Marsden Rail 29 Dvd: Southern Region Steam, Part 2

Description

This is the second programme in the Marsden Rail series to feature steam locomotives at work on the Southern Region of British Railways and complements Marsden Rail No.25 – Southern Region Steam (Part 1) Dvd.

The programme starts at London’s Waterloo Station and is followed by views at Vauxhall and Clapham Junction.

Also included is a journey on the last scheduled regular steam service to operate from Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia.

Leaving the capital on the former London & South Western Railway’s route to Southampton, we witness scenes at Guildford, Woking and Worting Junction with a wide variety of steam classes at work.

From Guildford’s Peasmarsh  Junction, the line to Christ’s Hospital and Shoreham is traced, with almost every station on this now-closed route featured.

Services in and around Eastleigh and Southampton then precedes a crossing of the Solent on board a British Railways ferry to the Isle of Wight.

At its peak, the Isle of Wight’s rail system could boast a route network totalling more than fifty miles served, until 1966, entirely by steam.

This fascinating network of island services was handled by ex-LSWR Class ‘02’ 0-4-4 tank locomotives and pre-grouping stock which created an almost “Edwardian” atmosphere.

The Isle of Wight scenes, captured on film from the late 1950s until steam traction ended in December 1966, are a major highlight of this absorbing programme.

Between 1959 and 1968, railway enthusiast and cine-cameraman, Michael Marsden, recorded views and sounds of the rapidly changing face of Britain’s rail network.

For over twenty-five years after steam ended, he captivated audiences throughout the country with his unique film collection that captured steams’ last decade and the full emergence of the diesel locomotive.

The blending of this film and that of other cameramen with true sounds of the era, plus an informative narrative, has resulted in the creation of a superb range of railway programmes detailing the last decade of British mainline steam operations.

Approx. 60 mins.

Region 0/Region free. NTSC versions are available on request.

This dvd is being sold on behalf and with full permission of the copyright holder – Marsden Rail 2004.