Pre 'Leicester Gap' in the 1971

[Mickey]

I have been watching and re-watching 2 fascinating dvds lately filmed by British Railways in October 1971 of a cabride from st Pancras to Sheffield (filmed from the cab of a class 45 'Peak' on a Down express) that is spread over 2 separate dvds the first part is from st Pancras to Market Harborough and the second part is from Market Harborough to Sheffield.

For railway entusiasts of my generation (teenagers in the late 1960s & early 1970s) this filmed document of the railway of 1971 is a fond trip down memory lane with mechanical signalling from Dock Junction s/box (just north of st Pancras station) to north of Loughborough where the then new 1968 Trent Junction PSB picks up and then it's colour light signalling on through the Derby PSB area of control to the north of Chesterfield and then we're back on mechanical signalling for the last part of the run in to Sheffield with plenty of shots of Midland Railway mechanical s/boxes and semaphore signalling with mostly class 45 'Peaks' on Up express trains made up of rakes of maroon & blue/grey B.R.Mk1 coaching stock and class 25 'Birmingham Sulzers' on a fair number of 'lengthy' un-fitted mixed goods trains of coal, mineral & box vans complete with brake van(s) in the rear all working south to either Wellingborough or Brent yard still worked under good old British Railways at the time.

All in all a fond ride down memory lane when railways WERE STILL RAILWAYS.

[strang steel]

I have those dvds too, Micky. They are great for showing just how much has been lost from the railway in the last 40 years. Even though many intermediate stations had closed by 1971, the infrastructure remains in many places, and old track layouts still existed with many 'fast to slow' crossovers, private sidings to industry and country goods yard rails remaining in place.

I have not watched them for a while, but there are a few interesting items. Is there not a 44 on a coal train visible at one point? And a 27 in a siding somewhere? My memory is failing, but I remember the change north of Derby towards the Sheffield district where 25s seem to disappear and 31s predominate.

The other thing that intrigues me is the change in the weather. There must have been two completely separate recordings, one done on a rather cloudy day with occasional rain, and another with sunny spells. The finished dvd seems to switch from one to another a few times as it progresses north.

[Mickey]

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[strang steel]

Yes, it is an excellent film. I have just had a quick fast-forward of the second dvd, and the 44 is at 35:38, north of Loughborough.

The only disappointing thing about the southern section, is that it appears to all have been filmed on a Sunday as there is very little activity in the yards and on the goods lines, because the commentator says 3rd October 1971 and I looked it up to be a Sunday. The more northern footage may be a weekday, or may be a Saturday morning.

My interest in weather Micky, is derived from my job. I was employed by the Met Office for 35 years, so I have difficulty not noticing it. Unfortunately, it gets me into big trouble with the wife when watching programmes such as Pride & Prejudice, and the sky is completely different between two consecutive camera shots of the same people outside. I am used to being told to keep quiet about the bl***y sky.

[Mickey]

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[Mickey]

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[Boris]

Strang Steel, as an ex copper I have fun picking spots on t.v and also pee the better half off so tell yours she is not alone,mine is most continuity as well but dress and furniture. One last week when it was a scene with one guy after that the next scene was somwhere miles away but all they had changed was turned a filing cabbinet round a quarter turn and pulled the curtains open.

And the thing is we have "tivo" so i can rewind and look again which realy upsets her

[Mickey]

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