got the Ben Okri one where he goes from London to Arcadia in Greece. It's my favourite along with Michael palins.
For some reason no US TV channels showed it. It was on the BBC world service, channels in Canada and had a chapter in the companion book.
Does anyone know where in Hungary those steam trains were running?
Great film I remember trying to watch this on a UHF channel on public television. Cinematography very good....poor taste in music though.
I love the music. Classic cheesy overly 'European' sounding. Just what the programme is about.