Rent Britain's Railways: Then and Now: Southern Railway (1996)
2.0 of 5 from 2 ratings
0h 59min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
This excellent programme compares how things have changed on Southern Rail from early days until more recently. It offers much rare footage beginning at one of the most important places on the system, the Ashford works, which were an oasis of steam with three of Harry Wainwright's C class locomotives employed there as shunters. As we travel on to the Channel ports, we can see how these towns have changed with little sign of their previous existence as important destinations for boat trains. Moving on to the West Country, we visit one of the earliest component parts of Southern Rail, the Bodmin-Wadebridge line, part of the London and South Western Railway. We also see how the lines of Devon and North Cornwall were wonderfully named including 'The Withered Arm' and how this section of line grew, withered and was finally amputated. A trip on the circuitous Southampton-Dorchester line shows us why it was called the 'Castleman's Corkscrew' and the programme ends with a spectacular show of Bulleids, Maunsell U class Moguls, Standard Class 4's and 5's, Merchant Navy Class, West Country Class and other light Pacifics. - Narrated By:
- Ken Morgan
- Studio:
- Demand DVD
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Documentary, Special Interest
