GAUGE THE ISSUE: 30 Years After The Train Now Departing

DISCLAIMER:
Any views or opinions expressed in this video are those of Chris Eden-Green. These are made without intention of offending anyone.
This is a video critique. All images and footage are referenced under Section 107 "fair use" guidelines.
All BBC and Ealing Studios film is referenced under the US Copyright Act within Section 107's "fair use" guidelines.
Most of the images are from Wikipedia and licensed under Creative Commons 2.0 and 3.0, OR are in the Public Domain. All Third Party content is referenced under the US Copyright Act within Section 107's "fair use" guidelines.
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[@presfieldgoalie]

For those that don't know, The Railway Grapevine was a Facebook page specifically for railway enthusiasts (a bit like the Bash Mash only far less civil). They mostly partook in memes but would occasionally wander into serious issues affecting railway preservation. From what I gather, some (not all, maybe not even a majority) people following that page had a bad habit of taking part in targeted online harassment. Eventually, one of these people targeted turned out to be Chris (some kind of jab about him being a Wikipedia narrator but it soon escalated, the details of which escape me). Shortly after this happened, the page was taken down, most likely due to this behaviour being reported as it broke Facebook's terms and conditions.

[@neyedeer1667]

The idea that the page was "taken down" is laughable. I guess when people only got butthurt they realised it wasn't fulfilling its goals. Meanwhile, The Bash Mash blocks anyone who doesn't lap up everything they post, preventing any negative attention.

[@ChristheXelent]

Laughable on face value, but not according to witnesses. It's a long story, but TRGV was gone within half an hour of being reported to Facebook by a friend of mine who became one their victims. The timing of the events doesn't seem entirely coincidental

[@FutureRailProductions]

Thank you! Much appreciated!

[@garysmith2450]

I have noticed among my interests and hobbies that sadly, railway enthusiasts can be some of the more offensive and nasty types should you have a slightly differing opinion on something. Just a small minority but something I’ve noticed nonetheless.

[@warrenlehmkuhleii8472]

“If you have a machine to play them on of course.” Laughs in my VCR. Cries in regional encoding.

[@garysmith2450]

The theme song for The Train Now Departing is called Bare Necessities by a band of the same name. It’s available on Apple Music and probably Spotify. I love it!

[@andysim232]

I remember sitting down with my dad to watch these!!

[@twelvetoes64]

The voice of Anthony Smith is superb. He used to do a regular slot on radio 4 called 'A sideways look'. Much other stuff too and always worth listening to. And not just a documentary maker, an explorer, balloonist, writer etc. Rafted across the Atlantic in his eighties!

[@jermca]

Chris, I've been a fan of yours since nearly the beginning, and I've bought what I could, when I could. You do a great job and your commitment, passion, and dedication to the material is evident. I can't and won't tell you what you should or shouldn't do; it's your work and career. But I would like to say that your work is enjoyed and appreciated, by myself, my 2 year old son, and so, so many others. Thank you! Hang in there!

[@olly5764]

Cracking video as ever Chris! I remember this series when I was at school, my dad still has it somewhere on VHS, I hadn't realised it had been 30 years!

[@TomedysTrains]

At 3:18, so THAT was the name of the series I remember watching in 2004. I remember going to my local library (in the United States!) in 2004 and borrowing a couple of video tapes from that series and I remember enjoying them. I remember one tape was about the LMS Duchess of Hamilton on the Settle & Carlisle Line and another tape was about the Somerset & Dorset Line. I could be wrong about those specific episodes, but that's what I [vaguely] remember. To be honest, I actually like that synthesized 80s music used in them, I prefer that style of music over classical most of the time, but it's a matter of taste on an individual basis really.

[@modelrailpreservation]

The library in the city I grew up in (Davenport, Iowa) had a couple Steam Days VHS tapes too. They had the one about the GWR and the one about freight traffic. I think they, along with "The blue embarassment" as referred to elsewhere on this channel, were what nurtured my interest in UK steam operation.

[@jasonl4411.]

I taped these when they originally aired. Interesting to watch them as I ended up working on the railway a few years later

[@KameronCousin]

This was really amazing Chris.

[@CoalChrome]

Who’s the railway grapevine? I’m American so I miss a lot.

[@Honeydwarf85]

Can I get filled in as well?

[@bskorupk]

Speaking as a DamnYankee I second the motion, Given the types that somehow aren't banned, one would need to be quite the nuisance to make The Great War look funny! ;)

[@chriswoods7452]

To anyone wishing to see The Train Now Departing, the whole series is available on the BBC iPlayer (correct at time of writing in April 2020)

[@thomaswatkiss9484]

This was a great program and I've watched it all loved it

[@Mike_Anton]

Great issue. Not only do you resurrect/recommend a 'historic' programme but I like the way you've highlighted quality story telling and production

[@Parsound]

Thank you Chris. Although I couldn't bring the programme to mind when we met at Eardington I certainly do remember it now. Good to see you again and thanks for subscribing which I have been happy to reciprocate. Alan

[@GeorgeUKCFC]

Interestingly, I travelled up to Birmingham from Cam & Dursley for the Warley Show (Winchester City were away at Slimbridge) and from Gloucester I was sat opposite someone who fired and later drove trains out of Saltley. WRT Beeching, there's a cartoon from the Daily Mail in the National Railway Museum depicting him as a inspector being bribed by stationmaster Ernest Marples.

[@michaeldelz]

Thanks to KZbin I’ve managed to track down nearly all the ones I watched as a kid In the 80s. One that still evades is the BBCs Great western journey from 1985 if anyone has that?

[@flippop101]

A good synopsis of the best railway series on British television. At the time, I was a student when this series was aired. I tried my best to be home to see it. I didn't always succeed. As you say, the narrative was perfect without being too political. The unsung heroes had their say, and in so doing gave the program enormous gravity. The invaluable Ivo Peters clips where especially useful in portraying for example the long drag and so giving the program sentimental weight. As you rightly point out, the music (bare necessities) was as warming as the narrative. I just wish I could see the series again, if only to see the Ivatt flying pig vanish from a viaduct. Best episode if I remember rightly was "twenty years on, the survivors." Thanks for your creative comment. Regards, from Germany.

[@ldg1952]

I don't know why but KZbin decided to suggest this video for me this morning and remembering watching the programmes some years ago I was interested. I agree that we just don't get documentary programmes like this now. I enjoy Michael Portillo's TV railway journeys but of course they aren't about railways as such, they are about the places highlighted in Bradshaw's guides. I'm glad I had the foresight to record these programmes to DVD some years ago and having dug the DVD out I have it running now. Perhaps time to re-master the DVD though as the sound level is on the low side. As for the Railway Grapevine, I'm perhaps luck to have completely missed their output.

[@markmiddleton1772]

thanks for making me feel old chris I watch them all and thought they were great . I hadn't realised it was so long ago they were made. o well back to the flockton flyer on DVD

[@dustpanandthebrush5293]

The best railway series made for television ever , been watching and re watching this for years !!!

[@TeamDriveBy]

Currently on BBC iPlayer but sadly still no DVD or BluRay release. Couldn’t agree more with your analogies. The production was superb and truly engrossing with the footage and first hand accounts of real human feelings and perspectives of lives spent on the rails.

[@samuelsmith6281]

I remember as a child watching the holiday episode on video as well as the one of the Isle of Man lines. It is an excellent series.

[@Philc854]

A truly memorable GTI, Chris. I watched The Train Now Departing series back in 1988, but had forgotten how ground-breaking and timeless it was, and still is. Thank you for bringing it all back. BTW, this is the complete recording of the English traditional folk/dance music used in part as the TTND series' theme music: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHWvf6CkrLKoaLs

[@BritanniaPacific]

There’s a snippet of this show focusing on Barry scrapyard. That’s the only thing that rang a bell in my mind, that and the appearance of woodham alongside a 9f.

[@Daveinnorfolk]

For all those commenting they want to see the series, it can be got on iPlayer as an archive series.

[@vincentberkan605]

From the looks of things. I'd say you guys over the pond were lucky, you kept Mainline Revenue steam around longer than we did over here in the states.

[@freddieellis8449]

Always LOVED the intro tune to that programme. Practically impossible to find a copy of it!

[@garysmith2450]

It’s called Bare Necessities by a band of the same name 😊

[@LongStripeyScarf]

What’s interesting is that the industry lines episode is pretty spot on. Take the Coalville line for example; freight from Barton hill has kept the line open. Now you could easily reopen the line to passenger trains from Burton to Leicester and run a small scale passenger service between them. All you need is a left hand junction at Knighton.

[@whistlingspy]

Also big shout to Miles Knighton on Steam Days. That wasn’t bad a series either. The closest we’ve had since has been John Peel narrating Classic Trains

[@jasonbray9217]

Hey, I am running a '90 VHS unit to supply my television needs, I finds the old train tapes/VHS all the time. My current favs are the SwissRail Adventures!

[@nitramretep]

Train Now Departing was a brilliant set of documentaries but alas hard to find, if not impossible!

[@peterflitcroft9756]

If you want to hear tales of the days of BR steam there are plenty of old railway men down at your local preserved railway or Model Engineering club. If you are prepared to listen they tell many a good story.

[@MarmiteCrumpets]

Completely agree. Excellent content.

[@matthewpeter]

TTND was a HUGE part of my childhood. I have all of them except the Manx one on VHS, and occasionally I will pop it on. I remember the days I'd watch "the long drag" with Sir Nigel batting along, and then go recreate it with my 3 rail Dublo Sir Nigel, also in blue (and also still with me).

[@TERRYBARTLETTRAILMAN28]

I loved this show my favourite episode was the Holiday Line because in my younger years I enjoyed a journey from Clapham Junction to Exmouth and I did travel from Waterloo once on one occasion then going on the Dartmouth Steam Railway before going to the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch for the first time in 2001

[@porneliushubertsthaicuisin1316]

Nice vid man. Looks like an interesting show.

[@porneliushubertsthaicuisin1316]

And first

[@silenthunteruk]

The Thames TV channel has an array of historical news reports on commuter woes in the South East at the time of 'The Train Now Departed' if you're interested.

[@aifrench14]

Good video mate :) for me this series is the benchmark and very little has come close. For me one of the big problems with the dross produced these days is presenters who have a false enthusiasm for the subject... especially with Trainspotting Live and the rubbish that followed it on BBC2 Full Steam Behind or whatever it was called! My only disappointment with this video is no mention of the legend that is Martyn Ashworth, who is my regular driver at the GCR and regularly 'ribbed' for his TND interview. One scary thought a few months back was that I'm now older (35) than he was when the interview was recorded (he was 31/32)

[@icklebean0365]

I think it’s quite poignant that my generation (current teens) is the generation which they were on about so many times. And allot of us want steam and railway preservation. As you said they’re our grandads!

[@alexvernyi2368]

What was the railway grapevine? I look it up from the US, and get a tourist rr in Texas and a FB page I can't view.

[@Honeydwarf85]

I'm confused as well

[@olly5764]

they were like The Bash Mash but crap, and not funny

[@adamc1272]

I still have this recorded on a battered VHS and it was watched many times. In the best possible way I find your work to be the spiritual successor to programmes like this, Chris. Always very interested to see what you are producing, keep it up.

[@ChristheXelent]

I was the same, Adam. I think I wore one VHS set down to transparency and the other set ended up getting chewed a few times. That's very sweet of you to say so. I don't think anything I produce will ever be as great as that. But it's nice to know a few people like it. Thankyou

[@nbc_uk]

It was quite literally the most perfectly-crafted television program on railways that anyone could ever produce.

[@01276]

Another good documentary by the BBC a few years earlier was All change at Evercreech and Return to Evercreech Jct - they can be found on youtube. The Train Now Departing was my favourite though, I grew up watching the VHS repeatedly

[@HA1LILPALAZZO]

it was this show, Classic Trains with John Peel, Fred Dibnah and a certain blue tank engine which got me so into trains ^_^ even today nothing realy overshadows my love for trains and it was thanks to them ^_^.

[@nigelpearson6664]

My grandfather's cousin was Dr Beeching, I blame his boss Marples and cannot see how he escaped serious consequences. I met Barbara Castle who made the best of the leftover bits. She was fascinating and a bit rude about the UK. Big problem was Ford making cars the best choice, Barbara helped the women Ford workers by coincidence. BR always sent out a take it or leave it message, I remember that cleaarly. I really like 1960s diesels, sometimes I prefer them. Modern trains are boring. Two lines I would have saved would have been Woodstock and Witney branch lines. Both would have been cheap to save.

[@gquayle]

This is THE ULTIMATE enthusiasts show. Its gold

[@russellgxy2905]

If I find this series, I'll definitely give it a watch

[@jameswells6003]

It is (or was!) on BBC iPlayer, all six episodes.

[@samuelfarris1949]

While The Train Now Departing is not exactly the most daring railway programme out there, and in one way would appear dated, there is no doubt it was out for an honest and personal account of the changes since the end of steam from the perspective of the people at the time it was made, and its small expectations were perfectly cemented with a warm feel of homeliness through which its content was linked together to present what it wanted to tell. And yes, interviewing people who had experienced the matters discussed was an inspired move. Samuel F.

[@Spud607]

Im irish. Idk what the railway grapevine has either. Btw pls do a sole slip on the D&SER no. 461.

[@BramGroatFilms]

Me at the beginning: Probably a parody...no I think he may be seriously eulogizing...nope. (Also, you seem to really like that Shrek clip! XD ) I may have to give The Train Now Departing a watch. I have a VHS player or two, but I highly doubt I'll find a VHS copy; especially since I live in the US.

[@fox-roll883]

I actually watched a couple episodes of this show before.

[@DavidHennessey1984]

Boy, I'd give anything to see this back on the telly... Guess I'll have to settle for BBC I-player in the meantime! 😁 One of my favourite railway documentary series of all time (and incidentally, the programme that I hold responsible for me getting into Manx railways in the first place!); still holds up well even after 30 years. Another cracking GTI indeed... Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pour myself a glass of my tipple of choice, crank the speakers up, sit back and enjoy the mellow title music (though why they called it 'bare necessities' is anybody's guess)!

[@eggballo4490]

What do think of freight only steam railways?

[@steamie98]

Oh hey you did it now Yay my nan has volume 1 and 2 in vhs form

[@Trek001]

Indeed a great many people have left us although, as an enthusiast, I prefer to thinking of them as being sat in one big Mess in the sky awaiting their next turn of duty

[@JintySteam1]

Train Now Departing is a classic documentary. My family recorded it of the TV from when it aired so I've seen it from a young age. I think the program (and other programs of the period) were put together a lot nicer than today. Documentaries now seem to have a format that they stick to, the music is horrible and generic and just has been put together on the cheap. Thats my opinion. I also want to point out how both steam days and train now departing are both similar, both first episodes focus on the Settle to Carlisle line and both second episodes focus on the West Highland Line.

[@yaboi5932]

Yay

[@NirateGoel]

What was the railway grapevine, never heard of it before.

[@mikesanders5433]

Still have the whole series on VHS. Watched them endlessly as a child and occasionally now (even though the video tapes are knackered 😂). I wonder if you can buy them on dvd or Blu-ray these days? *edit, Uber I just finished the video and you cannot buy them 🙁

[@guillermocruz2440]

Railway will always be the future

[@Lennon6412]

What is the railway grapevine?

[@chrismccartney8668]

2024 even higher numbers by train and Trains Trams Metro Light Rail Elizabeth Line roaring success etc etc.

[@TheSlipCoach]

The Train Now Departing is available on KZbin now: kzbin.info/aero/PLJtt_5CL5VTBcdqd3pRxW9oYcz5mq4Gsx

[@robertlucido3686]

You should do a video on railroad turning facilities, like turntables, wyes, reverse loops and stuff like that

[@cogidubnus1953]

The gauge issue...I'm sorry but wasn't this finally resolved in 1892?

[@jacobrealsponge.o2436]

nice shrek joke ha

[@OldIronVideo]

Dirst