Absolutely stunning, as a piccadilly driver, I knew a lot of old steam hands, who worked through Vic and Manchester Central Station, to see this in all its glory, blows my mind as its was, always a story being told,,
A beautifully presented video which brings back memories of 1954 and trainspotting days at Manchester Victoria/Manchester Exchange. My pal and I would stand at the far end of platform 11 to experience the spectacle of freights and passenger trains making their way up the banking. Many with a good old Midland Compound on the rear giving the extra shove! It was never quiet as the activity on the far platforms was always there, and the constant movement of the Bury electrics behind us. I have a copy of the last Manchester Exchange Station timetable dated May 1968 still showing one or two lines that have now disappeared. Great production. John Land
I enjoyed watching Part 1 & 2. It brought back memories from the early 1960s when my friend and I would spend many a Saturday on the platforms of Victoria and London Road (Piccadilly) stations collecting numbers. Also sneaking into the sheds at Newton Heath. Great memories.
I was born at the wrong time, but superb footage such as this helps to redress the injustice. Thank you and I'm looking forward to more of your sensational work.
I was born too late to see steam here in Canada, which ended a decade earlier than in Great Britain. Your videos are so atmospheric - I can almost put myself on the station platform watching this superb display of the last gasp of working steam. Still photos are great but videos give a sense of the motion of people and machines all going about their business. The sound adds that additional element, of squealing wheels on rails, clanking valve motion, rattling freight cars, and of course the station announcer over the Tannoy. Thank you for making these movies available.
Me too. The only steam outside heritage railways I have experienced first hand was the Pannier Tank that worked until 1972 at the same coal mine as my dad and various explorations of Barry Scrapyard on summer day excursions to Barry Island (long before Gavin & Stacey popularised the place!).
The video is wonderful, but I especially appreciate your atmospheric still photographs. Taken as a whole with the informative commentary, this is a great video. Thanks so much!
Absolutely fantastic Jon!. Thank you so much for sharing. Your wonderful footage and photos of Victoria took me right back to the time when it was a magnificent cathedral of steam. I visited the station several times a year as a young boy with my parents en-route to relations who lived at Lytham St Anne's. I remember passing Newton Heath sheds as we approached Victoria. Outside were lots of grimy locos steaming away and getting ready for duty. How l wished that l could visit that MPD but l was far too young and it was a long way from my home in West Yorkshire. Dropping down Miles Platting Bank l could see the magical Victoria station getting nearer. And then we would alight, and rush via the equally atmospheric and very busy underpass (sadly long gone) in order to make our way to the correct platform for the next stage of our journey to the west coast. I loved that station, it was absolutely oozing with atmosphere! One day, l think it was in June '68, l ran across to where the banking engines were sat waiting. My father was watching from the other side of the lines. I asked the driver and fireman of a Black Five, or 8F if l could climb up onto the footplate? They happily agreed and even let me sound the Stanier whistle. I waved to my father from the side windows. I was 10 years old. One of the footplate men kindly offered to take my photo with the Kodak camera which l had hanging around my neck. I have that photo even now. I was beaming at the camera and so euphoric to be in the cab of a steam loco, for l knew that soon they would all be gone! Suddenly, l noticed a beautiful green loco passing through on the far side of the staion. It was Oliver Cromwell they said. It looked beautiful and was in immaculate condition. I later took two photos on my Brownie 127, of the lined up banking engines , one l which l had just visited. The destruction and modernisation of that lovely old station, really broke my heart, for l had seen it when it was a joy to visit. Nothing lasts forever they say, but thanks to you Jon, you have revived so many happy memories for me from the past when Victoria was a very special place. Thank you so much for bringing it all flooding back.
Yes, I wish I had been born a little earlier too. Just ten years would have made a big difference, a handful of years I had and then it was all over. I had an Ilford Sprite camera.
Hi Richard, Victoria was awesome. I wrote recently in a German railway magazine about the significance of being invited onto the footplate of a Black 5 at the station as a young boy. It was all part of starting my fascination with steam.
I appreciate that people like you who got to experience the age of steam locomotives did what you could to help preserve it through documentation and helping preserve the locomotives and equipment so younger generations like myself who were born decades after the golden era of railroads can know what it was like and experience a piece of this history. Thanks for sharing your excellent films from the 60s. I hope to see more of your great work in the future best of luck.
Great video! Love the discrete but informative narrative, and the way you overlay your still shots. The flyover at the end for historical context is really useful too. A real time machine experience, with a personal touch. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to create and share this.👍📽
These videos are heavenly! I could watch them over and over. I've spent my whole life regretting the fact that my first visit to Man Vic was on 4 August 1968!
A big thank you for these videos. My father used to work at Agecroft sheds around this time as a driver. Showing these films are great memories for him.
Fantastic stills included. Thanks! I think ‘handsome’ is the best description of Black Fives and 8Fs. Hats off to Mr Coleman which gave them a family resemblance.
Excellent, how wonderful it would be if we could bring back just one day of these times . I'm about the same age and spent all my time north of Derby on the London Midland . 👍
Absolutely superb video, as captured by a youngster and exactly how we used to see it. You captured this atmosphere perfectly, something the professionals were not always able to do. Many thanks for bringing these wonderful memories back, something you won't see on any heritage railway however excellent they are.
Very nostalgic! I used to visit here in the late 1950’s & 60’s, but the bankers were L & Y 0-6-0’s & the freight locos. predominately WD 2-8-0’s, much suburban traffic behind LMS 2-6-4T’s & the Glasgow train headed by a Polmadie “Britannia”, “Scot” or even a “Clan”. Happy days wnen steam was king.
Great old footage and I'm so glad it popped up in my suggested list. I'm old enough to remember steam trains running past a local playground and my primary school. We always stopped to watch the steam engines and totally ignored the DMU's that mostly ran on the line. Later I used to catch those DMU's to and from Victoria to get to work.
I love all this footage of a world that's been and gone. I was born in the 90's so I never got to experience the age when steam was king, if only time travel were possible... Thanks for the superb footage, look forward to seeing more.
Another evocative film. I remember the station at the time so well. I just missed steam in Canada an the US and on my return to the UK I made sure I photographed as much as I could of the last of steam. Luckily, living in Manchester at the time was a great help and for a time there were still trains to Tebay and Shap. Of course, steam was got rid of very quickly once the decision was made but as was obvious from the film, was the shortage of cheap labour to maintain the engines having an impact. Germany, on the other hand, got their money's worth out of steam before it went. East Germany kept steam even longer and many of the narrow gauge steam lines survive to this day. The East Germans, in a cunning move before unification, declared these lines to be part of the national heritage and thus ensured their survival. The lines I would recommend are the Harz Mountain lines and the handful of lines surrounding Dresden.. All easy to get to and all worth a full day on each. You will need longer on the Harz if you want to travel by steam over the whole network. I have spent eight days in total and still there is a short stretch I have been unable to do behind steam. Go by Eurostar and DB.
Hello again, I've just realised who you are, which explains why your videos are so accomplished! It's a breath of fresh air to watch such well shot, edited and (extremely importantly) narrated content. Thanks for sharing your archive.
The North West was then the last bastion of steam it is amazing there were so much steam around Victoria in the late sixties. Saw one of the bankers myself there while on a DMU going to Blackpool in early 68
Absolutely fantastic 👍🏻 I’m so glad I had the chance to see Manchester Victoria in its glory days even it was in the diesel era at the end of steam 😀 I was born in 57 and lived in Urmston so Manchester was a great train spotting City 🤩
We had turns which passed through Victoria from Lees shed, usually with an Austerity. But we collected parcels vans one Saturday afternoon in 1960 with an L&Y 0-6-0 and despite a run at the bank with the pilotman hopping off, we sighed with relief when we reached Miles Platting and turned off for Ashton. A shame no one photographed us.
I travel to Manchester Victoria most days. But I remember going to the station in the 80's and it's a very different place now. Watching your excellent videos highlights this even further.
Many thanks for a good video , I am glad that there are guys like you who were able to record steam traction for guys like me to enjoy in our twilight years , thanks again
If this is 1967 then almost nothing had changed since 1959 - 62 when as a 4-7 year old I used to frequent Exchange - Vic with my dad - even down to the two banking engines permanently posted to platform 11. Really interesting, and, I'll admit it, very nostalgic, footage. I wish my dad was still here to share it. So much was about to change in the following years as the aerial shots at the end well-illustrate.
It's amazing to think that a modern country like the UK was still using Steam power in such an important way as late as 1968... Is the sound in these videos dubbed or the real sound from the day they were taken...? I absolutely love these videos', being a rail fan and a steam buff... thanks for sharing.
great memories glad you had the camera to film this as never thought i would see these again as just didn't see the fascination back then. then they were gone thanks again
Hello Jon - greetings from Poland. I've just watched parts 1 and 2 of Manchester Victoria videos. Can't find No. 3 though. Has it not been loaded yet? More fantastic memories for me. Catching the 108 Manchester Corporation bus from Timperley to Piccadily Gardens and walking down past the cathedral over the River Irwell and into Royal Exchange station. A walk then along the longest platform I'd ever seen to Victoria to spot even more locos. Great days - I must have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. I was ony allowed to go to Manchester during the school holidays.
I have quite a few films like these waiting my attention and part three is one of them. It's gratifying, from comments like yours, to realise how much those time are cherished not only by me but many others. I am a little older than you and was fortunate in buying a second hand movie camera with saved pocket money and a little help from my dad. Most weekends I would at Man Vic or visiting an engine shed in the race against time as they disappearing so fast.
what a amazing scene it must of been back in late 1880s. and 1920s when steam was king. imagine been at a station with 8 or 9 streamers coming and powering off
I lived in Preston at that time which as you will be aware served up a very similar steam parade with the addition of several Brits a day working out their remaining days on parcels and freight with occasional appearance on express duties up from Crewe on Glasgow trains where a Class 40 would go on at Preston to go over Shap. This video admirably rekindles those days.
I didn't realise steam was replaced so early, i've always thought they were still operational in the mid/late 70s, luckily there's still enthusiasts that restore/maintain the Steam Locos so my Daughter got to experience seeing and riding on one.
That was the original intention among BR’s chief mechanical engineers, hence the BR Standard Classes. They envisaged a direct switch from Steam to Electric power on the principle main lines without a Diesel intermediate step. As it turned out the BR Standard steam designs did everything expected of them while many of the ‘First Generation’ diesel classes were a disastrous waste of money. Even now I have a hankering for BR Standard 9F in ‘large logo’ Railfreight Grey and a 5MT in lined-out BR Blue
@@stephensmith799 "many of the ‘First Generation’ diesel classes were a disastrous waste of money." Sure, but many of them were excellent locomotives. It's a bit of a strawman to compare the best of steam against the worst new diesels.
@@beeble2003 Of course you are right 😉 I just like to think about how things would have worked out according to early 1950s thinking. The 08, 09, 20, 24, 25, 26,27, 31, 33, 37, 45, 46, 47, 52 and 55s proved themselves, but the rest were disappointing or downright useless. 40s disappointing because they were barely more powerful than the Coronation Pacific’s they replaced, Claytons, Baby Deltics and Metrovick Co-Bos shockingly unreliable. Quite why the principle of standardisation has never been quite realised, especially in DMUs and EMUs is another interesting question 🤔😉 The AC electric locos were worthy successors to Coronations and Scots. That part of 1950s thinking was pretty well vindicated.
All mixed up thinking in the sixties. Evening Star for example lasted 5 years whereas its life expectancy would probably have been 30 to 40 years. The early diesels. I dont think BR were sure what they wanted.....diesel electric or diesel hydraulic. The type one diesels were largely for short mixed goods travelling short distances and that business was shrinking. Lots of change, muddled thinking and consequent waste of money. But as they say hindsight is a powerful weapon.
@@philipstanley8142 ‘If I’d have been the Chairman’ 😉 I’d would have urged electrification of the WCML, ECML and Midland as far as Sheffield. I’d have concentrated all 999 Standards on the GW West of England and ‘North and West’ Bristol to Crewe/ Chester. All the best pre-nationalisation steam classes: rebuilt Bullied Pacifics, Black Fives, Jubilees, LMS 8Fs, Scots and Duchesses, Thompson Rebuilds of the O1s, Peppercorn A1 and A2, Greeley A4s would have run till about 1985, much as German and SAR steam did. I’d have scrapped all inside valve gear locos as fast as possible including Halls, Manors, Castles, Kings, Churchward 28xx and derivative 38xx, all Swindon Pannier Tanks, Large and Small Prairies and the Counties which were obsolete from the day they were built…. And built 300 BR 71000s, proven to match 47 diesels for power. For interim gap-filling diesels (prior to electrification) I’d have classes 08, 20, 25, 31, 33, 37, 50 and 55s only. I can’t imagine any traffic needs for any more diesel classes than those. I’d have been unpopular in Swindon! But I’d have kept the GC Route open, dedicated 100% to freight. All rural lines would be passenger only DMU operated using just Metro-Cam and Derby Lightweight sets. I don’t think I’d have done anything on the Southern that didn’t actually take place, but ‘cascaded’ all the Pacifics elsewhere, adjusting their springing to make them more sure-footed. Pipe-dreams…..
Hello again Jon, Part 2 was well worth the wait. Did you keep a note of dates the vids & photos were taken? I kept a diary off all my firing turns so l might be on there somewhere. A quick glimpse showed you had a quality 35mm camera Jon. Thanks again for sharing such halcyon days... roll on Part 3.
Hi Geo, unfortunately I did not keep accurate note of my filming. I think there are a few clips shot in 1966 include in this part looking at the quality of the frame line and dirt. I wonder if you remember a seaman's strike probably in 1965 or 66 only for about a week? I remember during it having a great afternoon and evening when almost every train at Victoria was steam hauled but I didn't have a camera to record it. There no reference to it on the web.
Hi Jon, Sadly l don't recollect that seaman's strike plus the fact at that time l was still at Trafford Park servicing M/C Central, so no through trains to the coast other than Liverpool.Central!
Hi my name is Phil I did 50yrs on footplate I started at edgeley shed in 1961 i oftentimes work it this station I finished at longsight in 2011 Regard Phil.
Thank you so much for these productions. Think I got my tinnitus there sixty + years ago at the platform end as safety valves lifted. 40 years later worked bendy buses into there as a conductor with Regional Railways and the magic was still there. Climbing Miles Platting bank with the myraid of signals was a challenge. Such happy days even in the diseasel era. Can't recognize the place now. Is the L & Y tile route map still in the station foyer?
I missed the days of steam (born in the early '70s), which I'm bittersweet about: Bitter because it looks amazing; but sweet because I like being young ;) I do have a question: Was it a dirty dingy environment around a busy steam station? Some of the film looks pretty dark, but I'm assuming that's because cine cameras didn't have automatic exposure control; and being black & white it's hard to gauge whether the sky is grey with cloud, or grey due to lack of colour... Many many thanks for sharing this footage, it's quite amazing.
The dinginess was because of the Manchester weather and a century of coal fires. The camera did have a auto exposure but the film stock was slow at 25 asa.
I've just come across your channel, brilliant footage and presentation, a shame you never got up here to County Durham on the Consett branch to film the mighty 9F's with the iron ore trains...
Hi Allen, I did miss the Consett steel trains but I did catch the 9F's double heading the Stanlow Oil trains coming past Edgeley Shed. That film will be coming soon.
I wish I had a £pound for every time I'd walked along Platform 11 from Victoria to Exchange to catch the Trans-Pennine to Stalybridge. A mile and a quarter long I believe, give or take a yard or two. Edit: I watched this before your Part 1
I can remember the engine crew leaving the station wearing their black caps and going into the Manchester Arms pub opposite the station which was demolished to make way for the Vic Pic underground railway connection to Piccadilly station. The project was cancelled The front of the pub was facing the station and the back facing the CO-OP. on the main road I found a bit strange.
Thank you so much Jonathan. Watching with my 1964 Combined Volume checking if I saw the same locomotives as you, which usually I did. Travelled in from Ashton and usually went to the Exchange end. Do you have any footage from there to share with us?
Great video, it was very fascinating to watch. Just out of curiosity, what camera did you use back then to take those photographs? I have been looking into film photography a lot lately. Cheers Matthew
Hi Matthew, I wouldn't recommend any of the cameras I use in this film because they are well out of date. If you want to shoot stills on film I'd suggest a Canon A1 with FD lenses. If you want to shoot movies I wouldn't bother with 8mm film, shoot 16mm it not that much more expensive and the image is so much better. I shoot all my stuff now with a Panasonic GH5s.
Red bank? Would that lead to swinton across Clifton viaduct on Radcliffe bridge station and then into Bury Bolton street? Love your videos. Would love to have seen it myself.
Hi Simon, Red Bank was North East of Manchester. It was a carriage sidings complex only a half mile from Victoria leading through to the Bury electric line and a split bypassing Mile Platting for Rochdale or Oldham.
Some of the best authentic footage of the closing months of steam haulage on British Railways. The commentary adds to the quality of the production as does the superb soundtrack. Congratulations on an outstanding production.
Was a fireman 60s agecroft till closure 1966 went to patricroft till closure 68 brought back memoires of pinning down brakes descending in to victoria and being banked up platting with oil tanks from stanlow brakes were pinned down at miles platting station where there was a warning board instructing goods loose coupled to pin brakes for tbe descent🙂🙂😑
Love the atmosphere spent some time here when I lived at Ashton u Lyme . What was the train from up north always double headed and made up of passenger type vans
@@GandyDancerProductions thanks for that, nearly always bihar and Orrissa ( jubilee class) and another. Red bank ! I always thought was Liverpool but after watching your Victoria films it appears to be Manchester
The track did continue through Red Bank siding and were an alternative route to avoid Miles Platting with the steep gradient from Manchester Vic heading West. It also connected to the electric line to Bury.
What's all this about 'Black 5' or 'another Black 5'? You've had been laughed at if you'd used that term. They were always referred to as 'Class 5's' or Stanier Class 5's by railway enthusiasts. You have either forgotten this, or more likely, you've been influenced by the post - 1968 constant use of the term in the Railway media. Try finding one mention of the term pre-1968.
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Absolutely stunning, as a piccadilly driver, I knew a lot of old steam hands, who worked through Vic and Manchester Central Station, to see this in all its glory, blows my mind as its was, always a story being told,,
A beautifully presented video which brings back memories of 1954 and trainspotting days at Manchester Victoria/Manchester Exchange. My pal and I would stand at the far end of platform 11 to experience the spectacle of freights and passenger trains making their way up the banking. Many with a good old Midland Compound on the rear giving the extra shove! It was never quiet as the activity on the far platforms was always there, and the constant movement of the Bury electrics behind us. I have a copy of the last Manchester Exchange Station timetable dated May 1968 still showing one or two lines that have now disappeared. Great production.
John Land
I enjoyed watching Part 1 & 2. It brought back memories from the early 1960s when my friend and I would spend many a Saturday on the platforms of Victoria and London Road (Piccadilly) stations collecting numbers. Also sneaking into the sheds at Newton Heath. Great memories.
I was born at the wrong time, but superb footage such as this helps to redress the injustice. Thank you and I'm looking forward to more of your sensational work.
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@GandyDancerProductions gannd ki bel chutiya banaty hai bhai
I was born too late to see steam here in Canada, which ended a decade earlier than in Great Britain. Your videos are so atmospheric - I can almost put myself on the station platform watching this superb display of the last gasp of working steam. Still photos are great but videos give a sense of the motion of people and machines all going about their business. The sound adds that additional element, of squealing wheels on rails, clanking valve motion, rattling freight cars, and of course the station announcer over the Tannoy. Thank you for making these movies available.
Me too. The only steam outside heritage railways I have experienced first hand was the Pannier Tank that worked until 1972 at the same coal mine as my dad and various explorations of Barry Scrapyard on summer day excursions to Barry Island (long before Gavin & Stacey popularised the place!).
The video is wonderful, but I especially appreciate your atmospheric still photographs. Taken as a whole with the informative commentary, this is a great video. Thanks so much!
Absolutely fantastic Jon!. Thank you so much for sharing. Your wonderful footage and photos of Victoria took me right back to the time when it was a magnificent cathedral of steam. I visited the station several times a year as a young boy with my parents en-route to relations who lived at Lytham St Anne's. I remember passing Newton Heath sheds as we approached Victoria. Outside were lots of grimy locos steaming away and getting ready for duty. How l wished that l could visit that MPD but l was far too young and it was a long way from my home in West Yorkshire. Dropping down Miles Platting Bank l could see the magical Victoria station getting nearer. And then we would alight, and rush via the equally atmospheric and very busy underpass (sadly long gone) in order to make our way to the correct platform for the next stage of our journey to the west coast. I loved that station, it was absolutely oozing with atmosphere! One day, l think it was in June '68, l ran across to where the banking engines were sat waiting. My father was watching from the other side of the lines. I asked the driver and fireman of a Black Five, or 8F if l could climb up onto the footplate? They happily agreed and even let me sound the Stanier whistle. I waved to my father from the side windows. I was 10 years old. One of the footplate men kindly offered to take my photo with the Kodak camera which l had hanging around my neck. I have that photo even now. I was beaming at the camera and so euphoric to be in the cab of a steam loco, for l knew that soon they would all be gone! Suddenly, l noticed a beautiful green loco passing through on the far side of the staion. It was Oliver Cromwell they said. It looked beautiful and was in immaculate condition. I later took two photos on my Brownie 127, of the lined up banking engines , one l which l had just visited.
The destruction and modernisation of that lovely old station, really broke my heart, for l had seen it when it was a joy to visit. Nothing lasts forever they say, but thanks to you Jon, you have revived so many happy memories for me from the past when Victoria was a very special place. Thank you so much for bringing it all flooding back.
Yes, I wish I had been born a little earlier too. Just ten years would have made a big difference, a handful of years I had and then it was all over. I had an Ilford Sprite camera.
Hi Richard, Victoria was awesome. I wrote recently in a German railway magazine about the significance of being invited onto the footplate of a Black 5 at the station as a young boy. It was all part of starting my fascination with steam.
@@GandyDancerProductions Thank you for your reply.
@@levelcrossing150 lf only we could turn the clock back...
@@richardnewman2728 Absolutely, they were magical days.
I managed to get to Manchester Victoria/Exchange during 67/8 over the Peak from Nottingham so this brought back some good memories.
I appreciate that people like you who got to experience the age of steam locomotives did what you could to help preserve it through documentation and helping preserve the locomotives and equipment so younger generations like myself who were born decades after the golden era of railroads can know what it was like and experience a piece of this history. Thanks for sharing your excellent films from the 60s. I hope to see more of your great work in the future best of luck.
Great video! Love the discrete but informative narrative, and the way you overlay your still shots. The flyover at the end for historical context is really useful too. A real time machine experience, with a personal touch. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to create and share this.👍📽
These videos are heavenly! I could watch them over and over. I've spent my whole life regretting the fact that my first visit to Man Vic was on 4 August 1968!
This was great thank you...enjoyed the bit where you met your gran with your parents on the platform....what a memory for you...
As someone in there late 20s your videos are giving me an insight to a time period I could only dream of, keep up the good work!
A big thank you for these videos. My father used to work at Agecroft sheds around this time as a driver. Showing these films are great memories for him.
Fantastic stills included. Thanks! I think ‘handsome’ is the best description of Black Fives and 8Fs. Hats off to Mr Coleman which gave them a family resemblance.
Excellent, how wonderful it would be if we could bring back just one day of these times .
I'm about the same age and spent all my time north of Derby on the London Midland . 👍
Absolutely superb video, as captured by a youngster and exactly how we used to see it. You captured this atmosphere perfectly, something the professionals were not always able to do. Many thanks for bringing these wonderful memories back, something you won't see on any heritage railway however excellent they are.
Great video. I remember the station like that but in the late 1970's to 1980's, all diesel locomotives by then. Once again thank you for posting.
Your videos capture a space in time not many can recreate. Amazing footage. I'm absolutely obsessed.
Wow, thank you!
Very nostalgic! I used to visit here in the late 1950’s & 60’s, but the bankers were L & Y 0-6-0’s & the freight locos. predominately WD 2-8-0’s, much suburban traffic behind LMS 2-6-4T’s & the Glasgow train headed by a Polmadie “Britannia”, “Scot” or even a “Clan”. Happy days wnen steam was king.
Great old footage and I'm so glad it popped up in my suggested list.
I'm old enough to remember steam trains running past a local playground and my primary school.
We always stopped to watch the steam engines and totally ignored the DMU's that mostly ran on the line.
Later I used to catch those DMU's to and from Victoria to get to work.
Make sure you check out the rest of his rail videos, there's some amazing footage!
I love all this footage of a world that's been and gone. I was born in the 90's so I never got to experience the age when steam was king, if only time travel were possible... Thanks for the superb footage, look forward to seeing more.
Another evocative film. I remember the station at the time so well. I just missed steam in Canada an the US and on my return to the UK I made sure I photographed as much as I could of the last of steam. Luckily, living in Manchester at the time was a great help and for a time there were still trains to Tebay and Shap. Of course, steam was got rid of very quickly once the decision was made but as was obvious from the film, was the shortage of cheap labour to maintain the engines having an impact. Germany, on the other hand, got their money's worth out of steam before it went. East Germany kept steam even longer and many of the narrow gauge steam lines survive to this day. The East Germans, in a cunning move before unification, declared these lines to be part of the national heritage and thus ensured their survival. The lines I would recommend are the Harz Mountain lines and the handful of lines surrounding Dresden.. All easy to get to and all worth a full day on each. You will need longer on the Harz if you want to travel by steam over the whole network. I have spent eight days in total and still there is a short stretch I have been unable to do behind steam. Go by Eurostar and DB.
Hello again,
I've just realised who you are, which explains why your videos are so accomplished!
It's a breath of fresh air to watch such well shot, edited and (extremely importantly) narrated content. Thanks for sharing your archive.
The North West was then the last bastion of steam it is amazing there were so much steam around Victoria in the late sixties. Saw one of the bankers myself there while on a DMU going to Blackpool in early 68
Very good. Very sad to see the changes too though. Your footage captured the good days well. Looking forward to seeing more.
Absolutely fantastic 👍🏻 I’m so glad I had the chance to see Manchester Victoria in its glory days even it was in the diesel era at the end of steam 😀 I was born in 57 and lived in Urmston so Manchester was a great train spotting City 🤩
We had turns which passed through Victoria from Lees shed, usually with an Austerity. But we collected parcels vans one Saturday afternoon in 1960 with an L&Y 0-6-0 and despite a run at the bank with the pilotman hopping off, we sighed with relief when we reached Miles Platting and turned off for Ashton. A shame no one photographed us.
Great video again Johnathan, I am hoping to go on the keithley and worth railway soon, I am sure memories will come back of those steam days,👍👍
I travel to Manchester Victoria most days. But I remember going to the station in the 80's and it's a very different place now. Watching your excellent videos highlights this even further.
Many thanks for a good video , I am glad that there are guys like you who were able to record steam traction for guys like me to enjoy in our twilight years , thanks again
What we really need is a good time machine. But these films are as close as we're going to get. :)
That first black five still shot is stunning
If this is 1967 then almost nothing had changed since 1959 - 62 when as a 4-7 year old I used to frequent Exchange - Vic with my dad - even down to the two banking engines permanently posted to platform 11. Really interesting, and, I'll admit it, very nostalgic, footage. I wish my dad was still here to share it. So much was about to change in the following years as the aerial shots at the end well-illustrate.
Another excellent installment ,thank you ,😄
Thank you once again Jonathan. I look forward to the next instalment and, of course, your continuing submissions. Take care and stay safe. Stan
The smell of burning coal must have been such an unforgettable experience. Love it!
Mixed with the smell of steam and hot cylinder oil, magic.
Fantastic footage, thanks for sharing it with us.
I have really enjoyed this great video thank you .
Being from Sheffield, we only passed through on a few occasions on our way to Blackpool. My main memory were those long spooky subways!
thanks for sharing these great films
I never saw that era so this footage is the best have seen to date
It's amazing to think that a modern country like the UK was still using Steam power in such an important way as late as 1968...
Is the sound in these videos dubbed or the real sound from the day they were taken...?
I absolutely love these videos', being a rail fan and a steam buff... thanks for sharing.
Excellent, thoroughly enjoyed thank you.
Un documental muy bueno, felicidades por el gran trabajo. Un saludo desde Madrid España.
Superb. Thanks for sharing. So good you filmed so much.
great memories glad you had the camera to film this as never thought i would see these again as just didn't see the fascination back then. then they were gone thanks again
Thank you for posting.
Another great video. Looking forward to Part 3!
amazing footage, thank you so much for sharing! Hello from south africa
brought back memories of my spotting times in late 50s Thank you
wow that was fascinating! thanks for uploading that!
I bet it was so enjoyable watching the goods, coal and oil trains going back n forward at victoria back then.
Got down there as often as I could.
Hello Jon - greetings from Poland. I've just watched parts 1 and 2 of Manchester Victoria videos. Can't find No. 3 though. Has it not been loaded yet?
More fantastic memories for me. Catching the 108 Manchester Corporation bus from Timperley to Piccadily Gardens and walking down past the cathedral over the River Irwell and into Royal Exchange station. A walk then along the longest platform I'd ever seen to Victoria to spot even more locos. Great days - I must have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. I was ony allowed to go to Manchester during the school holidays.
I have quite a few films like these waiting my attention and part three is one of them. It's gratifying, from comments like yours, to realise how much those time are cherished not only by me but many others. I am a little older than you and was fortunate in buying a second hand movie camera with saved pocket money and a little help from my dad. Most weekends I would at Man Vic or visiting an engine shed in the race against time as they disappearing so fast.
Fabulous. Thanks so much!
Great, I remember it very well spending many Saturdays in the latter years. What a shame you cannot recreate the smell of the hops!
So true!
what a amazing scene it must of been back in late 1880s. and 1920s when steam was king. imagine been at a station with 8 or 9 streamers coming and powering off
I was a regular there 65-68. Type 2 Sukzers took over the banking from the steam locos - revving like vacuum cleaners, little or no charm!
No charm, I always thought they were a pathetic replacement for a black 5.
Wow another great video. I love your videos please keep making them
Another good one and great commentary 👍.
fantastic capture|!
Wonderful scenes
Another great video
Great Sights and Sounds
I lived in Preston at that time which as you will be aware served up a very similar steam parade with the addition of several Brits a day working out their remaining days on parcels and freight with occasional appearance on express duties up from Crewe on Glasgow trains where a Class 40 would go on at Preston to go over Shap. This video admirably rekindles those days.
Hi Andy, some time in the future I'll be putting up a video about my visit to Lostock Hall on the last day but one day it was open.
Terrific!! As good as a time machine............
Nice shirt! As a fan of 16mm, G1 and G3 coal firing, I love all your videos
I didn't realise steam was replaced so early, i've always thought they were still operational in the mid/late 70s, luckily there's still enthusiasts that restore/maintain the Steam Locos so my Daughter got to experience seeing and riding on one.
That was the original intention among BR’s chief mechanical engineers, hence the BR Standard Classes. They envisaged a direct switch from Steam to Electric power on the principle main lines without a Diesel intermediate step. As it turned out the BR Standard steam designs did everything expected of them while many of the ‘First Generation’ diesel classes were a disastrous waste of money.
Even now I have a hankering for BR Standard 9F in ‘large logo’ Railfreight Grey and a 5MT in lined-out BR Blue
@@stephensmith799 "many of the ‘First Generation’ diesel classes were a disastrous waste of money."
Sure, but many of them were excellent locomotives. It's a bit of a strawman to compare the best of steam against the worst new diesels.
@@beeble2003 Of course you are right 😉 I just like to think about how things would have worked out according to early 1950s thinking. The 08, 09, 20, 24, 25, 26,27, 31, 33, 37, 45, 46, 47, 52 and 55s proved themselves, but the rest were disappointing or downright useless. 40s disappointing because they were barely more powerful than the Coronation Pacific’s they replaced, Claytons, Baby Deltics and Metrovick Co-Bos shockingly unreliable. Quite why the principle of standardisation has never been quite realised, especially in DMUs and EMUs is another interesting question 🤔😉 The AC electric locos were worthy successors to Coronations and Scots. That part of 1950s thinking was pretty well vindicated.
All mixed up thinking in the sixties. Evening Star for example lasted 5 years whereas its life expectancy would probably have been 30 to 40 years. The early diesels. I dont think BR were sure what they wanted.....diesel electric or diesel hydraulic. The type one diesels were largely for short mixed goods travelling short distances and that business was shrinking. Lots of change, muddled thinking and consequent waste of money. But as they say hindsight is a powerful weapon.
@@philipstanley8142 ‘If I’d have been the Chairman’ 😉 I’d would have urged electrification of the WCML, ECML and Midland as far as Sheffield. I’d have concentrated all 999 Standards on the GW West of England and ‘North and West’ Bristol to Crewe/ Chester. All the best pre-nationalisation steam classes: rebuilt Bullied Pacifics, Black Fives, Jubilees, LMS 8Fs, Scots and Duchesses, Thompson Rebuilds of the O1s, Peppercorn A1 and A2, Greeley A4s would have run till about 1985, much as German and SAR steam did. I’d have scrapped all inside valve gear locos as fast as possible including Halls, Manors, Castles, Kings, Churchward 28xx and derivative 38xx, all Swindon Pannier Tanks, Large and Small Prairies and the Counties which were obsolete from the day they were built…. And built 300 BR 71000s, proven to match 47 diesels for power. For interim gap-filling diesels (prior to electrification) I’d have classes 08, 20, 25, 31, 33, 37, 50 and 55s only. I can’t imagine any traffic needs for any more diesel classes than those. I’d have been unpopular in Swindon! But I’d have kept the GC Route open, dedicated 100% to freight. All rural lines would be passenger only DMU operated using just Metro-Cam and Derby Lightweight sets. I don’t think I’d have done anything on the Southern that didn’t actually take place, but ‘cascaded’ all the Pacifics elsewhere, adjusting their springing to make them more sure-footed.
Pipe-dreams…..
Superb
Excellent
Hello again Jon,
Part 2 was well worth the wait.
Did you keep a note of dates the vids & photos were taken? I kept a diary off all my firing turns so l might be on there somewhere. A quick glimpse showed you had a quality 35mm camera Jon.
Thanks again for sharing such halcyon days... roll on Part 3.
Hi Geo, unfortunately I did not keep accurate note of my filming. I think there are a few clips shot in 1966 include in this part looking at the quality of the frame line and dirt. I wonder if you remember a seaman's strike probably in 1965 or 66 only for about a week? I remember during it having a great afternoon and evening when almost every train at Victoria was steam hauled but I didn't have a camera to record it. There no reference to it on the web.
Hi Jon,
Sadly l don't recollect that seaman's strike plus the fact at that time l was still at Trafford Park servicing M/C Central, so no through trains to the coast other than Liverpool.Central!
For a second I thought that black five on the passenger near the start was the 7 Guinea special because it was so clean
nice to watch!
I just missed steam (I was 4 in 68) and missed wonderful sights and sounds like this.
Hi my name is Phil I did 50yrs on footplate I started at edgeley shed in 1961 i oftentimes work it this station I finished at longsight in 2011 Regard Phil.
Hi Philip, thanks for your comment. I will be putting up my visits to Edgeley quite soon.
A question about Edgeley Phil: The Stanlow oil trains that came by with Birkenhead crew did they change crews at Edgeley with Leeds crews?
Thank you so much for these productions.
Think I got my tinnitus there sixty + years ago at the platform end as safety valves lifted. 40 years later worked bendy buses into there as a conductor with Regional Railways and the magic was still there. Climbing Miles Platting bank with the myraid of signals was a challenge. Such happy days even in the diseasel era. Can't recognize the place now. Is the L & Y tile route map still in the station foyer?
Thanks for your comment. Yes the tile route map is still there, thank goodness.
I missed the days of steam (born in the early '70s), which I'm bittersweet about: Bitter because it looks amazing; but sweet because I like being young ;) I do have a question: Was it a dirty dingy environment around a busy steam station? Some of the film looks pretty dark, but I'm assuming that's because cine cameras didn't have automatic exposure control; and being black & white it's hard to gauge whether the sky is grey with cloud, or grey due to lack of colour...
Many many thanks for sharing this footage, it's quite amazing.
The dinginess was because of the Manchester weather and a century of coal fires. The camera did have a auto exposure but the film stock was slow at 25 asa.
I've just come across your channel, brilliant footage and presentation, a shame you never got up here to County Durham on the Consett branch to film the mighty 9F's with the iron ore trains...
Hi Allen, I did miss the Consett steel trains but I did catch the 9F's double heading the Stanlow Oil trains coming past Edgeley Shed. That film will be coming soon.
@@GandyDancerProductions Looking forward to that, thanks for your reply...
It always amuses me that the Stanier Black 5s and 8Fs outlived their supposed replacements!
That was mainly because the last sheds to close were run by staunch LMS men.
Have any of your still photographs been published? The are wonderfully atmospheric. Thank you for sharing these videos.
I wish I had a £pound for every time I'd walked along Platform 11 from Victoria to Exchange to catch the Trans-Pennine to Stalybridge. A mile and a quarter long I believe, give or take a yard or two.
Edit: I watched this before your Part 1
I can remember the engine crew leaving the station wearing their black caps and going into the Manchester Arms pub opposite the station which was demolished to make way for the Vic Pic underground railway connection to Piccadilly station. The project was cancelled
The front of the pub was facing the station and the back facing the CO-OP. on the main road I found a bit strange.
if only Manchester Vic was like this today..
Thank you so much Jonathan. Watching with my 1964 Combined Volume checking if I saw the same locomotives as you, which usually I did. Travelled in from Ashton and usually went to the Exchange end. Do you have any footage from there to share with us?
Use to work on victoria station after the 80s on the post office until they closed us down to rebuild what it is now
I remember the subway tunnel that's long gone. From memory the ramp was located a few meters behind what's now the ticket barriers?
You're right. If you watch part 1 I am heading down towards that tunnel after the ticket barrier.
Great video, it was very fascinating to watch. Just out of curiosity, what camera did you use back then to take those photographs?
I have been looking into film photography a lot lately.
Cheers
Matthew
Hi Matthew, I wouldn't recommend any of the cameras I use in this film because they are well out of date. If you want to shoot stills on film I'd suggest a Canon A1 with FD lenses. If you want to shoot movies I wouldn't bother with 8mm film, shoot 16mm it not that much more expensive and the image is so much better. I shoot all my stuff now with a Panasonic GH5s.
@@GandyDancerProductions hi, thank you for the advice.
Red bank? Would that lead to swinton across Clifton viaduct on Radcliffe bridge station and then into Bury Bolton street?
Love your videos. Would love to have seen it myself.
Hi Simon, Red Bank was North East of Manchester. It was a carriage sidings complex only a half mile from Victoria leading through to the Bury electric line and a split bypassing Mile Platting for Rochdale or Oldham.
Choo Choo. Woo hoo ❤️
I’m 18 and with time machines were invented
Superb !
Some of the best authentic footage of the closing months of steam haulage on British Railways. The commentary adds to the quality of the production as does the superb soundtrack. Congratulations on an outstanding production.
These are superb. Do you happen to have any footage of Manchester Central station?
I do and I hope it will appear in a later film.
@@GandyDancerProductions Very much looking forward to it Jonathan, very little footage of Central is available. Jim
Was a fireman 60s agecroft till closure 1966 went to patricroft till closure 68 brought back memoires of pinning down brakes descending in to victoria and being banked up platting with oil tanks from stanlow brakes were pinned down at miles platting station where there was a warning board instructing goods loose coupled to pin brakes for tbe descent🙂🙂😑
the slope to miles platting dosnt seem steep when u are riding but it must be
Love the atmosphere spent some time here when I lived at Ashton u Lyme . What was the train from up north always double headed and made up of passenger type vans
Hi Jeffrey, I think the train you're asking about was a weekly Newcastle to Redbank empty stock working usually over 16 coaches and double headed.
@@GandyDancerProductions thanks for that, nearly always bihar and Orrissa ( jubilee class) and another. Red bank ! I always thought was Liverpool but after watching your Victoria films it appears to be Manchester
@@jeffreybamford Just half a mile out of the station, Completely gone now.
can i ask did the lines to red bank go anywere or just to sidings ?
The track did continue through Red Bank siding and were an alternative route to avoid Miles Platting with the steep gradient from Manchester Vic heading West. It also connected to the electric line to Bury.
@@GandyDancerProductions thank you i always wondered
and the smells
What's all this about 'Black 5' or 'another Black 5'? You've had been laughed at if you'd used that term. They were always referred to as 'Class 5's' or Stanier Class 5's by railway enthusiasts. You have either forgotten this, or more likely, you've been influenced by the post - 1968 constant use of the term in the Railway media. Try finding one mention of the term pre-1968.
I haven’t been back to Manchester Victoria since 1996 since they ruined a magnificent station
They have destroyed a beautiful station that the victorians built