B&R .51 Dvd: Shap’s Steam Glory

Description

Today the railway over Shap Summit is dominated by electrification masts and the M6 motorway.

This is the story of the other Shap incline in the days of steam.

Through the efforts of thirteen cameramen here is what it was really like for the struggling freight trains to dashing pacific hauled expresses over the route north from Lancaster.

Visit Arnside and the Windermere branch with steam.

The accent of the programme is on work, that of machines and the men who battled up the one thousand foot summit.

See the climb from the footplate, a proper cab ride!

See the engines being serviced on Carnforth and Tebay sheds and sometimes the use of an oily rag.

This is what the steam railway was all about, not staged runpasts, although to see a double headed train leaving the loop at Tebay one may have believed the crews entered into the spirit of it.

But not when pulled up at Scout Green with a heavy freight in a westerly gale!

There is full coverage of Hest Bank and Dillicar troughs, the climb to Grayrigg.

The odd Duchess, Clan, Royal Scot and 4F put in appearances among the Britannia’s, Black 5’s and 2-6-4 Tanks.

This one-hour programme is all brilliant colour and all archive.

When we produced Volume 20 – Shap’s Steam Twilight, (B&R No. 20) we advertised it with only Britannias, Black 5’s, Standards and 8F’s, all at the end of steam over this famous incline.

It has been one of our best sellers over the years and now it is time to produce another version filling in the gaps in the story as more well taken views have come to us.

This programme includes all the previous types of locomotive but here there is the odd Duchess, Clan, Royal Scot and the 2-6-4 Tanks which banked on Shap before the Standard Class 4s.

Instead of Crewe as a starting point we begin at Lancaster and visit the Arnside line and Windermere branch.

There is more action on Grayrigg than before.

Excellent action on the troughs of Hest Bank and Dillicar.

We had to include yet another cab ride on a Shap banker.

Shed scenes at Tebay and Carnforth provide nostalgic viewing as engines are prepared for the struggles over the one thousand foot summit of Shap.

One Britannia really struggles as it is brought to a stand at Scout Green in a westerly gale!

A double header out of the loop at Tebay was not staged but the crews entered into the spirit of things for the cameraman.

The men who worked this railway are seen at work, the grime and the glory of what was Shap, even a cow could almost disrupt the West Coast Main Line traffic!

Thirteen cameramen provided the film for this production.

Sit back and enjoy this one if nothing else, taken on 8mm & 16mm film with authentic sounds taken at the time for your enjoyment.

Approx. 60 minutes.

This dvd is being sold on behalf of and with full permission of the copyright owner – B&R Video Productions.