Tue 09 Jun 20 03:35 Blue Pullman on Talking Pictures tv

[spudfan]

Might be worth setting the recorder...or as behoves some of us, getting the wife to set it.

1960. Factual. Directed by James Ritchie. The 'Blue Pullman', a new diesel train liaising between Manchester and St. Pancras is prepared for its grand inaugural journey.

Then again it is probably on Youtube somewhere.

[Broithe]

If you only have five and a half minutes to spare, there is this.

 

They were lucky the driver made it in on time, from his other job as a milkman.

[airfixfan]

You cannot get that channel in NI.

[Dhu Varren]

2 hours ago, airfixfan said:

You cannot get that channel in NI.

Course you can, the first time I ever saw Talking Pictures, it was in Portrush.

[Georgeconna]

Tis on Free to air dude.

 

[Lambeg man]

On Sundays I always do a sweep of the 'Talking Pictures' channel for the week ahead looking for those BT films. Some of them are very good.  

[hexagon789]

I had this documentary on a video tape including 4 so-called British Transport Films. Coronation Scot (1936), Elizabethan Express (1954), Blue Pullman (1960), InterCity 1250 (1980). Elizabethan Express and IC1250 are certainly available on YouTube but Blue Pullman only appears to be in part.

Elizabethan Express and Blue Pullman are among my favourites in particular for the musical scores, both by Clifton Parker and I would recommend both short films to anyone with even only a passing interest in railway or even general history.

On 6/8/2020 at 1:37 PM, Broithe said:

If you only have five and a half minutes to spare, there is this.

 

They were lucky the driver made it in on time, from his other job as a milkman.

The drivers used to get some stick for those uniforms but they only lasted a few years. The London Midland Region had dark blue "battledress"-style uniforms, the so-called Milkmen being unique to the Western Region's Pullman Diesel Expresses.

The driver featured in the film you've linked to Broithe, was sadly killed on the 1963 crash at Knowle & Dorridge, while a Pullman service it wasn't a Pullman Diesel set that was running the train having been replaced by the substitute loco-hauled set on that day.

The accident was arguably compounded by Western Region semaphore signalling which permitted 90mph running on lines with normal braking distances sufficient for only about 70-75mph by requiring the previous signal box to the one putting it's home signals to danger to hold its distant signal at caution effectively producing a semaphore double yellow indication. As it was the signalman was only able to put his own distant to danger to warn the approaching express of the obstruction and sadly it couldn't stop in time.

Edited June 10, 2020 by hexagon789