Great film! You know, the appearance of the engines doesn't surprise. If British Rail was anything like its American cousins they probably did only enough maintainance to keep the engines alive until the diesel replacements showed up, hence the grungy appearances, and the leaky valves and cylinders.
As an aside, that's some mighty pretty country those trains are passing through. No wonder the Brits fought like lions to keep Phillip of Spain, Napoleon, and Hitler out!
Here is some more footage on the last days of steam in Britain.
It is truly a sad sight to see the pride of the 1930´s and 1940´s in a bad state of repair and being downgraded to freight duty.
watch?v=msLc6b9bAT0&feature=playerdetailpage
Ulrich ( Sir Madog);
You are certainly correct.
The equipment as shown in the video does seem to have a particularly, Un-British, scruffy appearance. Surely, not the the usual 'Ship-Shape, and Bristol Fashion' appearances of later years; as shown by the various preserved equipment over there.
Enjoy this video taken during the last days of steam in Britain. The engines display a rather sad look as maintenance was reduced in the early 1960´s.
watch?v=G7tnZjTJBv0&feature=playerdetailpage
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