Vintage railway film - The Pain Train - 1969 

As a current railway guard on the same line, most of this is on point- even today!

What an intelligent class of passenger they must have had back then: they didn't need a list of destinations read out to them at every stop. They didn't need to be told to "ensure that you have all your belongings with you" on the approach to every stop and in the entire film and I didn't once hear "see it say it sorted". Just how people managed to find their way to their destinations without getting seriously hurt back then is something I can only marvel at. A tough breed of men and women indeed. No wonder they won the war for us. Happy days!

Some years ago I was told about a train in Australia - steam train, that is - that stopped a mile or so after pulling ouf of a station. With puzzled passengers leaning out of the windows, the train slowly reversed all the way to the platform it had left, and stopped. The passengers saw the driver climb down from the loco and walk across the platform. He stopped in front of a bench seat, leant forward and picked up a pack of sandwiches he'd left behind. Now, that's the way to run a railway!

I cannot describe just how perfect of a video this is. Absolutely every point resonates with me as an operational railway colleague, and every 10-15 second saving makes such an enormous difference, not many seem to understand this though. Unfortunately, many of the reasons attributed to small delays these days are the fault of Network Rail, through poor ARS signalling, regulation and a lack of common sense on their part. Take NR’s obsession with booked platforms, trains delightfully lose a handful of minutes around Peterborough swinging out onto the painfully slow S&C that brings them into the platforms, where keeping a train on the completely available up fast (3) would’ve happily sped things up a fair amount, especially with the acceleration of the new Hitachi trains. I wish we could return to such a focus on performance as seen here

If only Euston Station was this quiet, gleaming and orderly these days. Traversing the station concourse is like engaging in a rugby scrum, and the escalators are invariably out of order. There is then a tense wait to see whether your train north is going to be the one that is invariably going to be delayed or cancelled. All in all inter city train travel these days is a gruelling experience.

I'm impressed that a signal fault was apparently discovered, tracked down and rectified all causing no more than seven minutes delay (read: bloody likely 😚)

As someone who dealt with rail complaints for several years (I have the ulcer to prove it), one not infrequent comment was along the lines of "if you were a private company, it would be different". Yeah, right.

That locomotive at the start became 86243 operating for greater Anglia on the east anglian main line. Now in Bulgaria. The class 50 valiant is still operational.

How quaint that 10 minutes was once considered "seriously late".

Just missed my train due to the length of this film. But worth it, some great Jazz to boot.

Many passengers do not care how long a journey is but if the train arrives at its scheduled time. I commuted for years in Switzerland. Every station had ample recovery time. Yes the journey might have been a little slower but catching up after some delays was easily achieved. The overall impression for the passengers is of an efficient punctual service. I was happier to arrive at half past on time, than ten minutes late after someone had timetabled a 20 past arrival. Simple psychology.

It's incredible to think, that those class AL6/86 locomotives are still running on the main line 52 years later!

Man what I wouldn't give to travel along the WCML in a Mk1/2 set behind an class 86/50... even if it was nearly 20 minutes late. Those were some very comfy "pain trains" back then, haha

"If he doesn't get his paperwork done, he'll get a bullet from higher up." Yeah they dealt some harsh punishments in those days. So many Area Managers were shot for minor bureaucratic infringements.

idk why having a video with less then 300 views recommended to me gives me so much pride

Ah, the Britain of my youth ........ Beautiful!!!

I was 18 when this film was made and had always been interested in trains (though never worked on the railway). This was certainly an enjoyable trip down memory lane. Does anyone else remember the free cinema at Charing Cross tube station which used to show films produced by BTF for London Transport? Many thanks for posting.

Fascinating to watch the railway as it was. Depressing to think that having just retired from working on the railways that the problems still persist. Ah well, that's life I guess.

A great footage of a better time ... though not everything was perfect. Best regards from south Germany

What a brilliant film! Down here on GWR it should be compulsory viewing for all railway staff!!!

I write from Argentina. Here the railroads were punctual when they were managed by the English. People “put in time” the clocks with the passage of the trains. Another time... (Sorry for my poor English)

The days when people smoked on trains! This film must have seemed old fashioned in 1969, being black and white and having a distinctly retro (1950s) feel. The jazzy soundtrack is rather good.

The snark in this video is off the charts.

Really felt it when the narrator said : the 70 limit may be, but they keep moving

Wow, if Amtrak was ONLY this late! The train which runs between NYC and Chicago that passes my house is often 2-3 HOURS late, in either direction. Last time I took that train eastbound (to NYC), it picked me up 4 hours late, and we lost 2 hours more on the way to NY!

good old days when u could light up and enjoy !!!!

The Pain Train. love these old transport films. brilliant for researching for a model railway.....thanks for sharing....Tony

Love the Montovani....Saw this a few years ago, best ever object lesson for any business running on appointments/schedule. Great TRAINING.....

Beautiful film with a beautiful score. Thanks for posting it.

Thoroughly enjoyed the pain train story which brought back many memories. The signal segment reminded me of a journey from Weymouth to London, I forget whether Waterloo or Paddington, when I was a boy in the 1950s. It was our journey home from summer holiday. After we joined the main line out of Weymouth, we were stuck behind a slow goods train for a long part of the journey. It always stayed in my mind. After a considerable time, our express managed to pass the goods train but we were very late arriving in London, it would have been well over an hour. Also, I now know that there is nothing wrong with my hearing aids! I heard every word of the commentary, well enunciated all the way and no gabbling as today's commentators often do!

That was fun for me. Very cool old film!

excellent presentation. I'm 84 and this had me laughing all the way through to Crewe, or was it the loo. thank you very much

I’m so happy to see this as I was a 6-7 year old then and my dad was working at Rugby and surrounding areas. The Class 86s are very different from the 390s. So many things have improved since then. Thank you for posting. Great memories.

i like how there was a toilet flush right over the camera right at the end

This amazes me, as being half English and half Dutch, how we managed back then, to run trains so persistently late, while the Dutch trains I have travelled on over the years can (mostly) be timed to the exact second of departure and arrival!

Great video. Thanks for posting this. Have a nice day.

What a lovely time to be alive . . .

Very interesting video. I must remember the number of delays and the time loss when I run my Model Railway. Martin. (Thailand)

Wonderful documentary!

The first time I ever arrived at Euston (around 1979ish) I took in all the Modernity of the layout and architecture but I remember the feeling of disappointment with the lack of grandeur and occasion of the arrival. (As a 13 old, I must have been having a 'emperor's clothes' moment)

Slight continuality error there - at Euston E3155 pulls out of the station whilst E3171 is shown being uncoupled at Crewe... Oops. E3155 still exists as 85006 in Bulgaria, whilst E3171 was written off after a crash in 2003. The diesel loco - D415 - a class 50 - has been preserved as 50015 Valiant.

Awesome presentation of things that can go wrong and do!

Seen this one a few times now. Really enjoyable.

Seen this before. An interesting flick. Seems a bit patronizing but then that's Britain in 1969. But also an interesting reflection on what constitutes standards. To British Rail, "on time" meant on time, not 15 minutes or 20 minutes or more within the margin of error. Some great shots here of major British rail hubs Euston, Crewe (pre track upgrade and passenger service frequency downgrade so more trains could just run through) and Preston. Also interesting to note that British Rail always seemed to be kind of rough on their facilities. The stations look run down; the electric locomotive featuring in the video (E3155/86 234, now hauling oil and LPG trains for Bulgarian company Bulmarket as 85 006) was only three years old at the time but already looked well beat up on the inside even as at age 55 it looks very smart.

One major advantage of trains in the 1960s was that you could open the doors at any time, thus reducing your journey time as walking across a muddy field was often faster than the actual train.

Love the idea of a train "to the north"!

I love Preston being described as 'notoriously efficient'! (18:50)

I was having a good time watching this sixties piece with great tongue in cheek British humor until I read all the negative comments from people who actually use the trains today . But when the passenger sticks his head out the window to see why the train is stopped and frowns , it’s just funny somehow. Scenes like that keep me coming back for more .

Judging by this film train and rail maintenance staff in 1969 were mostly very elderly .... but they worked to a funky 60s soundtrack ....

Oh yes, I've seen this before somewhere but nice to be able to find it again. Some good Class 86 in-cab footage. Nice to see D415 (still with us today) at Crewe.

I enjoyed that. An interesting period, with the change over in liveries but pre TOPS.

03:48 All-Bran keeps you regular. Very handy! I was 5 when this was made. And my granddad scoffed a giant bowl of the stuff every morning. Then wouldn't leave the bathroom until he'd "been"! Smoking numerous Panama cigars on the bog. Carlos Fandango he was not! 😆

The soundtrack is exquisite. ❤

Nice shot of Rugby station too, loved it.

Within a few years they’d managed to make virtually all trains 15-20 minutes late.

7:52 Nice to hear a brief cameo from Ronnie Corbett, on the voiceover.

Interesting to see the workmen stood on the tracks at 3:27. They obviously had a very trusting nature!

I much prefer to travel on rolling stock like that rather than this modern stuff.

'The great hall with its shops, restaurants and superloos ...' Progress!

Love the clear cut English accent on these old films. Plus the cheesy background muzak

As a retired railwayman I can relate to all of these delays/faults, probably done some myself [probably?] all right I have !

Brilliant excellent film well made very professional not like the shambles today ! Bring Back British Rail

Very much enjoyable !

What I think is a real "Pain Train" is the 18:09 Frimley - Farnham train. It starts the journey from London Waterloo at 16:54 on time, but it always gets held up in the Hounslow area (sometimes by 15 minutes or more), causing cancellations between Ascot and Aldershot.

Very good - how times have changed!!! 🤔🙂🚂🚂🚂

free jazz on the British Railways. love it.

those new Railway staff uniforms were awful - after the Beeching cuts the whole system deteriorated- and the whole rail network formerly called " British Railways " was renamed "British Rail" - every station sign and every fixture had to be changed -and at what absurd ly high cost - it was as if the passengers were just going to have one metal rail to travel on-and more madness was yet to come.

Wouldn't have been able to stop at Carnforth for much longer. The main line platforms closed in 1970, two years after this (note date 8.9.68 on the teleprompter)

trainspotting during the 70's, had a great time, went everywhere without seeing anything.

I loved the old station and also passed through it daily as it was being taken to bits. I was horrified to see Stanier Black Fives being used to only bring in empty stock and act as bankers under the concrete shell of the new Euston. later on, I worked nights there as a student. It was a cold and soulless place. Had the LMS rebuilt it before the War, it might have been a better replacement and maybe the Propyleum would have been incorporated into the new structure. I wonder, though, what the LMS would have done to the Great Hall (which BR restored and repainted in the early 1950s).

Great film, great memories

Well here we are in 2021. No change then.

Brilliant. This is a training film with all the mistakes orchestrated. I wonder what the offical count was for the mistakes made in this film? Good quiz night queston! 👍💯🇬🇧💡😃

Thankyou sir.

I have never seen Crewe so clean !

All modern trains are pain trains! Especially the seats and cramped legroom.

Love this..

Nice find.

Truly amazing to see that in 1969 an accumulated delay of 18 1/2 minutes on one journey was considered unacceptable. Today, trains lose as much between two stations.

The Pain Train would be considered on time if it were the LIRR, Metro North, or NJ Transit.

Brilliant. and our trains are still late 50 years on

I remember the old "do not flush when standing at a station" toilets. I used to wait for the train to be passing a station at high speed and then and then flush.

During !969, on the West coast mainline, classic BR Blue and white livery, good old class 86 loco. Very nice vintage railway video,

The fact is, BR got it right with electrification, clean, modern, fast... different times, I miss em! Though not everything...

That driver has done what many of us have done in the past!

Aah look at those cars.. When you're stuck on the M6 at Wolverhampton and realise the Pendelino will get you to London in another 90 mins!

1959.... and in 2021 Great Western Railways learns none of these lessons.

Euston 1969: Spacious, clean, efficient. Euston 2021: Spacious, clean, efficient. *Just kidding. Overcrowded, filthy, late.

Great nostalgia but laying on the agony a bit thick. I dare say most long distance trains back in 1968 ran on time. First world problems etc etc if the London to Manchester arrives 10 minutes late. Ever been on a plane that takes off 3 hours late?

I love this film

Would the Area Manager really be concerned with whether to hold one connection? That'd be the concern of the Station master or even the platform supervisor, I'd have thought.

Always forgot the aws when changing ends on 47/57 's .

I've never seen Euston so quiet before.

I wanted to be a train driver but became a teacher at Rugby so remember the station as it was. One of my 8 yr olds became a - yes you've guessed it - a train driver. However, he packed it in quite early on - too stressful apparently.

Captain Scarlet's headgear was modelled on the British Railmen's.

Love it

I believe in Japan a train is classed as "late" if it is more than 10 seconds past its' arrival time!

What a fascinating film. Incremental gains of sloppy practice, lack of teamwork, poor planning... etc... It appears this way of working has been ingrained in our railways for decades. It would be good to see a film of the the opposite view of how to do things from Japan or China. Great jazz soundtrack though..

Interesting these are still my views on England ... still in this timewarp thanks to my old Grannie(1887-1978) who came to us in Canada from 50s Britian. Fortunately Utube has great present day vids of the same system.That system like my old grannie are finis

18 minutes would be a delight compared to road traffic today lol