Railways were always a huge demonstration of team work, but it must have been a wondrous thing in those days to drive an express steam locomotive hauling a long distance train. Pounding up inclines and drifting down long straight sections at speed. Charging through cuttings and tunnels, clanking over steel bridges, tearing through small town stations and triumphantly arriving on time in grand stations in places like York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. No wonder so many kids wanted to be train drivers.
A short section of the Mildenhall line actually survived until the late 1980s ( about half a mile ) . It was from Barnwell Junction , Cambridge , where the Mildenhall line joined the main line !! l know because l was a freight Guard at Cambridge in the 1980s and it was one of our jobs ,infrequently ( A Guards job ,as opposed to the Yard shunters in Cambridge down yard doing it ) . It was considered a main line turn because we had to go on the Down line to Chesterton junction run round and head back to Cambridge , but then stopping at Barnwell Junction to drop me off at the ground frame ,stop the train once it was clear ,work the ground frame ,then call the train back . On one occasion l had to go and tell the man renovating the old Barnwell Junction station to remove his ladder (s) as they were on the tracks of the old Mildenhhall line ! On this occasion or another one the train was unusually long and l had to stand on top of the first wagon so the driver could see me( it was on a sharp curve ) ! Interestingly the train was so long on this occasion it had to be split so the oil depot's gates could be closed and locked !
Loved that- such a vivid evocation of Britain as it shook the dust of 6 long war years, and tried to figure out its place in the "new world". Worn, bone-weary, but still optimistic. Thank you.
Although it’s stated that the colour film was 1959. The black and white film was at least 10 years earlier if not literally just after the war. The locos are in wartime black with LNER or NE on them. They couldn’t repaint all of them in BR green immediately. The coaches are still in the LNER teak and that’s obviously the old LNER livery too
20:12 an obvious edit on the soundtrack. Was the music covering some objectionable comment about York? 25:48 Prestonpans Tower? Where did he get that from? It's the Governor's House...
