Vintage railway film - Night Mail - 1936

Night Mail is a 1936 British documentary film produced by the General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit. The 24-minute film documents the nightly postal train operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) from London to Scotland and the staff who operate it. Narrated by John Grierson and Stuart Legg. The film ends with a "verse commentary" written by W. H. Auden. One of the locomotives featured in the film is LMS Royal Scot Class no. 6115, 'Scots Guardsman'.
Wikipedia; en.wikipedia.o...

[@waightkl]

I joined Royal Mail in 1981 as an engineer working on the design and development of new mail sorting machines. I remember being shown this film quite early on in my career and I felt so proud that I had joined a public service with such a long history of being a part of the nation's structure. I can recite W.H. Auden's poem from memory ( OK, I'm a bit sad I admit 🙂 ). I took early retirement in 2004 and I can only look in horror at what is being revealed daily about the horizon fiasco and the miscarriages of justice that condemned so many honest hard-working people to prosecution, jail and ruin. I used to be proud of telling people that I worked for the Post Office / Royal Mail for 23 years. Although my department (Postal Engineering R & D ) had nothing whatsoever to do with horizon, I still feel ashamed of the depths that a once, much-loved & respected organisation can descend to.

[@pushpakbiswasclass-6sec-cr307]

Gud job bro👍

[@joshweinstein5345]

Genuinely one of the best railway related films ever made, complete with W. H. Auden's mesmerizing poem at the end.

[@ssss-df5qz]

This country used to be such a powerhouse.

[@johnstudd4245]

But it is now better through diversity. (sarcasm)

[@stevepashley795]

I can only add to the plethora of comments praising you. This was brilliant and thoroughly entertaining. Really enjoyed watching it. Many thanks. Love from Oz

[@roberthuron9160]

In the US,there were many mail trains,operating all over the country! There were two deliveries a day,now,with only bulk mail[containers,trailers],and central postal centers,there is only one delivery a day,and chaos in the automated sorting centers! Who ever thought that the old RPO's could ever make a comeback,well with the current mess,mayhaps,a return to the past,would help! God only knows,what the future holds?? Thank you 😇 😊! Merry Christmas,and thank you!! Thank you 😇 😊!!

[@TONYNORTHEASTERN]

These old documentaries are brilliant. a lesson in history. thanks for sharing. Tony.

[@ralph007silver]

Brilliant. Utterly brilliant. The Internet of the 1930's

[@SteveW139]

1:46 Mail trains were passed from one signalbox to the next with the same bell code as the Royal Train, 4-4-4

[@doctorshawzy6477]

as a young student i worked in the PO sorting office ar Christmas...still recall the atmosphere..wooden floors..the lovely aroma of mailbags..

[@philjameson292]

That's in the distant past when the PO actually operated with ethics

[@IndianaNorthWestern]

Unethical post office? What do they do, set fire to your packages?

[@philjameson292]

@@IndianaNorthWestern you've obviously not heard of the scandal involving the PO in the UK?

[@ssss-df5qz]

@@IndianaNorthWestern the BPO prosecuted people for stealing money they didn't because of a computer glitch in the Fujitsu software. They knew about it and still sent people to prison, others ended themselves. Worse still is that the person paid to go after the Post Masters was given a commission for each prosecution he could get. Further, the changed the errors in the software through a back door to cover their tracks. So yeah - pretty unethical. Oh and the head of the Post Office got a CBE during all this. I think she gave it back now.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

Fujitsu are entirely to blame. They pressured everyone to take the DSS's work away and use the buggy system.

[@philjameson292]

@@abloogywoogywoo PO are equally culpable. They specified, bought and operated the system I have launched and managed IT systems and both Fujitsu and PO did the typical thing with IT systems and completely ignored the impact of issues on the final customer, which was the sub postmaster. Look at John Meagher's testimony to the Inquiry. He was the Horizon Program Manager in 1998

[@johnmehaffey9953]

I’ve got this recorded on the sky box and I put it on practically every week it’s brilliant to put on when I can’t sleep the sound of the train rattling over the tracks and then listening to Auden reciting his poem, mmm my eyes are getting heavy I better sit up or I’ll be snoozing 💤

[@davidbetts9587]

Yes. I saw this years ago as a child and it made me feel safe and sleepy

[@warmstrong5612]

Wonder how many of these chaps survived the war.

[@Mitch-Hendren]

Wondered if anyone else had thought about that when I realised the date of the film.

[@hedgehogm6203]

I thought about that as well

[@okeeblow]

I thought about that when I saw the man with the toothbrush moustache at 7:31 lol

[@forrestrobin2712]

Wonderful! And that poem by the poet lauréate…

[@Great_King_Rat]

Marvellous!

[@papaherms63]

Same old manager or inspector just watching, talking and drinking tea. Nothing has changed there

[@mybookfacetube]

Nice upload, with a bit of rapping at the end, Cool.

[@tommiles8982]

A great analogy! Have known and loved this film and poem for years, before the rap era, and have never thought of it like that. This was still an English lesson being taught to me and others, although I was completely aware of this film! I’m feeling old now!

[@jerryhayes9497]

The track works gang all smoking and swigging beer 😂😂😂

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

And everything ran smoothly.

[@BaronMichaelDeBlone1066]

The provision of beer and cider for workers went back many centuries in England.

[@doctorshawzy6477]

Britain just before the great decline..

[@xr6lad]

It always seems as if it’s the LMS producing these films. I don’t think I’ve seen the GW, Southern or LNER do them - didn’t they have film/publicity units?

[@guysatchwell6990]

Well... it was the GPO film unit that made it...I guess the LMS just had the best stories?

[@cweakley]

Great footage, strange editing.

[@guysatchwell6990]

Well it was entirely novel...this kind of documentary film making was like nothing anyone had ever seen of done before. The GPO film unit were innovators and experimentors...it was all new and in our eyes, a bit clunky...but it was brilliant!

[@rapman5791]

Pip Pip Cheerio Bob’s your uncle

[@johntyjp]

Romanticising back breaking long hours work, especially on steam engines. Now rail transit is better, they take it off the railways onto the roads!🥴