Train to the Future

King's Cross to Peterborough at 1250 miles per hour on board the Intercity 125

An award winning amateur film tracing the transformation of Woking, from open heath to modern commuter-belt town. The film also features the famous Brookwood Necropolis.

Amy enters traditional male preserve of train driving

Electro-rock background music plays as engineers work on the rail lines to deliver electrification in East Anglia, for this is the “high speed eighties!”

"Any Ware to Anywhere" - a film advertising the thoroughly modern merits of the Great Western Railway ports (e.g. Cardiff, Newport, Barry, Port Talbot, Swansea, Fishguard).

The very last freight train departs from Sheringham Station on 28th December 1964, following the withdrawal of the service in the wake of the Beeching Report.

The Mayor of Truro John Farndon at the launch of British Rail’s new InterCity 125 high-speed train

Amateur film capturing the Cambridge to St Ives Eastern Rail route prior to its closure following the Beeching Report.

Amateur filmmaker Chib Thorp captures scenic views of the Norfolk countryside and familiar landmarks as his train zips along on the Dereham Central to Norwich Thorpe rail route.

There are no signs of steam locomotives as amateur film maker A. H. Martin captures a new age in rail travel.

Empire News Bulletin record the Conservative Minister Neville Chamberlain at Welwyn Station's official opening ceremony.

Picturesque views of the East Anglian countryside, often the view from a train chugging along accompany the filmmaker’s wry commentary about the Birdbrook Station closure.

An account, in human and non-technical terms, of the electrification of the West Coast main line railway from Crewe to Glasgow

One of the last journeys on the Llanfyllin Branch Line which, like the Oswestry and Newtown Railway, was cut by Beeching in 1965, both having been in use for just over a century.

Owen Humberstone Prosser, an expert on railways and canals, captured the Crumlin Viaduct on film in 1959, before its demolition in 1967, a victim of the Beeching rail cuts.

The West Somerset Railway Company attempts to revive the line

West Somerset Railway in reshuffle

West Somerset Railway forestalls closure

Interest in the renewing of railway track might be confined to a select group, but the bewildering variety of equipment on show here cannot help but impress and fascinate.

Not just a chance to see locomotives steaming over viaducts, with the axe hanging over both, here we have the full glory of the Settle to Carlisle line, and its place in rural life.

The first electric train glides out of the rebuilt New Street Station in Birmingham - the culmination of years of engineering work that brought a new standard of travel to Britain.

Skill, ingenuity and gravity, combined with a ‘hump’ or slope, have produced Europe’s first automated yard for organising thousands of railway wagons at Margam, Port Talbot.

Doctor Beeching sounds the death knell for the Great Central main line.

With eighty trains a day stopping at Shrub Hill station in Worcester the staff haven't become the fastest dispatchers in the West of England region for nothing.

Trying (but failing) to avoid the jokes about curled up sandwiches, John Swallow finds out if the food's really as bad on the West Coast Main Line as people say it is.

With the railway line gone the only access to Consall Forge is via a private toll road. Will the tiny Staffordshire hamlet survive?

Dr Beeching has ensured that the last train has now departed from Kineton so what is there to do but drink tea and enjoy the quiet life?

Through blazing sun and monsoon rain new British built diesel locomotives keep communications open on the far off island of Ceylon.

A sentimental sale or simply for profit? British Railways sells off the history that doesn't fit with the swinging sixties.

A filmic lament to the closure of a railway line located amidst the beautiful Cumbrian countryside captured by East Anglian amateur filmmaker Ron Wing.

There are many hands on the job as new replaces old on the Great Eastern rail route, including replacing the magnificent Trowse Swing bridge in Norwich.

Steam locomotives await their fate as a new era dawns. Witness final working year of steam and the burgeoning nostalgic tours of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

1982 was a particularly bad year for rail commuters, with five weeks of rail strikes to contend with. Anglia Television asks, “What shall we do with the railways system?”

Lostwithiel Station in British Railways waiting room

This stunning film by Eric J. Sparks, features a variety of steam and electric action for fans of the Southern Railway - from luxury Pullmans to humble shunters at Brighton works

Sit back and watch the world's only all Pullman, electric train service make its luxurious way up and down the Brighton line in this film from the mid-sixties

Travel through the ages and experience the last horse drawn tram in Ireland. As steam and horses give way to diesel and electric witness N. Ireland whilst they still share the road.

Rush hour at Waterloo Station is condensed into three minutes in this breakneck short from Nick Nicholls.

A very Special goodbye to the Bala-Blaenau line organised by the Stephenson Locomotive Society.

Gripping speech to railway staff by British Rail chief Peter Parker offers a 1970s view of the future.

In case of fire, call Mr Morris’ baby fire engine, demonstrated here in the grounds of Cowley works.

Prince Phillip drives a Warship loco at an exhibition of locomotive development held at Marylebone Station.

Is nationalisation the answer to Britain's post-war railway problems? The Labour government thinks so.

British Rail freight movement made fascinating - and fun.

Little lad Sam innocently sets the scene for some stern political pronouncements on rail nationalisation

Stephenson Locomotive Society members visit the former Colonel Stephen’s railway for a Last Day special.

The Earl and Countess are in the limelight as the Welshpool and Llanfair railway is declared open as a preserved railway.

A short colour glimpse of preserved Welshpool steam on the ‘other’ side of Raven Square.

A whistle-stop trip along Great Eastern lines as we take in many closed and long-lamented stations.

High-speed luxury travel up to 150mph: the future of rail travel is in the air and it's going to be great for British steel

Illustrating the efficiency of express freight trains, and how they link manufacturers with their customers at the other end of Britain.

A musical illustration of life where road traffic chaos breeds anger and frustration, but the rail network is fast, smooth and relaxing

A high speed Inter-City train is the star of this impressionist film in which picture and music are brought together to hail the arrival of 125mph regular passenger services.