Britain's Railways Then & Now

This fascinating program visits the LMS, the largest railway company in the British Isles that served the heartlands of industry of the Midlands, the shipping of the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey, the holiday resorts of the North West coast as well as North Wales and Scotland. We see the significant changes within this operator between the age of steam and the modern railway.

We start our nostalgic review at the best known of all LNER stations, King's Cross, on the lines going out of her we see a variety of Pacifics. These include 60047 Donovan, 60059 Tracery, 60064 Tagalie, and 60110 Robert the Devil, all named after famous race horses. As well as these wonderful steam locos we also see rushing through more modern units including Class 313's, 317's, and HST's.

This excellent program compares how things have changed on Southern Rail from early days until more recently. It offers more rare footage beginning at on elf 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.

This superb program looks at the GWR - God's Wonderful Railway - as it was in the 1950's and 1960's and more recently. Archive scenes capture the true essence of the GWR with its Brunellian stations and station platforms, engines, lines, freight yards, and engine sheds. We can enjoy magnificent engines including some of the Castle and King Class that were turned out at Swindon.

This program featuring rarely seen archive footage offers a glimpse into British Railways and Britain's Railways as it recalls how things have changed from the 1950's and the glory days of steam to recent times. We see the dramatic changes that have happened with the elimination of steam pre- and post-beaching closures, and the loss of freight traffic to road haulage.