MARSDEN RAIL 21
BIRMINGHAM - TWO
£19.95

The programme opens at a bustling Snow Hill station, with steam much in evidence, before leaving for Stourbridge Jct. via Soho and Winson Green, Handsworth and West Smethwick. Scenes at Stourbridge are followed by a return to the industrial Midlands, where trolleybuses still occupy the streets of Wolverhampton and Low Level station is host to Halls, Patriots and ‘Western’ diesels. WCML traffic at Lichfield finds Duchesses, Jubilees, and Britannias in the company of blue electrics and ex-LMS diesel no 10001. To the north-west, Codsall, Shifnal and Shrewsbury are featured and to the south, the Lickey Incline and Bromsgrove. Duration: 62 min

MARSDEN RAIL 22
THE LICKEY INCLINE
£19.95

The most famous gradient in England - over 2 miles at 1 in 37.5 - and lying between Birmingham and Gloucester, it posed major operating difficulties during the steam era when banking of northbound trains was required.

The programme begins at Stourbridge with a steam-hauled 'Carpet Special' in the station, plus views of the climb from the Town Goods Yard to the junction; followed by scenes at Kidderminster, with gravity-shunting in the extensive yards. At Worcester, the practice of combining the Hereford and Worcester portions of Paddington expresses is seen and at Ashchurch Junction main line expresses speed through as the Tewkesbury Branch train engine, a Midland Railway 3F, shunts its solitary coach.

The Lickey Incline poses few challenges to modern diesel traction, but in this programme - filmed between 1960 and 1966 - the most modern locomotives seen are British Railways Type 3 and 4 diesel designs! However, the banking of all but the lightest of trains is why the Lickey Incline was fascinating and a range of steam classes, from the humble Jinty to the mighty 9F, are seen carrying out this arduous work. Duration: 63 min

MARSDEN RAIL 23
GLOUCESTER
£19.95

Scenes at Gloucester focus on the wide variety of services at both Eastgate and Central Stations, together with the attendant locomotive depots of Barnwood and Horton Road. A journey to Severn Tunnel Jct. shows the now demolished Severn Rail Bridge and at Severn Tunnel Jct steam and diesel traction is featured, including a SR ‘Z’ class on the shed. Gloucester was also a port and traffic is shown on the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal. In addition to mainline traffic, ex-GWR autotrains are shown in the Golden Valley between Gloucester and Chalford, and railbuses are shown on branchline journeys from Kemble to Cirencester and Tetbury.

Finally, a journey to Bristol Temple Meads, with a mixture of ex-GWR and LMS locomotives on view, closes the programme. Duration: 60 min

MARSDEN RAIL 24
SOMERSET & DORSET
£19.95

Starting at Bristol, the programme travels to Bath, the northern terminus of the 72-mile former Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. After views at Bath Spa and Green Park Stations, and the locomotive depot the line south to Evercreech is followed, and from here the route to Glastonbury and Highbridge is traced, plus views at Wells and Witham. Rejoining the main line, Templecombe Jct. follows, where the S&D passed under the LSWR London to Exeter route, and the complex everyday shunting movements between the Upper and Lower Stations are shown. Following the line south, scenes at Poole, Parkstone and Branksome precede arrival at Bournemouth, and here, film of the West and Central Stations, together with the former L&SWR loco depot is complimented by street views that show the once-extensive trolley bus system. Duration: 65 min

MARSDEN RAIL 25
SOUTHERN REGION STEAM
£19.95

Starting at Waterloo, and filmed between 1958 and 1965, the programme follows the mainline to Exeter and Plymouth, pausing at many locations including Basingstoke, Salisbury, Templecombe, Yeovil, Axminster, Chard, Chard Central, Seaton, Sidmouth and Exeter. After scenes at Exeter and Plymouth the rural scene is highlighted with film of Bude, Halwill Jct, Barnstaple, Padstow and Wadebridge.
Duration: 66 min

MARSDEN RAIL 26
EAST MIDLANDS STEAM
£19.95

On 16 October 1965, the ‘Midland Loco Requiem’ railtour, headed by 43953, one of the last Midland Railway Class 4F 0-6-0s, left Nuneaton.
The tour followed the ex-MR line through Shackerstone and Gresley to Burton–on–Trent, from where it took the freight-only route to Trent Junction. Leaving north from Trent Junction the tour headed for Kirby–in–Ashfield, Mansfield and Staveley, after which it journeyed down the Bolsover and Glapwell Colliery branch. From here it ran via Chesterfield to the Erewash Valley en route to Pye Bridge and Ambergate, where filming of the tour came to an end due to failing light. The programme also features many scenes at Derby and Nottingham, where trolley buses were still an everyday sight.
The programme’s focus is on the wide variety of steam classes that still operated as the 1960s unfolded. From tank locos on the rail network that served the breweries of Burton-on-Trent, to BR-built ‘9F’ 2-10-0s on coal trains through the Trent Valley. ‘Black 5s’, ‘4Fs’ ‘8Fs’ and ‘Scots’ also feature in a programme, which is a reminder of the once immense rail traffic that characterised the East Midlands. Duration: 67 min

MARSDEN RAIL 27
OVER THE SETTLE & CARLISLE
£19.95

Film taken between 1963 and 1967 shows vividly the rugged Pennine landscape, together with many of the numerous viaducts and tunnels that gave the S&C its unique appeal. In addition, views of the line's larger stations at Carlisle, Settle and Appleby are shown, plus many of the stations which succumbed to closure in 1970. These include Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Ribblehead, Dent, Garsdale, Culgaith and Little Salkeld. At Kirkby Stephen, both the town's West and the former North Eastern Railway East stations feature, together with sequences on the long-closed Stainmore Route from Barnard Castle.

Early diesel classes such as 'Peaks', Sulzer Type 2s and diesel railcars are shown, but it is the sight and sounds of the steam locomotive in the form of Black 5s, Jubilees, Britannias, 9Fs, plus the occasional 'Crab', Austerity 2-8-0 and 4F hard at work on passenger and freight at a wide variety of locations between Hellifield and Carlisle that make this programme a fascinating visual record.
Duration: 63 min

MARSDEN RAIL 28
HARROGATE & DISTRICT
£19.95

After views of Leeds’s Central Station, Bramhope, Arthington Jct. and Pool-in-Wharfedale feature, followed by Harrogate, which in 1964 was a busy rail centre, handling both freight and passenger traffic. Diverging from the Ripon line on the northeast outskirts of Harrogate was the line to York, and on this route Starbeck and the Boroughbridge branch are shown. North of Harrogate, workings are shown at numerous locations, including Nidd Bridge and Ripley Jct.: most stations between Ripon and Northallerton plus a journey from Ripon to Melmerby Junction and Masham.

In the programme are ex-LNER classes including A1s, A3s, A4s, B1s and K1s plus diesel types ranging from shunters and DMUs to Type 4s and ‘Deltics’. Filmed between 1961 and 1967, the programme is a fascinating visual record of a through route that has now passed into history. Duration: 67 min

MARSDEN RAIL 29
SOUTHERN REGION STEAM PART TWO
£19.95

This second programme in the Marsden Rail series to feature the Southern Region of British Railways complements Volume 25 ‘Southern Region Steam – Part One’. London’s Waterloo Station is followed by views at Vauxhall, Clapham Jct. and Nine Elms Depot, together with the last scheduled steam service from Clapham ct. to Kensington Olympia. Also included are fascinating 1947 views at Clapham Jct.and 1931 views at Kensington Olympia.

West of the capital are scenes at Woking and Guildford, with a wide variety of steam classes at work. From Guildford’s Peasmarsh Junction, the lines to Horsham, Christ’s Hospital and Shoreham are traced, with almost every station on this now-closed route featured, plus views at Brighton. Scenes at Basingstoke, Worting Jct Eastleigh and Southampton are followed by a detailed look at the Isle of Wight, where until 1966 the island’s rail system was operated almost entirely by steam.
The Isle of Wight’s rail services were handled primarily by ex-LSWR Class ‘02’ 0-4-4 tank locomotives which, with their pre-grouping stock, are shown between 1961 and 1966 at a wide variety of locations on the island. Duration: 65 min

MARSDEN RAIL 30
SHEFFIELD & NORTH DERBYSHIRE
£19.95

The programme starts at Sheffield, with film taken at the now-closed Victoria Station between 1932 and 1979 showing a wide variety of steam traction, ranging from Great Central Railway and Great Northern Railway designs through to British Railways ‘Britannia’ Pacifics. The unique 1500dc-electric system that linked Sheffield to Manchester via the Woodhead Route is also featured, with the BR-built electric locomotives shown at various locations on the tortuous line, which closed in 1981. Another electrically-powered transport system could also be found in Sheffield in the 1950s, in the form of the city’s original tram system and a film made in 1958 from Beauchief to the city centre is an interesting reminder of the period.

Sheffield is left behind on board a steam-hauled service in 1964, with a detailed film sequence that traces the 25-mile route from the city’s Midland Station to Chinley in the heart of the Derbyshire Peak District. A famous feature of the area’s rail system was the Cromford and High Peak Railway which, together with film of the route from Parsley Hay to Ashbourne, highlights the diversity of rail operation that existed until the closures of the 1960s.

From the rural setting of the Peak District, the programme goes onto feature the industrial town of Chesterfield, where a stud of Midland Railway-built tank locomotives was still active until 1965. Next to be highlighted is the Nottinghamshire town of Worksop, with film taken in the early 1960s showing the scale of the town’s freight and passenger workings.

Finally, a fascinating film made by the British Transport Commission in 1961 shows Sheffield’s outdated rail system and outlines the ambitious plans drawn up for the modernisation of the city.
Duration: 77 min

MARSDEN RAIL 31
YORKSHIRE BYWAYS
£19.95

The programme starts in 1962 at Goole, with an ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 'Pug' at work in the docks and the town's engine shed still home to a large number of steam locomotives. From Goole, the focus moves to Hull, where trolley buses still operated in the city's streets while rail services maintained links with the coastal resorts of Hornsea and Withernsea. Journeys on both these routes are featured.

Moving north to Bridlington, a steam-hauled special working is joined for a journey to Filey, Whitby and Scarborough, where summer excursion traffic from Lancashire and the West Riding was still in the hands of steam traction. From Scarborough, the enthusiasts' special used the coast line to Whitby and it was filmed at a variety of locations on this long-closed route.

Another long-closed route from Whitby is also featured - the thirty-five mile-long line to Pickering and Malton. In addition to scenes on the route as it crosses the North Yorkshire Moors, rare film shows a diesel shunter retrieving wagons at Pickering prior to closure of the line, together with the arrival of the Royal Train at Pickering after the station's closure!

Moving nearer to York, the Derwent Valley Light Railway is shown, together with views of the city centre and the busy East Coast Main Line. In the city's streets, the numerous buses of the former West Yorkshire Road Car Company highlight the intense competition faced by British Railways to retain passengers on its network.

Views of the Clayton West, Holmfirth and Meltham branches are a reminder of the local network that was swept away in the 1960s. Moving west to Halifax, the High Level branch from Holmfield to Pellon and St. Paul's is shown, followed by scenes on the Queensbury route and the Worth Valley branch in pre-preservation days.

The final section includes a journey in 1962 on the line from Wilpshire to Hellifield and, at Hellifield, a variety of scenes reflect the intensity of traffic that used the junction. Moving north on to the Settle and Carlisle route beyond Hellifield, impressive film shows double-headed Class '9Fs' at work, sharing the route with 'Jubilees' from Leeds Holbeck depot in their last years of service.

Duration: 70 min