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RIDING THE PINES EXPRESS FROM MANCHESTER
- in the last days of loco-hauled travel Manchester Piccadilly to
Birmingham New Street and onwards to Bournemouth

MT8DVD -  Watch the main feature with or without narration, 2 hrs 17 minutes + DVD extra - Birmingham New Street to Coventry, the uncut view forward - 25 minutes (no narration).

XC Class 47 Stop - September 2001- The ongoing modernisation of Virgin's Cross-Country operation would bring about the end of daily Nationwide traditional loco-hauled service trains in Britain. Soon the entire fleet inherited from British Rail would be replaced by Virgin Voyagers, with only a handful of HSTs soldiering on from the Nationalised era. But with the sun still rising on the New Dawn another tradition fell victim to ‘modern-thinking’; all Virgin trains were to become anonymous, as Virgin denamed its titled trains as a precursor to a new interval timetable. Pre- Voyager, most were HST-operated, but the ‘Sussex Scot' ‘Midland Scot' and most notably the ‘Pines Express' were all loco-hauled and had a certain kudos and heritage. The last era of the locomotive-hauled ‘Pines' would officially end on 30th September 2001 . . . with this in mind Virgin Trains allowed Oakwood to adorn the ‘Pines Express' with its traditional headboard for the first time since 1965!  This is the memento of that event.

After a brief resume of ‘Pines History’ we start at Manchester Piccadilly on 12th September 2001, where 47843 Vulcan received the famous headboard, and we join driver Ken Cossey aboard the 1O09, 08.09 for Bournemouth.

A map with full route details and booked timings is printed on the inner cover.

SPECIAL DELIVERY  - The 'Cornish Mails' in the last summer
 of the Penzance - Bristol - Penzance TPO

MT9DVD - Watch the 2hrs 20 minute main feature with or without narration + DVD extra - Arriving at Dawn - a 40 minute uncut view forward through Truro to the Penzance buffer stops (no narration).

This programme, born of the English Welsh & Scottish Railway wish to see the last era of Britain's main trains well recorded, unquestioningly proves that even in their last summer Britain's Travelling Post Office trains were far from being a an idiosyncratic quirk from a previous century. Elsewhere within the Post Office modernisation enabled post coded mail to be sorted at lightning speeds, yet on the TPO the sorters themselves were in a league of their own processing mail at up to 100 miles per hour - step aboard in the evening light at Penzance for a round trip through the night, and by dawn you'll appreciate how working on the TPO really was a way of life. Whilst the nation slept an amazing story of rail efficiency unfolded every night.

We begin on the EWS depot at St Blazey, the maintenance facility for the locomotive stock employed on the West Country based postal trains. Thereafter we follow the train throughout its booked duty; empty to Penzance then as 1C01, 19.35 Penzance to Bristol RMT and 1C02, 00.55 return.

Numerous lineside shots of the train are intercut with scenes recorded in the class 67 cab (of the driver and view forward) and the often frenetic activity within the train itself. Every station stop is included, be it for incoming or outgoing mail making connections with air, road, or even cross platform interchanges with other rail services. . . but in addition to following the train we see how this TPO was at the core of the mail service in the South West by tracking a Special Delivery parcel from England's most westerly post office, via Truro Mail Centre (Cornwall's Royal Mail nerve centre), to Bristol RMT and beyond, illustrating how the Travelling Post Office played a vital role in the delivery of priority mail... Special Delivery.

An Oakwood Video Library/Railscene Co-Production.

For further information about TPOs and preserved TPO events please visit www.tpo.org.uk

CALEDONIAN ROUTES, Volume 3:
Callender & Oban Lines - Stirling to Crainlarich and the Killin Branch
 

The Callander & Oban was the pioneer railway of the West Highlands, a trip along the fertile Teith Valley into Callander contrasting with spectacular climbs ahead where the rugged mountains squeezed the railway into narrow passes and alongside countless lochs to reach the West Coast of Scotland. This is the first of two programmes covering Caledonian interests in the area, a 'pair' inspired by the cine of Alan Kirk, his love of the region intertwined with that for the C&O and particularly the oasis of steam that survived on the Killin Branch. Alan's cine and that of our regular Scottish photographers combine to illustrate all stations and even the Oban mainline's isolated passing loops as well as its associated branches to Killin and Ballachulish. In the sparsely populated areas the inclusion of cine film from two tourists, swept along by the scenic splendour, enables this volume to offer a complete picture of the 'lost' section of the Oban mainline.

After an overview of railway development in the West Highlands we examine the everyday interaction between the former 'Caley' routes and shipping, bus and postal services of the region. Thereafter, we concentrate on the now 'lost' 40 mile section of line between Dunblane and Crianlarich Junction. Diverging from the Aberdeen mainline the Dunblane, Doune & Callander Railway provided the springboard for the Callander & Oban Railway, 'Caley 123' on an afternoon run from Glasgow (Buchanan St) in October 1964 taking us through to Callander. Coverage of the single-wheeler's visit, including a cab ride, is complemented by another unusual visitor, a V2! Everyday scenes include a BRCW Sulzer type 2 passing 80061 as it terminates on a service from Stirling, whilst Black 5s work the regular steam hauled services between Callander, Edinburgh and Glasgow; trains in Glasgow, Stirling and Dunblane supplement the lineside footage. After considering the initial stage of the C&O, as far as Glenoglehead, we progress through the Pass of Leny, Strathyre, Kingshouse, Balquhidder and up Glen Ogle. The Observation saloon, Pullman coach, tours of the Trossachs and surrounding area are illustrated with photographs, cine and publicity material, showing how the 'Caley', and its successors, promoted this land of Rob Roy McGregor and the Waverley novels.

The mainline bypassed Killin, so the locals built their own railway, a 5 mile branch to the shore of Loch Tay; 1930s scenes of the associated steamer to Kenmore follow clips at Killin Junction. 1960s scenes depict the BR standard 2-6-4 tanks and the former CR and LMS class 439 0-4-4Ts that preceded them. The Killin interlude includes mixed trains, the gravity shunt, camping coach and the classic snowbound tour of 'Caley 123'. One of the regular DMU operated 'Six Lochs Land Cruise' excursions is seen before our journey resumes to Crianlarich, the complex operations of the Killin school train concluding this volume. Maps, ephemera, photographs, cine and modern scenes are used throughout to enhance the fascinating history, operational quirks and diversity of these lines.

Pre-grouping locomotive types include a 'Caley Jumbo', 439 class 0-4-4Ts, and both the 'Caley single' and Glen Douglas on railtour duties. More modern power includes LMS Black 5s, a Fairburn 4MT tank, LNER A4, B1 and V2 classes as well as BR Standard class 4 tanks, Sulzer and North British type 2s.    

The DVD features two audio options. View the programme with narration by Stuart Sellar, then watch it again and lose yourself in the past with uninterrupted archive sound.

CITY OF TRURO - 102.3 - The return of a Great Western legend

A DIAGONAL ENTERTAINMENT DVD - Post production by Oakwood Visuals
Exclusively distributed by Oakwood Video Library

Inspired by City of Truro's triumphal return to steam to mark the centenary of the historic high speed Ocean Mails run from Plymouth to Bristol on 9th May 1904, this programme also celebrates the return of G.J. Churchward's legendary 4-4-0 to the West Country mainline after a break of 43 years.

The question, "Did City of Truro really achieve 100 mph?", is still contentious, so, as the railtours retraced past glories, the extensive lineside action is complemented by photographs and press extracts from 1904, notably by Charles Rous-Marten, the GWR choosing to embargo his claim that 102.3 mph was achieved down Whiteball Bank for fear that knowledge of such a speed would scare its passengers!

Thereafter, the brief return 'home' for the NRM Railfest Bicentennial celebrations, trips to Scarborough, Birmingham, Stratford-upon-Avon and double-heading with Rood Ashton Hall to Didcot are all covered before the Edwardian 4-4-0 attacked the heavily graded Bodmin & Wenford Railway.

 Click on Picture to view Video Clip with Sound Track

wmv file: Duration 1m 11s
Dimensions: 640 x 480
Size: 8.95MB
 

6024 - a Royal progress - A lineside appreciation of King Edward I

A DIAGONAL ENTERTAINMENT DVD - Post production by Oakwood Visuals
Exclusively distributed by Oakwood Video Library
 

No. 6024, King Edward I, was one of thirty King class locomotives built by the Great Western Railway to provide superpower for its crack expresses. Named after the Kings of England the most powerful and heaviest 4-6-0s ever built in Britain ruled until 1962 . . . but for No. 6024 the story was certainly not over, since 1990 King Edward I has become one of the most prolific steam locomotives out on Britain's main lines.

This programme is a lineside appreciation, a 'snapshot' of some of the more interesting 'Royal appointments' as King Edward I steamed towards 1.6 million miles of service. For example, this DVD includes extensive coverage of the Wessex Royale train as it follows a winding route from Stratford-upon-Avon to Weymouth, a glimpse of the King "under the wires" on the East Coast main line and passing through Melton Mowbray, whilst more familiar lines such as the Welsh Marches and those through Oxford, Kemble and to Worcester also feature.

But it is 'homeground' for the King in the West Country with shots on the sea wall, spectacular climbs over Dainton, Rattery, towards Churston and through Torre, and a rare visit into Cornwall that sets the seal on this presentation.

 Click on Picture to view Video Clip with Sound Track

wmv file:  Duration 58s:
Dimensions: 640 x 480:
Size:  7.38MB

CALEDONIAN ROUTES, Volume 4:
Callender & Oban Lines - Crianlarich to Oban and the Ballachulish Branch
 

The 'Caley’ West Highland story continues with coverage of the surviving section of mainline, the rise and fall of the Ballachulish branch, the use of the Crianlarich link to integrate former rival routes under British Railways and ultimately its role in the reshaping of the West Highland railway map. We conclude with the elimination of 73 miles of former 'Caley' lines in the area, a rock fall in Glen Ogle accelerating the truncation of the Oban mainline and its isolation from the rest of the erstwhile Caledonian Railway empire.

Modern scenes of Oban and Mallaig services ‘splitting’ at Crianlarich, and a trip down the spur to the C&O, set the scene for 1960s archive as under British Railways the spur saw unprecedented activity. One of the last clockwise 'Six Lochs’ DMU land-cruises takes us to Killin where the Television Train, massive by Killin standards, causes a shunting conundrum in August 1963. The two mainline diesels and regular branch engine all get involved before we revisit Crianlarich where a brace of Black 5s haul another excursion up from the C&O to enter Crianlarich Upper in 1957.

From Crianlarich Lower we resume our mainline journey through Tyndrum, Dalmally, Loch Awe, Taynuilt and Achnacloich to Connel Ferry. Our overview of local railway development concludes with the complex history of the Ballachulish branch before we continue to Oban. B.R. connections with MacBrayne shipping services to Mull and the Outer Hebrides are illustrated with cine of the Claymore, Lochearn, Lochnevis, Lochdunvegan and King George V. The Oban interlude continues with station scenes and shunting at the upper yard and MPD before we travel to Ballachulish in the last years of the 'Caley' tanks, a journey enriched with lineside action. Beyond Ballachulish we view the neighbouring slate quarry, Kinlochleven and its electric railway and Glencoe.

On 12th May 1962 an SLS railtour bade an enthusiasts farewell to C&O steam using ‘Caley 123’ and Glen Douglas; ‘on train’ footage is interwoven with shots at Crianlarich, Tyndrum and Oban, before the return trip is seen at Balquhidder, Strathyre, Callander, Doune and Stirling. On the same day, the ‘steam oasis’ branches to Killin and Ballachulish employed 80092 and 78052 respectively, but it was steam’s ‘last knockings’ at the latter. Thereafter, the implementation of Beeching Report recommendations drives the story, albeit with unexpected twists such as a reprieve for Ballachulish in 1964 and the Glen Ogle rock-fall. 1^st November 1965 was to see closure for the mainline between Dunblane to Crianlarich and the Killin branch, but beyond Callander the enforced isolation saw BR pull the plug overnight, some five weeks early. Scenes of D5351 on the last day for the Ballachulish branch, 26^th March 1966, precede a review of the next forty years. The varied conclusion embraces ScotRail initiatives, signalling and motive power changes as well as luxury and steam hauled excursions; a B1 and K1 doubleheader bring down the curtain as they assault the 1 in 49 west from Tyndrum. Maps, ephemera, photographs, cine and modern scenes are used throughout as we conclude the fascinating history of the C&O and its two branch lines.

Locomotive types include 'Caley' 0-4-4T, 0-6-0 and 4-2-2, NBR Glen, LMS Black 5 and Ivatt 2-6-0, LNER B1, BR Standard class 3 mogul and class 4, 2-6-4T, English Electric Type 1, BRCW Type 2, Brush Type 4 and class 37.

This DVD features two audio options. View the programme with narration by Stuart Sellar, then watch it again and lose yourself in the past with uninterrupted archive sound.

Replicated dual layer disk (DVD9) for optimum picture quality and reliability Map driven interactive menu.