Riding the "Elizabethan"

[Anonymous]

Enjoy this spectacular 1954 British b/w film of the heydays of steam in Britain!

watch?v=MYC6tEU9EA0&feature=playerdetailpage

[KCSfan]

I really enjoyed the film - thanks for posting the link to it. I was surprised to see the engine crews changing without stopping. There appears to be a passageway through the tender that enables them to do this. This is something entirely new to me and I suspect this arrangement was found on only those very few British engines which were assigned to long distance non-stop trains. I am certain there were no North or South American engines that had a similar passageway.

Mark

[rgbarton]

I was 15  in 1948 and fascinated by the British railways (just as the were being nationalized) on a trip with the family to England. I had made my way into a several (unauthorized) cab rides in the London area. So I wrote to headquarters for permission to ride on the foot plate of the Flying Scotsman, which was of course denied. But they did give me a pass to ride in the brake van the whole way to Edinburgh.  This video brings all of that back to life for me!

[Stourbridge Lion]

rgbarton - Welcome to trains.com!

[Firelock76]

Wonderful film! Thanks so much for posting! Where did you find it? Oh, I'm glad there were credits at the end, I couldn't tell if the narration was written by Tennyson, Browning, or Dr. Suess!

[Anonymous]

Quite a big number of films like this one can be found on youtube.com. It is really a joy to watch them (and listen to the lovely British accent).

[Firelock76]

You Tube!  I might have guessed.  You know, there's some real gems on the 'Tube.  Let me suggest PennRail Videos.  Just search You Tube PennRail Videos and it should pop right up.  They're shot by a young fellow, 21-22 years old and if his work is any indication he's got quite a future ahead of him.

As an aside, there's a lot of crap posted by screwballs on the 'Tube as well but at least it's easily avoided. 

[narig01]

Neat with prose.

 

Many Thx IGN

[Wabashbud]

What a great experience, thanks for giving us that video.

 

Bud

[daveklepper]

terrific film, thanks

[jamie92208]

Yes indeed.  There was apassgeway thorugh what were known as corridor tenders.  Only a few were built by the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1930's.  They were used on the non stop London to Edinburgh trains (Approx 400 miles) including the Flying Scostman and the Elizabethan.  The tenders were swapped around between locomotives but were only ever asigned to ex LNER pacific types.  At least one has been preserved and is used to the present day.

Jamie