I don't know where to begin on how brilliant this is - engines going up and down the 1 in 20, the steel gantries and tight curves, the atmosphere of smoke and mist, the rails almost buried under rainwater and stray coal, Black Fives taking turns to slip, and archetypal dad with his hat, glasses and moustache. Thank you so much for uploading.
Its quite surreal watching this and then playing train sim world's spirit of steam pack, also going from liverpool lime street, through edge hill and speke junction, and down to crewe. Almost able to reenact the activities here, although these films capture the magic of steam better
The rapid chuffing as they alternate slipping almost gives the impression of a conversation between them, maybe an argument or the helper hyping up the other.
One of those 5's (the one at the front of the consist) is 44871. Its well know for hauling the final steam service for British Railways. It's now preserved and runs today!
That was fabulous, thank God for youngsters like you in the 60's for your enthusiasm and your ability to film such a sight. Loved every minute of this.
Thank you for preserving these films and being lucky enough to have a father who not only shared your love of steam but helped you make these irreplaceable records.
What you call the gridiron is actually the circular goods line. The gridiron is the gravity marshalling yard on the opposite side of the Liverpool - Manchester line. You can see on the map how the circular goods line passes underneath the gridiron in a tunnel. All gone now of course but the abutments of the circular goods line can still be seen. Where the parcels train neeeded assistance is Downhill carriage sidings - still in use today. Great video -- hurrah for nostalgia!
Yes brilliantly filmed. I can’t identify exactly what, but your filming technique, and great audio are so riveting and contemporary. And I am today delighted to learn of a renationalisation of our railways. Separate companies pulling profit for minimal input was a doomed idea which stunted the extent of engineering and technical development.
@@peterpan1435 Yes but the new name `Great British Railways' ?? Unfortunately there's nothing very British about the trains anymore and Great Britain sounds too pompous imo. British Railways woud have been ok to differentiate the new from good old British Rail (which did a good job, by and large, on a shoestring budget and had to put up with constant moaning from the likes of the Daily Mail). I wonder if it annoys the Tories that equipment like Class 43 & Class 91 have become iconic and have lasted so long.
I work on a number of steam railways where I live firing locomotives, I still live through this in the 21st century but this film makes me nostalgic for something I'm living, the sound the steam the noise the dirt the grime it leaves me in awe. I can only imagine what the true age of steam would have been like, surrounded by 10 or more Locomotives in steam breathing and pulsating with life. I might be lucky if I saw 4 in one day where I work, I'm thankful I can still experience this to a degree still.
There is nothing like the sounds and smells of a big steam shed. I did fortunately get a last change to experience it in South Africa in the late 1990's
@@GandyDancerProductions a number of drivers I've fired for actually flew over from Australia in the 80s and 90s to live in south Africa so they could work on steam.
It's great that you had the foresight to record this for future generations. It's also great that you were allowed to get in close to film, just imagine trying it in todays 'safety' culture.
A really interesting and enjoyable film. Thanks to the younger you for taking the photos, the middle aged you for keeping hold of them, and the older you for editing them together and making them available. Excellent!
Fantastic film clips, i can’t believe the areas look as they do back then .. it shouldn’t be a surprise but you don’t realise the mess we use to live in and accept…it brings the reality of steam home, dirty and difficult, coal pollution on the ground and soot in the air but, they are beguiling because they breath and snort and huff as they pick up the slack .. well done to you and your dad that film is of historic importance and even today videoing what’s seem uninteresting isn’t in 50/ 60 years time…
As a kid living in Aintree I used to spend all my spare time at Aintree sheds. Many of the drivers used to give me and my mates a little ride up and down on the footplate. Treasured memories indeed.
In my childhood in the 1950s a visit to the local engine shed was including in our roaming around the village. If no movements were planned the foreman would allow us to to search through the shed looking for engines we had not seen before. This film brought back many happy childhood memories.
Well i am 75 today, and how well i remember visiting the sheds in the North West in the sixties, the thing you remember so well is how we youngsters could walk round, in the main nobody bothered in fact at some sheds you felt welcome by the workers,no snowflakes in those days.The shed i liked in Liverpool was Bank Hall with its 3 Jubs and 45517 its unrebuilt Patriot,the entrance was a doorway near Bank Hall station. Seems like yesterday,happy times thanks for the nostalgic film.
Hi Eric, it was incredible, looking back, just how open these sheds were considering all the potential dangers in them. The only shed I ever turned away from was York.
@@GandyDancerProductions Yes living not far from Leeds i went there a lot,Copley Hill was the only shed i never got in it was like Fort Knox,yet just up the road at Farnley Jct you were practically welcomed into the shed!Best Wishs Eric
I visited Edge Hill with the Ian Allan shed directory, plus about 50 other sheds all over the country. Incredibly, you could walk around about the shed and surrounds. I never got asked to leave. I got quite a few rides in the cab, I didn't ask, I was asked up. I was between 10 and 16 at the time. We had freedom, fitness and learned about life.
The only shed I got refused was York which was a big disappointment as I'd travelled over from Manchester to see the last of the LNER Pacific. It was amazing how open all these sites were. I'm at the moment writing about my visits to colliery railways and how open to enthusiasts they were.
Oh what memories. In the early sixties I realised what was happening and did all I could to get to as many motive power depots as possible and I did very well. Now I have all of those live memories and no one can take them away of ever equal the over helming experience of my achievements. I will leave this world a contented steam enthusiast!
when i was at school in the late 50's a mate who's name i can not remember got hold of a group pass for a club to visit edge hill sheds , the group was just us 2 . i remember it was dark dusty , but with the beautiful smell of steam , coal and lubricating oil . we spent at least 2 hours wandering around this wonderland until we were spotted and then escorted out as our pass was for a group of twenty , they did not accept there were 18 more invisible people wandering around the sheds , how i wish i could go back and smell again the essence of the steam loco sheds . i also went to speke siding in the 60's and climbed into the cabs of those engines waiting there to be taken for scrap while watching the electrics pulling the trains on the main line to london
What a great film. My Grandfather worked at Speke Shed most of his life and my Dad often mentions the dirt and grime there, this really brings it home. Really excellent.
So touching and eloquently filmed and narrated. I'm the son of a locoman, as they were referred to in in the '20s through the early 60s My dad was a mechanical engineer trained by the British at their sheds through the NE (Newcastle, Doncaster Leeds etc). I grew up with the smell of steam and coal in India. I share your delight and nostalgia even now at 80!!
@@GandyDancerProductions So happy to know you visited India in your quest to trace our history of the railways. Wonder if you visited the Railway Museum in New Delhi? I would love to visit the Museum in York; it's a masterpiece; who knows what fate awaits me!
@@dinshawmuncherjee5123 Yes I did visit the museum in Delhi. There were still steam engines passing on the mainline behind the museum when I was there and i took a steam hauled train from Delhi to Patnar later. Brought back memories of British steam and it was the early 1980's
Amazing! takes me back to the late 50's when we went almost anywhere on the railways until that is the shed foreman saw us! Crawled under buffers and couplings but always listening out for the tell tale clunk clink as a row of close-coupled locos were edged further down the road!
Excellent film. I got a ride on a black five at Patricroft depot in 66 I was 12 and it was a magical moment in my life. The driver was eastern European and probably a refuge from the second world war, he could only speak broken English but what a nice man.Never went to Edge Hill though the only other sheds I visited were Bolton and Newton Heath.
I can only echo what everybody else has already said - that these films and photos and your personal recollections form such an important historical archive of a pivotal point in British railway history 🙏.
My grandfather worked for British railways, he drove the trains and also worked in the old 12b Carlisle upperby train sheds and retired around the early 1960's.
This has made my week!! Or Month. I researched my ancestors and Edge Hill Works was where one of them a Thomas Scott became a very Early RAILWAY ENGINEER. 1 year Younger than Robert Stevenson the two must have known each other as he moved from Jarrow to take up the position. His Son GEORGE being born in 1833. I do models in 5 inch gauge. Wonderfully having a Black Five Tender sat in our sitting room as you do. David and Lily Reading.
Excellent film. Reminds me of my visit to Tyseley steam shed in Birmingham in 1967. More chuffers in one place than you could shake an Ian Allan loco numbers book at. The excitement!
Fantastic!! Sheds and coaling etc are my favourite aspects of the bygone steam era, I just love dirty, hard working locos, all grimy and showing their miles of operation. Extremely well filmed and with sound! Thankyou so much.
I could have 'liked' almost every comment, as they reflected my feelings completely because with my father I had many similar experiences chasing those last days of steam holidays' from our home in East Anglia. Beautiful work, more please.
Absoloutly fantastic. Born in 1970 I missed the steam years. Used to listen to my parents and older brother (13 years older ) tell me of the age and beauty of steam. Live near the bluebell preservation railway in East Sussex. Absolutely love steam engines. 😍😍
Ah those were the days when you could visit sheds and walk the tracks without being stopped. To day you wouldn't stand a chance, the transport police would soon move you on. No such thing as Health and Safety to worry about. My local shed and coaling station were in Goodwick and was part of Fishguard Harbour, which was in Goodwick and as kids we used to wander around at will. Wonderful times. I love the videos, well done.
Just wanted to say what a superb job you did as a camera op back then and as a historical interpreter on this video. I grew up in Liverpool in the 50s and 60s and with a railway daft dad and two railway daft older brothers. This video gave me great pleasure. Many thanks.
Great footage for the period. Thanks for the then and now at the end. For those that weren’t around it does help understand the changes as time moves on.
Very atmospheric, one of the best I have seen on TH-cam. We are so fortunate you filmed this, a different world... Reminds me of The Colin Gifford books.
Thank you for this. As a Wirral lad born in 1969 I missed all this and grew up with my fathers stories of mainline steam. Now we are producing our own Models. Archives like yours are so helpful
Remember getting chased by the shed foreman when I was 13 just after we bagged patriot Southport. Day ended well after cabbing the Liverpool exchange pilot the crew took us to Bank Hall shed to collect the coaches for the Glasgow express and take them back to exchange. When we got back to exchange our train taking us back home was double headed with jubilee Orion at the head. What a day for a young lad
Thanks I really enjoyed that, I was a train spotter in London who had family connections in Liverpool and manchester. We once travelled to Liverpool behind 46242 City of Edinburgh and I bunked several sheds in Liverpool and Manchester over the years including Edge Hill, Speke, Birkenhead, Aintree, Newton Heath, Stockport, Heaton Mersey, Springs Branch. Edge Hill was quite a place. nothing like a wet day in an engine shed! I loved Willesden and Crewe South, never forget the smell! and oh the lines of Coronation Pacifics, Britannias, Jubilees and Scots as well as the 8F's, Black Fives and Jinties. I miss them all. A marvellous film!
Hi, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately I missed all the Duchesses in traffic being one of my favorite engines. Newton Heath was my local shed with Stockport Edgeley and Heaton Mersey not far behind. I have a lot more film coming up including those and other sheds so stay tuned.
I am in ecstasy too. 🙂 I have those memories of steam sheds too. And a solitary 8F pulling about 40 grey mineral wagons through Kidderminster in the snow.
Great film. The assisting engine then the train engine taking turns to slip was excellent, bet there wasn’t a dry bucket of sand to be had in miles! All those 9s. Waiting to be cut up and barely ten years old. Thanks
Brilliant. I was 14 in 1968, I couldn’t take the rundown in steam toward the end of steam, it was so depressing. Fortunately you and people like you kept going.
As a 14/15 year old I visited Edgehill -in 1962/3 - a wonderful experience - the fireman showed me how to fry an egg on a coal shovel.in the firebox. Edgehil was on the Liverpool Lime Street line - 4 tracks to Ditton Junction going past Edgehill. and onto Euston via Crewe- which was beginning to be electrified. The Red Rose being the star - racing South. Those were the days. Great video Mr Mancunian. Presumably using your wind up Kodak cine camera.
You had the privilege to film this back then and thanks for sharing. Sad to see many 9FS awaiting scrapping.I do not think you could get any where a railway yard today.
We still get a few Steam pulled trains at At Fishguard Harbour and the one think that brings back childhood memories is the smell of steam a engine, wonderful.
Some of the best footage I've seen of the end of steam with a most interesting commentary. You were a very talented young man and your father an excellent photographer. I enjoyed the maps showing the locations and how so much of the railway infrastructure has disappeared. Thank you for sharing.
The steam loco era ended 2 years before I was born so its great folk filmed them for future generations to enjoy, I could almost smell all that smoke and steam ,and couldn't help but notice how weathered unkempt they had become during this period, I presume because they knew they would be getting scrapped soon, great filming 👍
Fantastic, thank you for sharing. Served my apprenticeship with British Rail and spent nigh on 10 years in total at Edge Hill maintenance depot between 1979 to 89. Wonderful memories.
This is just fantastic! Thanks for sharing. I was a Leeds lad and saw much activity in the area but, alas, couldn’t afford a camera! Memories are still very much there, yet only just! Again, thanks.
Oh Heaven on earth my shed that I visited as a boy. Some days been chased by a grumpy Forman other days talking to our Heroes the Drivers. I now live in Huyton a few stop down in line from Edge Hill were I live as a Boy. Speke I never visited but when going to Chester was always noting trains I seen. The sheds are long gone but those memory's are still there. Some great shots that caught the action , that bring back the taste and the taste of those days when we had a Railway.
Wow..very impressed with your fil and archive footage..my grandad worked on the railway for 45 years retired early 80's..thankyou for sharing your memories
Excellently made film - the time comparisons at the end are superb, but nothing beats the ballet of the "not so little engine that couldn't" - when coupled with that helper and the two taking alternate turns at wheel spins as they take that train up the slope... - this is some of the best steam engine footage I have ever seen, and reminds me of the power and feeling of animal life I remember from watching steam engines at Cheddington and elsewhere back in the 1960s. thank you so much.
As a spotter in the early/mid 60s I remember 8A Edge Hill - its low level meant even on a dry day it was damp, full of puddles and looked a bit shambolic. The staff, however, knew what they were about. They had a good allocation of Stanier 4-6-2s which were well maintained and huge freight operations. Your video demonstrates the continuous movement around the place.
What a lovely video, it's great to see 8A shed. I was a youngster at that time too and I did not visit many sheds, but I had the opportunity of joining a group that were visiting all the Manchester sheds in 1968. Exactly the same atmosphere, a feeling of sadness knowing that these locos would not be around for much longer and that we had to take in as much as we possibly could. I always wished that I had been born ten years earlier because steam trains were such a short part of my life, then I suppose I was lucky to see what I did! Thank you for sharing. ps. I started building 3" gauge "Tich" when I was 12, I managed to build a rolling chassis but never built much more.
Another very fine video,the last time I visited Edge Hill shed was Grand National Day 1961 ,I remember copping Silver Jubilee on shed, we always used to visit all the sheds in the area as on Grand National Day there were many steam hauled trains to Liverpool on that day and they all needed servicing before returning their trains to whence they came ,many thanks again for making a pensioner happy
My uncle worked on Edge Hill as a shunter from the time he left school in the 40s up until the 80s. Amazing video, especially when you put it into the context of me being born in 72 and only really seeing the remnants of the once great station and yard. Many thanks for the hard work and upload.
Towards the end of steam the lax management at BR was reflected in demoralised engine crews. Not caring enough to close the lid meant coal would get down into the tank causing injector failure and further reduce the reliability of already neglected engine.
Excellent piece of history. Very many thanks and certainly looking forward to seeing a lot more of this historical stuff. Those were the days. At 77 years of age I can fondly remember steam operations on the Eastern Region.
Wonderful scenes those 9f what a wonderful scene
I don't know where to begin on how brilliant this is - engines going up and down the 1 in 20, the steel gantries and tight curves, the atmosphere of smoke and mist, the rails almost buried under rainwater and stray coal, Black Fives taking turns to slip, and archetypal dad with his hat, glasses and moustache. Thank you so much for uploading.
Its quite surreal watching this and then playing train sim world's spirit of steam pack, also going from liverpool lime street, through edge hill and speke junction, and down to crewe. Almost able to reenact the activities here, although these films capture the magic of steam better
This is so good. It brought so many memories of my teenage years visiting the local shed at Lostock Hall.
The scene of those class 5s nose to nose slipping away is something special. Overall some truly wonderful footage here, thank you for sharing.
The rapid chuffing as they alternate slipping almost gives the impression of a conversation between them, maybe an argument or the helper hyping up the other.
One of those 5's (the one at the front of the consist) is 44871. Its well know for hauling the final steam service for British Railways. It's now preserved and runs today!
That was fabulous, thank God for youngsters like you in the 60's for your enthusiasm and your ability to film such a sight. Loved every minute of this.
Thank you for preserving these films and being lucky enough to have a father who not only shared your love of steam but helped you make these irreplaceable records.
What you call the gridiron is actually the circular goods line. The gridiron is the gravity marshalling yard on the opposite side of the Liverpool - Manchester line. You can see on the map how the circular goods line passes underneath the gridiron in a tunnel. All gone now of course but the abutments of the circular goods line can still be seen. Where the parcels train neeeded assistance is Downhill carriage sidings - still in use today. Great video -- hurrah for nostalgia!
Brilliant footage and very well presented! Honestly some of the best BR steam footage i have ever seen, thanks for sharing :)
Aye to that.
Yes brilliantly filmed. I can’t identify exactly what, but your filming technique, and great audio are so riveting and contemporary.
And I am today delighted to learn of a renationalisation of our railways. Separate companies pulling profit for minimal input was a doomed idea which stunted the extent of engineering and technical development.
@@peterpan1435 Yes but the new name `Great British Railways' ?? Unfortunately there's nothing very British about the trains anymore and Great Britain sounds too pompous imo. British Railways woud have been ok to differentiate the new from good old British Rail (which did a good job, by and large, on a shoestring budget and had to put up with constant moaning from the likes of the Daily Mail). I wonder if it annoys the Tories that equipment like Class 43 & Class 91 have become iconic and have lasted so long.
@@peterpan1435 Look at the state of these locos. They look ready to be sliced with cutting torches and sent for melting down and recycling.
i realize I'm kinda randomly asking but do anyone know of a good place to stream newly released tv shows online ?
I work on a number of steam railways where I live firing locomotives, I still live through this in the 21st century but this film makes me nostalgic for something I'm living, the sound the steam the noise the dirt the grime it leaves me in awe. I can only imagine what the true age of steam would have been like, surrounded by 10 or more Locomotives in steam breathing and pulsating with life. I might be lucky if I saw 4 in one day where I work, I'm thankful I can still experience this to a degree still.
There is nothing like the sounds and smells of a big steam shed. I did fortunately get a last change to experience it in South Africa in the late 1990's
@@GandyDancerProductions a number of drivers I've fired for actually flew over from Australia in the 80s and 90s to live in south Africa so they could work on steam.
Whoever dubbed the sound onto this vid deserves a special mention
hear hear
It's great that you had the foresight to record this for future generations.
It's also great that you were allowed to get in close to film, just imagine trying it in todays 'safety' culture.
Hi Paul, It was amazing, compared to today, just how open and easy it was to photograph and that's not just Liverpool it was the same everywhere.
A really interesting and enjoyable film. Thanks to the younger you for taking the photos, the middle aged you for keeping hold of them, and the older you for editing them together and making them available. Excellent!
the way you produce and edit these together is just supurb. Really didnt want it to end. Bravo 👏
me too
Fantastic film clips, i can’t believe the areas look as they do back then .. it shouldn’t be a surprise but you don’t realise the mess we use to live in and accept…it brings the reality of steam home, dirty and difficult, coal pollution on the ground and soot in the air but, they are beguiling because they breath and snort and huff as they pick up the slack .. well done to you and your dad that film is of historic importance and even today videoing what’s seem uninteresting isn’t in 50/ 60 years time…
I find the THEN more interesting than the NOW. Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories.
As a kid living in Aintree I used to spend all my spare time at Aintree sheds. Many of the drivers used to give me and my mates a little ride up and down on the footplate. Treasured memories indeed.
Proper days when kids could rely on grownups
@@TheTommybongos Too true. Wonderful times, todays kids will never get to experience anything like that.
In my childhood in the 1950s a visit to the local engine shed was including in our roaming around the village. If no movements were planned the foreman would allow us to to search through the shed looking for engines we had not seen before. This film brought back many happy childhood memories.
Black 5 44871 is preserved, quite incredible you recorded this in hindsight.
Well i am 75 today, and how well i remember visiting the sheds in the North West in the sixties, the thing you remember so well is how we youngsters could walk round, in the main nobody bothered in fact at some sheds you felt welcome by the workers,no snowflakes in those days.The shed i liked in Liverpool was Bank Hall with its 3 Jubs and 45517 its unrebuilt Patriot,the entrance was a doorway near Bank Hall station. Seems like yesterday,happy times thanks for the nostalgic film.
Hi Eric, it was incredible, looking back, just how open these sheds were considering all the potential dangers in them. The only shed I ever turned away from was York.
@@GandyDancerProductions Yes living not far from Leeds i went there a lot,Copley Hill was the only shed i never got in it was like Fort Knox,yet just up the road at Farnley Jct you were practically welcomed into the shed!Best Wishs Eric
I visited Edge Hill with the Ian Allan shed directory, plus about 50 other sheds all over the country.
Incredibly, you could walk around about the shed and surrounds. I never got asked to leave.
I got quite a few rides in the cab, I didn't ask, I was asked up. I was between 10 and 16 at the time.
We had freedom, fitness and learned about life.
The only shed I got refused was York which was a big disappointment as I'd travelled over from Manchester to see the last of the LNER Pacific. It was amazing how open all these sites were. I'm at the moment writing about my visits to colliery railways and how open to enthusiasts they were.
Oh what memories. In the early sixties I realised what was happening and did all I could to get to as many motive power depots as possible and I did very well. Now I have all of those live memories and no one can take them away of ever equal the over helming experience of my achievements. I will leave this world a contented steam enthusiast!
when i was at school in the late 50's a mate who's name i can not remember got hold of a group pass for a club to visit edge hill sheds , the group was just us 2 . i remember it was dark dusty , but with the beautiful smell of steam , coal and lubricating oil . we spent at least 2 hours wandering around this wonderland until we were spotted and then escorted out as our pass was for a group of twenty , they did not accept there were 18 more invisible people wandering around the sheds , how i wish i could go back and smell again the essence of the steam loco sheds . i also went to speke siding in the 60's and climbed into the cabs of those engines waiting there to be taken for scrap while watching the electrics pulling the trains on the main line to london
What a great film. My Grandfather worked at Speke Shed most of his life and my Dad often mentions the dirt and grime there, this really brings it home. Really excellent.
So touching and eloquently filmed and narrated. I'm the son of a locoman, as they were referred to in in the '20s through the early 60s My dad was a mechanical engineer trained by the British at their sheds through the NE (Newcastle, Doncaster Leeds etc). I grew up with the smell of steam and coal in India. I share your delight and nostalgia even now at 80!!
Hi Dinshaw, I visited India looking for steam locos in the early 1980 and it was similar and as exciting.
@@GandyDancerProductions So happy to know you visited India in your quest to trace our history of the railways. Wonder if you visited the Railway Museum in New Delhi? I would love to visit the Museum in York; it's a masterpiece; who knows what fate awaits me!
@@dinshawmuncherjee5123 Yes I did visit the museum in Delhi. There were still steam engines passing on the mainline behind the museum when I was there and i took a steam hauled train from Delhi to Patnar later. Brought back memories of British steam and it was the early 1980's
Amazing! takes me back to the late 50's when we went almost anywhere on the railways until that is the shed foreman saw us! Crawled under buffers and couplings but always listening out for the tell tale clunk clink as a row of close-coupled locos were edged further down the road!
Fantastic film. Atmosphere, nostalgia and history all in one. Thank you for sharing.
Excellent film. I got a ride on a black five at Patricroft depot in 66 I was 12 and it was a magical moment in my life. The driver was eastern European and probably a refuge from the second world war, he could only speak broken English but what a nice man.Never went to Edge Hill though the only other sheds I visited were Bolton and Newton Heath.
Your films of the steam days really do provide a valuable record of a lost era; you're something of a curator. Thanks for uploading.
hear hear
I can only echo what everybody else has already said - that these films and photos and your personal recollections form such an important historical archive of a pivotal point in British railway history 🙏.
Thanks for your comment. It makes this project all worth while.
Such an important archive, it shows the conditions the footplate and shed staff had to work in.
Your Stuff Reminds Me Of Railway Roundabout. Its Amazing
I love Railway Roundabout as well.
I lived half a mile away and often went around the sidings as children. I could hear the shunting taking place from my bedroom. Very happy days❤️
me too, I lived in Wynne st, early 60's...
My grandfather worked for British railways, he drove the trains and also worked in the old 12b Carlisle upperby train sheds and retired around the early 1960's.
This has made my week!! Or Month. I researched my ancestors and Edge Hill Works was where one of them a Thomas Scott became a very Early RAILWAY ENGINEER. 1 year Younger than Robert Stevenson the two must have known each other as he moved from Jarrow to take up the position. His Son GEORGE being born in 1833. I do models in 5 inch gauge. Wonderfully having a Black Five Tender sat in our sitting room as you do. David and Lily Reading.
Hi, thanks for your comment. There a lot of history around Edge Hill I forgot to mention that the Depot was opened as long ago as 1864.
Excellent film. Reminds me of my visit to Tyseley steam shed in Birmingham in 1967. More chuffers in one place than you could shake an Ian Allan loco numbers book at. The excitement!
Glad you enjoyed it
Grew up in Edge Hill Listening to the sounds of shunting steam engines the clink clink clang of shunted wagons was my bed time serenade.
Fantastic!! Sheds and coaling etc are my favourite aspects of the bygone steam era, I just love dirty, hard working locos, all grimy and showing their miles of operation. Extremely well filmed and with sound! Thankyou so much.
Many thanks!
I could have 'liked' almost every comment, as they reflected my feelings completely because with my father I had many similar experiences chasing those last days of steam holidays' from our home in East Anglia. Beautiful work, more please.
Absoloutly fantastic. Born in 1970 I missed the steam years. Used to listen to my parents and older brother (13 years older ) tell me of the age and beauty of steam. Live near the bluebell preservation railway in East Sussex. Absolutely love steam engines. 😍😍
Great films and informative commentary. V good then and now for context. Thanks for posting
That 1:20 is something else! Thank you for this fantastic upload.
Ah those were the days when you could visit sheds and walk the tracks without being stopped. To day you wouldn't stand a chance, the transport police would soon move you on. No such thing as Health and Safety to worry about. My local shed and coaling station were in Goodwick and was part of Fishguard Harbour, which was in Goodwick and as kids we used to wander around at will. Wonderful times. I love the videos, well done.
Just wanted to say what a superb job you did as a camera op back then and as a historical interpreter on this video. I grew up in Liverpool in the 50s and 60s and with a railway daft dad and two railway daft older brothers. This video gave me great pleasure. Many thanks.
Great footage for the period. Thanks for the then and now at the end. For those that weren’t around it does help understand the changes as time moves on.
Very different from the pristine heritage railways we see today
Thanks for sharing is fantastic and evocative images of a disappearing world.
I agree, it would be great to see a kettle on a heritage railway in its real working clothes!!
A fantastic record. In particular I loved how the helper engine and train engines were slipping one after the other.
excellent film of the good old steam days and well narrated thanks for sharing
Very atmospheric, one of the best I have seen on TH-cam.
We are so fortunate you filmed this, a different world...
Reminds me of The Colin Gifford books.
Thanks Rusty, Colin Gifford was definitely one of my photo heroes.
Thank you for this. As a Wirral lad born in 1969 I missed all this and grew up with my fathers stories of mainline steam. Now we are producing our own Models. Archives like yours are so helpful
Very enjoyable really well presented didn't want it to finish so good showing how it used to be in the day of steam.
Remember getting chased by the shed foreman when I was 13 just after we bagged patriot Southport.
Day ended well after cabbing the Liverpool exchange pilot the crew took us to Bank Hall shed to collect the coaches for the Glasgow express and take them back to exchange.
When we got back to exchange our train taking us back home was double headed with jubilee Orion at the head.
What a day for a young lad
Brilliant!
Thanks I really enjoyed that, I was a train spotter in London who had family connections in Liverpool and manchester. We once travelled to Liverpool behind 46242 City of Edinburgh and I bunked several sheds in Liverpool and Manchester over the years including Edge Hill, Speke, Birkenhead, Aintree, Newton Heath, Stockport, Heaton Mersey, Springs Branch. Edge Hill was quite a place. nothing like a wet day in an engine shed! I loved Willesden and Crewe South, never forget the smell! and oh the lines of Coronation Pacifics, Britannias, Jubilees and Scots as well as the 8F's, Black Fives and Jinties. I miss them all. A marvellous film!
Hi, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately I missed all the Duchesses in traffic being one of my favorite engines. Newton Heath was my local shed with Stockport Edgeley and Heaton Mersey not far behind. I have a lot more film coming up including those and other sheds so stay tuned.
A compelling watch, and lovely clear explanation of a very complex network of lines
I am in ecstasy too. 🙂 I have those memories of steam sheds too. And a solitary 8F pulling about 40 grey mineral wagons through Kidderminster in the snow.
Great film. The assisting engine then the train engine taking turns to slip was excellent, bet there wasn’t a dry bucket of sand to be had in miles! All those 9s. Waiting to be cut up and barely ten years old.
Thanks
Brilliant. I was 14 in 1968, I couldn’t take the rundown in steam toward the end of steam, it was so depressing. Fortunately you and people like you kept going.
Well done..!! Thank you for posting this. 👍
As a 14/15 year old I visited Edgehill -in 1962/3 - a wonderful experience - the fireman showed me how to fry an egg on a coal shovel.in the firebox. Edgehil was on the Liverpool Lime Street line - 4 tracks to Ditton Junction going past Edgehill. and onto Euston via Crewe- which was beginning to be electrified. The Red Rose being the star - racing South. Those were the days. Great video Mr Mancunian. Presumably using your wind up Kodak cine camera.
Some excellent footage of the railway scene around Liverpool. It was a pleasure to view it.
Precious video!! Very good part of history for England and fans of steam locomotive
Tears in my eyes all the way! Thankyou, wonderful footage beautifully presented thankyou! Obviously subbed to your fabulous channel, Nick Redshed
Any footage of cutting up steam locomotives for scrap?
Nothing like a miserable day in Lancashire.
The world was a different planet back then
It really was
@@MrXbow4300 it s never grim up north
You had the privilege to film this back then and thanks for sharing. Sad to see many 9FS awaiting scrapping.I do not think you could get any where a railway yard today.
Thanks for filming and sharing this with us all .
Wonderful and thank you. Glorious days indeed
Super atmospheric !! Marvelous.
We still get a few Steam pulled trains at At Fishguard Harbour and the one think that brings back childhood memories is the smell of steam a engine, wonderful.
2 years later and here I is watching it again !!
That was excellent and well put together. That must have been awesome to be so close to 2 Black 5's as they were slipping.
Some of the best footage I've seen of the end of steam with a most interesting commentary. You were a very talented young man and your father an excellent photographer. I enjoyed the maps showing the locations and how so much of the railway infrastructure has disappeared. Thank you for sharing.
Really enjoyed your film especially how you fitted it into the present time? Thanks very much for all your hard work. Keep up the great work!
Thank you. Historical footage!
Absolutely fantastic video, I enjoyed it very much. ❤😊
Superb video and great quality filming. Thanks for sharing.
Many thanks!
The demise of steam, captured superbly in this excellent but poignant film.
The steam loco era ended 2 years before I was born so its great folk filmed them for future generations to enjoy, I could almost smell all that smoke and steam ,and couldn't help but notice how weathered unkempt they had become during this period, I presume because they knew they would be getting scrapped soon, great filming 👍
Such a nostalgic image of steam. The photos of you filming just put the context into it all. Just great. Amacf
Amazing footage - what a slope!! You captured another derailment, you have a gift! Thanks for sharing with the world!
Fantastic, thank you for sharing. Served my apprenticeship with British Rail and spent nigh on 10 years in total at Edge Hill maintenance depot between 1979 to 89. Wonderful memories.
You have done us a great service with your filming thank you !!
abs amazing vid & what a era
That incline is insane, the locos aren't traversing it, they're sliding down it!
This is just fantastic! Thanks for sharing. I was a Leeds lad and saw much activity in the area but, alas, couldn’t afford a camera! Memories are still very much there, yet only just! Again, thanks.
Fantastic footage, a credit to you for capturing it all at the end of steam
Oh Heaven on earth my shed that I visited as a boy. Some days been chased by a grumpy Forman other days talking to our Heroes the Drivers. I now live in Huyton a few stop down in line from Edge Hill were I live as a Boy. Speke I never visited but when going to Chester was always noting trains I seen.
The sheds are long gone but those memory's are still there.
Some great shots that caught the action , that bring back the taste and the taste of those days when we had a Railway.
Brilliant doco, shame it wasn’t longer. Thanks
Wow..very impressed with your fil and archive footage..my grandad worked on the railway for 45 years retired early 80's..thankyou for sharing your memories
Lovely narrated old film. Very enjoyable.
Excellently made film - the time comparisons at the end are superb, but nothing beats the ballet of the "not so little engine that couldn't" - when coupled with that helper and the two taking alternate turns at wheel spins as they take that train up the slope... - this is some of the best steam engine footage I have ever seen, and reminds me of the power and feeling of animal life I remember from watching steam engines at Cheddington and elsewhere back in the 1960s.
thank you so much.
Absolutlely fabulous video. The commentary and the context maps make these images come alive after near on 60 years.
Wow, a brilliant video with brilliant narration. I have never seen a railway film like this before that compares the two eras so well.
As a spotter in the early/mid 60s I remember 8A Edge Hill - its low level meant even on a dry day it was damp, full of puddles and looked a bit shambolic. The staff, however, knew what they were about. They had a good allocation of Stanier 4-6-2s which were well maintained and huge freight operations. Your video demonstrates the continuous movement around the place.
What a lovely video, it's great to see 8A shed. I was a youngster at that time too and I did not visit many sheds, but I had the opportunity of joining a group that were visiting all the Manchester sheds in 1968. Exactly the same atmosphere, a feeling of sadness knowing that these locos would not be around for much longer and that we had to take in as much as we possibly could. I always wished that I had been born ten years earlier because steam trains were such a short part of my life, then I suppose I was lucky to see what I did! Thank you for sharing. ps. I started building 3" gauge "Tich" when I was 12, I managed to build a rolling chassis but never built much more.
Hi, I agree with what you say. There was nothing like the atmosphere of a big steam shed.
Another very fine video,the last time I visited Edge Hill shed was Grand National Day 1961 ,I remember copping Silver Jubilee on shed, we always used to visit all the sheds in the area as on Grand National Day there were many steam hauled trains to Liverpool on that day and they all needed servicing before returning their trains to whence they came ,many thanks again for making a pensioner happy
Brilliant film, reminds of my days at Newton Heath shed. Thanks for posting.
Hi John, Newton Heath used to be my local shed and I have film of that to show in the future.
My uncle worked on Edge Hill as a shunter from the time he left school in the 40s up until the 80s. Amazing video, especially when you put it into the context of me being born in 72 and only really seeing the remnants of the once great station and yard.
Many thanks for the hard work and upload.
Splendid footage. Thank you so much for preserving these memories of a wonderful age.
I notice a few tender water tank lids open 😳 Great bit of archive film thanks for posting
Towards the end of steam the lax management at BR was reflected in demoralised engine crews. Not caring enough to close the lid meant coal would get down into the tank causing injector failure and further reduce the reliability of already neglected engine.
@ Yes indeed, a very sad situation all round 😳
Excellent piece of history. Very many thanks and certainly looking forward to seeing a lot more of this historical stuff. Those were the days. At 77 years of age I can fondly remember steam operations on the Eastern Region.