Vintage railway film - Points and aspects - 1974

This vintage railway film, produced by British Transport Films in 1974, documents the re-signalling of 1000 track miles from the River Weaver to the Clyde, bringing the whole line from London to Glasgow under one system of push-button control and colour light signals and completing the main line electrification.
The film follows the intricate production of equipment, and its installation over, under and between trains. The whole project adds up to a piece of modern technology unsurpassed anywhere in the world.

[@29brendus]

Absolutely fascinating. As a signals engineer myself, I didn't start technical college until 1977, so this system was well under way by then. The complexity is mind boggling even now to me after 44 years experience even though the technology has changed drastically even in the last 10 years. Now it's all microprocessors, video screens, touch screens, and fibre optics, because relays, valve displays, and rows of mechanical buttons, were already on the way out during the mid-70s, buttons being replaced by terminals and keypads. To get all those wiring looms, relays, signals, cables, points machines, control panels, and staff training synchronised, while keeping an old system operational and in safety, is a masterclass in coordination and team work. Not to mention the erection and engineering of the 25Kv overhead electrification [OLE] system. Marvellous! I worked for Plessey.

[@whiteknightcat]

Nothing quite like that action packed 1970's background music.

[@briansearle4138]

When things were British made. When you think about British Rail were quite a forward thinking . Unlike the governments then and now selling it all !!!. Cracking film. 🇬🇧👍

[@stubevan6368]

This is a gem! Nerdy 1970’s style - but it makes you realise just how complex all this stuff was - and still is!!

[@markpunt9638]

I find that style rather endearing, I have to say. Perhaps now we’ve all become used to everything being very brash and rather patronising?

[@lowercherty]

This was put in just before PLC's became available, eliminating thousands of relays and simplifying everything.

[@UltimateSeduction]

I feel old now haha..

[@melanierhianna]

All those commenting on when the UK did great engineering. You are aware that the processor in 95% of the worlds smart phones is a British Design. And the graphics processor in many is also a British Design. The UK is amazing at developing tech NOW, its just people look back to the past and don't blow present day trumpets.

[@scotiajinker8392]

Absolutely brilliant , thank you. All that “tech” and they still used paraffin lamps 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@chrisnmayor]

Tilley lamps... they still make them and they look just the same!

[@realjohnboxall]

Brilliant. Just shows how much education, knowledge and old-fashioned hard work went into maintaining and upgrading Britain's fine railways.

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

Never forget the tea-urn! (21.10)

[@johnnyfivejmc]

The most important piece of equipment delivered!

[@szymongorczynski7621]

Wish we had them today! I work in power distribution and the old boys were all issued with steel kettles and gas burners to make their tea when out in remote areas. The younger crews have to wither find a power outlet or hope they're working with an older crew!

[@toddhunter3137]

Without the tea urn nothing would have got done.. 👍

[@markstarmer3677]

All hail the tea urn..!

[@tobygoodguy4032]

17:30 First (and only) time the word "computer" is used. (Old fashioned engineering, fabrication and installation of work in the modern era.) Hats off to the Brits.

[@sapphirejunction8993]

Absolutely amazing engineering, the building blocks of today's Britain.

[@davidsedlickas8222]

Of no use if privatisation then undertaken as is today

[@andymath1523]

@@davidsedlickas8222 Yes Railtrack what utter shambles with disregard for safe systems but at least Network rail seem to sorting out now

[@nickcox2974]

Wow my uncle worked on this many years I was in my teens thought the railway was so fascinating then still love to watch these old films today brilliant well done great to watch

[@xr6lad]

They make it sound great they are replacing hundreds of boxes and putting out of a job on average 3 people per box.

[@SyCoREAPER]

A shame things aren't done this way today. Fascinating the detail and care taken by workers hand assembling everything.

[@9alerix]

What a time in history!! We created, engineered and built and installed these systems at home using our own citizens. Seems like today the manufacture would be sourced out to a country in Asia and the wires/cables certainly wouldn’t be 100% home sourced. A great snapshot of a time when could and we did!

[@wideyxyz2271]

Its cool how something so modern back then looks so dated now. Great piece of railway history.

[@stephenpike3147]

Another amazing feat of British engineering, a nice reminder of the great in GB! Thanks for such a comprehensive insight, loved the bit when it was one switch to switch over old to the new system. Talk about complicated control, cable and looms, wire wrapping and relay interlocking, yet it's so well organised the folk just speed their way through their work knowing exactly what they have to do, so impressive.

[@BassandoForte]

We had joined in the EEC in 73 remember... The Great in Great Britain had been ripped apart just 6 years prior to this - when we had nothing to do with Europe... Ironically it's going to sh1t again now we've left... 😪

[@stephenpike3147]

Yes I find politicians over the years are so devisive perhaps even hapless at understanding how and making things work. It is so refreshing to see the great achievements we've made in the engineering, sciences, medicines fields etc as demonstrated by this video when every one works quietly away together to a agreed plan to achieve great things. ....

[@danthevan1451]

Don't forget that a lot of railway signalling is still made in GB. GEC, was known as GEC-ALSTOM, before the GEC name was dropped by the parent company.

[@Seiskid]

This was actually really good. Fascinating how complex this equipment was.

[@jackstewart5516]

all around great footage love the mother country across the Atlantic ocean..im in kentucky usa.

[@jimstrainsandstuff9539]

What wonderful logic technology. I never get sick of watching these old gems of the recent past.

[@kevinheard8364]

Although I'm easily old enough to recognize this technology, I was still so very impressed with the complexity of the whole thing. One of the very best of all these videos (in my humble opinion).... great job!

[@stevecraft00]

This video makes me a little sad. At how we have gone from such an amazing system, British designed, built, fitted, to what we have today. How much of our modern infrastructure now is british designed built and installed?

[@dexstewart2450]

You mean like the Belgian Rotary Switch, used in the American system ?

[@gregoryclark8217]

Although not British owned (but then neither was Westinghouse) Siemens designs and makes signals and signalling systems, in the UK.

[@ronalddevine9587]

Fascinating. My father was born in Motherwell in February of 1912. His family emigrated to the USA 10 years later. I never thought I'd ever hear of Motherwell until this video. Thanks

[@Neonator08]

i've always wanted to ask someone who is from there or knows someone from there this:......sincerely.....is your Motherwell?

[@sandgrownun66]

Why? Motherwell is a well-known large town in Scotland.

[@ronalddevine9587]

@@sandgrownun66 I'm sure. But here in the USA it is not.

[@sandgrownun66]

​@@ronalddevine9587 Well, we all know just how little Americans know about anything outside their bubble!

[@ronalddevine9587]

@@sandgrownun66 Well smarty pants, how much do you know about Branford?

[@williamlong7188]

I absolutely adored this piece of film archive what a real gem of a brilliant rail film of days gone by . Well done for posting this , was a real joy to watch . I watched a film just like it last week too called Wires Over The Border electrifying the West Coast Mainline between Carlisle & Glasgow via Carstairs Junction. Thank you so much.

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

That wire wrapping takes me back... Loved the video, more like this please

[@Darth_Chicken]

10:01 - What they are doing here is a technique known as 'wire wrapping' where an electric gun spins the end of the wire around a metal post with sharp corners on it that dig into the wire to provide a solderless joint. The Apollo computers use similar wiring as it is better for vibration as solder can fail under load.

[@melanierhianna]

At the time the Apollo computers were created. These days we're far better at it. No one would wire wrap tech in modern spaceflight.

[@TomStorey96]

@@melanierhianna there's more to it than just advances in manufacturing. Modern computers are just so much faster, and wire wrap circuits just can't operate at such high speeds. Wire wrap could still be the most reliable method of circuit construction, but our requirements exceed it's capabilities.

[@diabolicalartificer]

I love these old films the next best thing to a time machine. Thanks for uploading.

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

Na you gotta get the new Apple Time Displacement 2000. They are pricey.

[@favesongslist]

Wow this is so good. I used to work for GEC General Signals and this brought back so many memories. Many hours working in relay rooms. I specialised in TDM systems.

[@johnsharp8632]

A fantastic film highlighting the state of the art signalling and points technology of the early 1970s, and very good it was too. From a personal point of view, I loved the scenes set in the BICC cable factory. I visited the BICC Prescot and Helsby factories in 1980 (as a customer representative) and was fascinated by the techniques used in cable manufacture, which were a real eye-opener.

[@matthewwinn979]

Fantastic film. In 2013 I was able to visit Bletchley box just after the 1960s equipment was decommissioned but before they started stripping it out. It was looking a little the worse for wear by that time and wasn't quite as reliable as it should have been, but it was impressive all the same.

[@Raptor50aus]

Back when stuff was made well and built to last. Very impressive.

[@hannahranga]

You'd be surprised how similar relay interlocking is even today. Computer based interlocking fancier but just as reliable.

[@IrishSchaller]

Except for those British Leyland Allegro's and the like being transported at the beginning of the clip.

[@adammoss5284]

Friend of mine called his the All aggro 😆

[@james.black981]

This is bloody great. Wish they still made films or documentaries like this.

[@lancashire-john]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to see both Carlisle and Preston PSBs with original flat roofs!

[@FrankHeuvelman]

The guys who did the Great Train Robbery in the sixties knew a more easy way to switch a signal from green to red. They used a glove and held it in front of the green signal light and used a powerful flashlight to shine through the red signal lens. No electronics required. Simplicity in its purest form.

[@sirierieott5882]

Fantastic quality documentary on the design, engineering and manufacturing of railway signal equipment. Superb historic film.

[@buzzofftoxicblog791]

The analog days love the vibrating wave magnet things, brilliant 1970s film a time of British engineering memory lane. Then the silicone chip came to control all the trains from a smartphone 😂

[@marstondavis]

This was state of the art not so long ago. Things have changed drastically since this was filmed. Think what the future will bring.

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

The days things were built to withstand anything and last indefinitely, not like today's electronics which are likely to be faulty before you unpack it. Thanks brings back memories.

[@williamlong7188]

I was amazed the amount of people employed in our own country ( UK ) involved in employment of renewing our own railways. What a pity that is not happening today and we import so much where we could had the work force and skilled workforce here . Shameful that there millions out of work now that if the opposite had happened and we did more manufacturing in our own country we wouldn’t see so many of the social ills that follow unemployment. The railways away back then must had been a major employer compared to now.

[@kevinheard8364]

We here on the other side of the pond are equally "guilty"

[@melanierhianna]

Our railways were so dated compared to everyone elses. That's why they suffered.

[@wideyxyz2271]

@@melanierhianna That's because they ran for most of the war with minimal maintenance and were and still are mostly under funded. The European mainland countries got a lot of help and investment post war so modernised right from the start!

[@contrapunctusmammalia3993]

it's what happens if you fund an organisation committed to doing something instead of committed to making a profit at any opportunity (a company) and most importantly, commit to funding it long term. If you lay out a long term strategy and actually carry it out without randomly meddling with designs and plans mid way through you can build up a whole little eco-system of supply chain and employment security for carrying out complicated work. Imagine if the government actually just said, "we're going to electrify any railway that could do better with it" (pretty much all of them), any engineering graduate knows that this is a reliable business to get into and you could make a whole career out of that job. Same is you're a business owner who produces some kind of component used, you know that there are stable contracts always flowing through. Rolling programs are key for efficient and impressive work not only because everyone gets better doing things over and over again but also because the continuity of workers and designers creates institutional knowledge and memory which is incredibly valuable. It annoys me that most of the comments in these videos seem to have this idea that we can never do anything as masterfully organised and executed today and that this is because of some bogus reason like health and safety rules, or entitled younger generations, or not being able to touch up any woman who happens upon a workspace, or something inane to do with pronouns. It's utter bs. This nation is incapable of this feat of achievement because of outsourcing, privatisation, obsessions with business cases and carving a space for profit motives and most importantly, ridiculous short-termism on politicians' part.

[@HyperBlueWolf]

English people are to drunk / stupid / lazy to work these days. They just want benefit money and drink.

[@oddities-whatnot]

Those are complex plans indeed, then the intricate electrical work it amazes me that humans worked all this lot out, where did they start ? Seems very advanced for 1974

[@fixmyvelo1951]

Love this, music and fuzzy distorted audio - superb.

[@RobinWootton]

Astonishing! ⚙ Engineering of the highest order.

[@davewolfy2906]

Brilliant video.

[@TheWallerbyboxer]

Bloody brilliant , more of the same please !

[@MrSpacelyy]

Every version update, reprint everything. So much work!

[@tonyross1230]

Hello Alison This documentry on signalling and points installation was absorbing and very educational My warmest thanks to all in the making of this documentary

[@holnrew]

It's amazing they achieved all this with relays

[@flybobbie1449]

Beauty of relays is the technicians fixing can tell just by the sound they make something is wrong. Friend said even on old computers he misses the rows of lamps flickering, you could tell where faults lay.

[@marvwatkins7029]

Carstaires: sounds like a great name for a butler.

[@FerroequinologistofColorado]

I love this video

[@adamdrummer1991]

I was sad seeing the semaphore signals coming down at 20:41

[@esseel7896]

amazing feat.

[@xXExtremeGameXx]

It blows my mind that someone has had to desgn all this and in the 70's!

[@Clivestravelandtrains]

I enjoyed watching this thanks - although as I live in Lanarkshire I have never thought of Carstairs as a "backwater", I guess that's a Londoncentric view. It was interesting that cables were being manually installed. I recently learned that some cables powering Crossrail had to be installed manually, by gangs of strong men from Hartlepool (for some reason).

[@ErraticPT]

Suprised not to see my father on that film, he worked on S&T round much of that area around that time and for long after.

[@MrSpacelyy]

Today such a control panel would just be a big screen. This shown here must have been really expensive. But also really well made.

[@Vortigan07]

I refuse to believe that present day design and technology is more ingenious than all this! It might even be arguably less so!

[@neilfurby555]

Brilliant! Shame the cable laying blokes didn't have a pair of gloves between them!

[@oddities-whatnot]

Supermarket music starts at 9:39 Space 1999 background music starts at 12:40

[@TribbleBot]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who got Space: 1999 vibes from that

[@kevinsmeeton9504]

So many wires and levers and switches, and big bulky computers less powerful then my phone. That end music is so 70s, lol.

[@JohnJackson-mn4ts]

1 bloke doing the work, 6 or more stood watching him.

[@Dellboy56]

That was the norm and still is! 🤣

[@neilwilkinson8062]

Nearly 40 years ago, so much of this New equipment is now obsolete. While the public go on their way, completely unaware of the constantly changing technology on our railways.

[@uzaiyaro]

No wonder one’s nan was so good at knitting if this was her job!

[@timpriddy349]

jolly good that.....

[@jimjoe9945]

I wonder how much of this still exists?

[@swainer8014]

On the island of Sodor. . .

[@sggd132]

Seeing a halogen signal being installed new looks weird, so used to seeing LEDs being the norm I'd also like to ask, when were semaphore signals phased out of installation?

[@g1m250]

Quality back then was way better than in Holland nowdays 😂😂😂😂 LOL

[@armstronggermany2995]

And I thought back in the seventies we were living in the future !

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

Yea been all downhill since.

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

I wonder could you calculate how many 1970's relays you would need to build a modern processor. Anyone up to it.

[@Lifeistooshort67]

That is why the workers hands were like leather, not one pair of work gloves in sight.

[@FocusWRC8]

Me old dad makes an appearance testing SPT’s @ Summit

[@lech.roch.pawlak]

2:20 Young Michael Palin :P

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

That junction is much reduced these days, avoiding line closed, speeds much reduced. Progress?

[@Lighting_Desk]

And then along came the HST.

[@MachenLand]

its amazing how much we shrank technology from a giant a$$ control panel with blinking lights, to a computer screen.. with a computer predetermining which switch to align, which light to signal..

[@inregionecaecorum]

Should have built a new line avoiding that slow section on the sharp curve at Carstairs while they were at it.

[@eight-two]

They're starting a project to do that now.

[@davewolfy2906]

To all of you computer oiks, this is machine code.

[@ChrisPrice1977]

Funny to think this is all now replaced with a raspberry pie

[@massiveheadwoundharry6833]

No kidding. Your phone now could've done the job of all the computers and logic circuits in the country back then without breaking a sweat!

[@BlackMan12331]

20:37

[@alistairkewish651]

Was it really nerdy? I’ll beg to differ on that, said of course, with hindsight.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

To think that whole system could be controlled by not much more than an iphone today.

[@mickjones1941]

one power box down and half the system stops

[@HyperBiker]

Coming from the oil industry, all I can see is the complete lack of PPE. Oh, apart from the occasional hi-viz half waistcoat.

[@iainstenhouse8399]

Welcome to the seventies, god knows how much asbestos was involved in that too!

[@bobtudbury8505]

and all gave away because we joined the eU

[@davewolfy2906]

12:50 For a few dollars more

[@davewolfy2906]

18:43 not LEDs

[@sandgrownun66]

🚇At 3:09 the subtitles read "our clone pee". Any idea what type of pee that is? 🤔

[@kevinsmeeton9504]

At 3:09 Ultrasonic bath of our clone pee, looks as if a clone pee goes ultrasonic? 🤔

[@TomStorey96]

Arklone P

[@sandgrownun66]

@@TomStorey96 OK. So it's not pee they were using.

[@simonf8902]

I suppose this new equipment is completely out of date by now.

[@eight-two]

A lot of it is still controlling the railway today. Of the 5 boxes featured Warrington, Preston and Carlisle are still open.

[@simonf8902]

@@eight-two thank you.

[@tropicalpalmtree]

That factory where all the wiring is done is OCD nightmare fuel

[@ZalMoxis]

Gee a time when we had industry, critical thinking and skill to produce things....

[@melanierhianna]

We still do. Do you have a smart phone? If you do you probably have an ARM in it. We invented those. 95% of the worlds smart phones uses them. The problem is no one looks at what we do now. Just at what we did in the past. My day job is engineering new technology. Manufacturing isn't where the clever is. Its desiging the product in the first place. Any old place can build stuff. Not many countries can design stuff.

[@ZalMoxis]

@@melanierhianna Made in China. ... it is important to have both capabilities to design as well as build. Your so called 'new' technology will be going away soon as it enslaves your consciousness and restricts your true spirit.... we will be returning to the original concepts of power, magnetism and resonance that were deliberately hidden away at the start of last century. It is no accident the majority of people these days have mash potato for brains especially when they think anything on the market today is cutting edge.

[@mikefromflorida8357]

Nice to not hear the metric system spoken in these films made not really that long ago.

[@Floedekage]

Why?

[@Floedekage]

What's with this beautiful and quirky 70s informational film attracting the most hateful and sour old people in the comments?

[@MarkInLA]

I miss the old analog electronics of everything.. One exception is DCC for model trains...which has made control of them more realistic...And of course here I am yappin' away on a lap top to possibly millions over time !!! Not sure if this is good for society or in the end will be its downfall, since it allows mass falsifying by ANYONE about anything, giving vocal power to ones who wish to harm society, via the internet, not help it... M, Los Angeles, Ca. USA

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

Yea if there is ever a half decent solar eruption or a nuclear war We'll sorry we put all our eggs in the digital basket.

[@melanierhianna]

The bad people on the internet are far outweighed by the good. Only a minor part of it is social media. The web isn't the internet. The internet (which in various forms is getting on to 40 years old now) helps society significantly.

[@joesmith34]

The workers do nt use helmets, neither gloves, nor glasses for protection. Where was the safety in those days

[@whiteknightcat]

It hadn't been invented yet.

[@Floedekage]

On the same note; where is all the injuries and deaths today?

[@toddhunter3137]

Love the way they just chopped down the old semaphore signal gantry at (20:41). I reckon some preservationists will have been shouting NOOO!!! Dismantle it. 😂

[@nectafarious8842]

Yes - thousands of pounds being skipped there. The stuff that was skipped in the sixties would be worth many millions of pounds today in railwayana auctions..

[@beardyface8492]

Who else misses when this country actually made stuff?

[@Floedekage]

No-one

[@a11csc]

and how outdated that is now

[@bro70]

That was then, this is now. They did a mighty fine job with the technology and materials available....

[@EllieMaes-Grandad]

That location is much changed, reduced, these days.

[@buxvan]

Crikey. What a load of wiring.

[@manfredweber8204]

IN GREAT BRITAIN EVEN THE TRAINS ROLL ON THE WRONG LEFT SIDE!!!

[@dulls8475]

From when we made the best transport films in the world. Now all we have is the awful BBC.

[@MattyEngland]

Big baboons, loose.