Vintage railway film - The signal engineers - 1962

This vintage railway film, produced by British Transport Films in 1962, details one of the most responsible and professional jobs on British Railways. Practical work in shop and signal box, on gantry and by trackside, coupled with instruction in mechanics, electricity, electronics and draughtsmanship, lead the apprentice into the intricacies of design, the excitement of research and experiment, and the intense satisfaction of being in on a big 'changeover' from old semaphore signalling to a new colour-light scheme.

[@davidshaw9806]

Brilliant. Just brilliant! Thank you so much. Just shows how good the definition of well preserved colour film can be. These films inadvertently preserve so many sides of British culture and attitudes of the time. Makes you wonder how good British Railways could have been if not starved of funds by successive governments. Ernest Maples (a total crook), Barbara Castle and Richard Beeching to name but three. How many of us mourn the destruction of the worlds first high speed line (GCR) which so easily could have become "HS2" at a fraction of the cost? So sad.

[@bobtudbury8505]

what's marples beeching got to do with it. the labour party closed the lines and then gave beeching an award. beeching made a report, he had no power

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

Exactly!

[@gregoryclark8217]

@@bobtudbury8505 Marples owned 80% of the shares of a road construction company named after him (technically he sold them to his wife, with the intention of buying them back fro the same price later) which won several government contracts. Road building companies profit from the closure of railways. As the Minister of Transport, Marples appointed Beeching. Marples later fled the country to Monaco to avoid a big tax bill.

[@bobtudbury8505]

so what, i am glad he built the roads. i am working class and the car has given us the greatest freedom. Factually 99% of the lines were closed by LABOUR from 1965 to 1970 . (beeching had no power) Labour then gave beeching an award ( remember LABOUR closed hundreds of coal mines in the 60's and saved none in the 90's , toxic tony , carful who you vote for @@gregoryclark8217

[@Niko69420]

My grandfather helped build the railways in the early 50s, when he arrived in Australia from Poland! And my great-grandfather was a train conductor in Poland!

[@FriendlyHomie]

I'm Polish and I work on UK railways fixing transformers!

[@whistlingspy]

It’s why they call it the railway family. Generations work on the railways. It’s in the blood 👍👍

[@RobinWootton]

Terrific optimism and gladness to teach their ever evolving craft; that it may be perpetuated by the newcomers.

[@simonhattrell5321]

Another impeccable Edgar Anstey production. The quality of these films and the workmanship of these engineers is outstanding.

[@FerroequinologistofColorado]

This is one of many old railway films I absolutely love. I just love the old systems of signaling with the mechanical boxes, relays and all the old electromechanical tech used back in the day.

[@62bMoose]

09:50 "How much better to be in on a snag like this, than to hear about it in a classroom". Those were the days.

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

"Signalling is a profession and a craft" Not a truer word said, especially when you can go home from the box at the end of a shift with not one incident recorded in the diary! Nothing like the clack and slap of a manual lever frame box and the smell of Brasso. Great documentary, really enjoyed it.

[@npickle54]

Hello diesel dave

[@رمضانحسين-س6و]

ص٢

[@رمضانحسين-س6و]

ص

[@npickle54]

@@رمضانحسين-س6و hello squiggles

[@markcousins9337]

The Grand Hotel wants its microwave dish back.

[@davecude2189]

Started at Wimbledon Depot on the 12 August,1968 as a signalling probationer. It was just like this when I walked the railway lines over the next 4 years of my training. Brought back so many memories. S&T forever!

[@dodgydruid]

My late father done his E grade at Wimbledon A, him and his mate Johnny Woods, me father got F grade at London Bridge whilst Johnny ended up in Victoria. Victoria smoking was prohibited but LB they smoked like chimneys lol

[@09pawankumaryadaveee10]

Film Quality is so good

[@Dave.Thatcher1]

As an ex signalman on the southern, it saddened me to see that Signal Box being dismantled and torn down.....But that's the price of progress!

[@steeveedee4307]

@10:16 the instructor puts his finger straight into the interlocks in the point motor - I didn't see any disabling of the unit first. That could chop a finger straight off.

[@secretsquirel5306]

Mmm yes that's just what I was thinking when I saw that and EP point machines have a lot of power behind them

[@kaasmeester5903]

Funny how the Brits call them "points" and the 'Muricans call them "switches". Whereas us Dutchies call them wissels (changers) which is something between the US name and the German "Weichen", diverters.

[@jkirk888]

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

[@EgilGVB]

11:46 Curves. Nice shot. :-)

[@ianblakemore4681]

I used to work on the Darlington to Saltburn and Middlesbrough to Newcastle lines and I can say without doubt that working in the lever frame boxes was more satisfying than the switched signal boxes.

[@YukariAkiyamaTanks]

The footage in this is absolutely stunning.

[@Richardsrailway]

Super archive film . I would have loved to of had away all the frame and diagrams from barking box though !

[@kaasmeester5903]

Nice to see future signal engineers being trained out on the road, getting their hands dirty. They don't just need to learn how to design these systems on paper, but also get a feel for how they will fail in practice.

[@kitharrison8799]

These videos are the new Comfy 2023.

[@JimTLonW6]

Fascinating on several levels! I loved shots of people working with 'modern' equipment that's now itself obsolete. It was interesting too to see the amount of time given over to semaphore, which still hangs on in some locations today.

[@DrivermanO]

At 11.45. Curves - very good!

[@pacz8114]

Back in a time when dignity and consideration were regarded as significant in Western culture.

[@timamor915]

Just like today, then

[@kieronjohnson8834]

The dignity and consideration that spawned two world wars and Nazi death camps, Hitler, Stalin, apartheid, racial segregation in the U.S. and so forth? That 'dignity and consideration'? Misty-eyed bollocks.

[@axelhejnebo9142]

But not workplace-safety apparently...

[@pacz8114]

@@kieronjohnson8834 Mr. Johnson, you have confused government oversight with citizens on the whole -- a rookie mistake; therefore the "absolutely this" or "absolutely that" narrative of your content is of no viable consequence. Oh, and thank you for the name-calling -- which conveniently addresses my initial post...spot-on as it were. (Now, big boy, gimme a nice big smooooch-o-rama to make the hurt go away!!)

[@kieronjohnson8834]

@@pacz8114 How about I throw your thesaurus back at you? In a dignified and considered manner, naturally. Oh, and maybe you need reminding that governments tend to get voted in by people. Popular consent and all that.. people getting what they want. Sorry you were saying something about rookie mistakes?

[@robharding4028]

Like myself, Many people will have no idea the complexity involved in running our railways, This film has really opened my eyes to the enormous workings involved in a transport system, like we have here in Britain, Its mind boggling.

[@kevatcrewe]

My Dad is a Signalling Engineer. Excellent video, I remember the track diagrams well

[@Senna-xi1gr]

I used to sit in & watch the signal man at lucker signal box in the 70s while on holidays. Was fantastic. Thanks for video.👍🏆

[@felixthecleaner8843]

Awesome old film - Full Marks!

[@markhemzy8433]

A very interesting film, thanks for sharing.

[@dougalmcdougal8682]

Apprenticeships …. In these days of very few companies are prepared to invest the time and money to train in-house … preferring to source and compete with each other for a dwindling pool of trained & experienced men. My first 9 weeks of serving my time with BP as an instrument tech involved „ basic skills“ learning how to use hacksaws, chisels, files, and polishing. A fantastic start.

[@michaelbruchas6663]

Nothing like flannel jackets for safety gear along the tracks!

[@waleedarif6740]

Green; obviously not my favourite colour but any colour would do in them days. My older siblings were not even born but it is quite clear that there will never be a happy decade like the 1960s and the 1970s.

[@paulredding5864]

Great film and timely as I am just building sets of Ratio semaphores and controlling with megapoints controllers.

[@fookdatchit4245]

Love this era 1930s- 60s, especially the teaching vids

[@exb.r.buckeyeman845]

When men were men and our life and jobs meant something, I’m glad I experienced all of this and more.

[@vocedelpadrone7445]

Meraviglioso!! E che colori stupendi.

[@markrgreenlane]

What a wonderful time to have been an apprentice.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Great Warship cab ride through Reading at the beginning!

[@LektroiD]

Absolutely brilliant. What an amazing peek into our railway's history. Thank you for posting this superb video.

[@pauloconnor2980]

That junction @2:11 looks as busy as Bob Trimbole's travel agent!!!!

[@johnclayden1670]

Bloody 'ell .... modern 'elf 'n' safety'd 'ave an 'eart attack! (Great video - many thanks.)

[@standardranchstash221]

Haha... was just thinking that myself!

[@misterwhipple2870]

You're damned right! And they SHOULD! A grown man, sticking his fingers into machinery that could move at any time without warning. What kind of an example was he setting for those apprentices??? Would you drive without a seat belt, too?

[@thesteelrodent1796]

Lovely old film. The mix of colour and b/w footage is a bit odd, but then colour film was rather expensive in the 60s

[@alantraish3368]

Class 42 Warship interior cab footage and exterior shots too! Loved the southern EMU/Steam locos. Another BTF Classic I’ve not seen . Thanks 4 the upload

[@nicholasroberts6954]

Music by Edwin Astley . .

[@anubis6864]

Nice to see those shots taken in Reading Signal Works. That big lever frame they were assembling was for Llandeilo Junction.

[@exb.r.buckeyeman845]

Really, in West Wales.

[@ianomeara3963]

So much has changed since those days. And not for the best. I mean training our young ones.

[@TerryMurrayTalks]

I was a trainee technician with the GPO in the same decade, the film reminded me of a similar experience with the sector. Apprenticeships at that time were a great opportunity for young people setting out on their first job after leaving school at the age of 16. In particular technical apprenticeships involved in job training and part-time (Day-release) Technical educational in local colleges. There was the added advantage that trainees could easily move up the career ladder. There was a true functioning meritocracy, it was possible for the young trainees to expect a lifetime of advancement and employment ahead of them. - Happy days long gone.

[@desmcharris]

Very cool! Great history and how was the music! Enjoyed this immensely.Thank you.

[@johnsharp8632]

The loss of our great apprentice schemes (both craft and technical) has left us with a shortage of the skills needed to compete on the world stage. I completed a technical apprenticeship in the late 1960s and the transferable skills learned meant that I was involved in great projects right through to retirement. We have hoodwinked too many of our youngsters into thinking it is better to avoid engineering and instead study soft subjects like philosophy, psychology, media studies, history of art, the law, politics, special effects and other subjects for which there are no jobs other than with McDonalds or Burger King.

[@lionelgray]

NR operates an apprentice scheme for various disciplines including engineering.

[@heathcliff8624]

You are full of shit.

[@martynbertalan9143]

Great film. 👍

[@RamPMonyPers]

What fine teamwork!

[@alistairkewish651]

The fun really begins when your barriers fail and you are left alone to bleed off the hydraulics and operate everything manually.

[@knuckles1206]

1:42 The Southern Region, a beautiful example of Steam and Electric co-existing.

[@annoyingbstard9407]

18:10 must be one of the very last steam locos on the LTS line.

[@dodgydruid]

My late father started his box boy grade at North Kent Jnc pretty much where British railway signalling began, now all that remains is a concrete plinth.

[@basfinnis]

Really interesting video. Great stuff.

[@timhaigh2557]

fascinating, thank you

[@mce_AU]

Fantastic video. Cheers.

[@steeveedee4307]

@6:49 - We have one of those working red Hoover floor polishers we use on wooden flooring in Pickering UK. Also I was born in the year this was filmed.

[@melanierhianna]

That poor signal box :-( The 50s and 60s were so destructive. Look at the monstrosity that is the new Euston.

[@phaasch]

Soon to be the old Euston, thankfully. I just hope there's somehow space for a Doric Arch in its replacement.

[@wendellwhite5797]

And there was Dr. Beeching who basically ruined rail service throughout Britain.

[@wendellwhite5797]

@@esseel7896 I didn't Know about that background. Business is business. But still, the UK rail system is much better for people movers. The freight systems here in the US is better than across the pond.

[@wendellwhite5797]

@@esseel7896 I've seen two-mile freight trains in the Southwest that spans at least several of your villages and towns if not more. I think that the only country that has more uglier trains than the US is North Korea. They have to buy old stock, so that gives them an excuse.

[@eddyaudio]

@@wendellwhite5797 And his Mate Philip Shirley that stuffed the NSW Railway’s in Australia.

[@phaasch]

And all done without a hi-viz or safety harness to be seen anywhere.

[@ahorsewithnoname643]

And sticking your finger in the moving parts without isolating them.

[@_Zekken]

Yep and thats why there were a shitload more injuries and deaths from those jobs back then.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

Or hard hats and jobsworth clipboards.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

@@_Zekken Oh shut up.

[@_Zekken]

@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome uhh why?

[@andyrob3259]

@11.40. Hehe. Very 1960’s. Girly calendar in the background.

[@nigelsabin1713]

Would be a 'boy ee' one these days,or it would be banned!! Woke nonsense!!!

[@ronniebiggs4026]

Good spot dude 👌😂👏

[@thegardensentinel]

Was that your mum or you just train spotty? Hehe,, woke blanker,,, wudge wudge nank nank, say no more!

[@andyrob3259]

@@thegardensentinel lol. I wish my mum looked like that.

[@alistairkewish651]

So there was this power cut in the Trent area. The most obvious question was - where are the back up generators? The answer - there wasn’t / weren’t any. Ooops!

[@computeraddic675]

Yeah,British railways was surtenly back in Time in those days!I remember traveling by train in the Netherlands back then and no steamtrain in sight everywhere..Passengerstrain or freighttrain..All electric..

[@thomasdeturk5142]

60 years ago today

[@kevinstaddon1956]

Superb

[@MM0IMC]

23:55 Looks like part of the old Woodhead route, judging by the OHLE...

[@Isochest]

Well there are plenty of semaphore signals on the UK Rail network to this day

[@aaronwilkinson8963]

I work on the railway now and all this has been replaced or getting replaced

[@alistairkewish651]

No hi viz jackets worn at this point. ( no pun intended ) hope they survived.

[@jimeditorial]

Interesting time.....microwave communication and transistors, and steam trains still operating.

[@novakingood3788]

2:34 Looks like that lad on the right has the REME badge on his jacket.

[@michaelperkins5746]

Such a shame to what happened at the clapham disaster

[@kevinheard8364]

This could very well be the very first video of these that actually show SOMEbody actually WORKING on the railroad that doesn't look like they're "over 60!, themselves".....I can talk (I'm over 6 0as well)

[@eswnl1]

Every time I see steam trains on these videos, it’s strange that the third rail is already there. It must mean steam trains were gradually being replaced by electric trains.

[@andyg3]

i wonder where alot of these young chaps are now

[@eswnl1]

Being grandparents maybe?

[@brianparkhurst1019]

I think I've found my calling, to bad I'm 50 years+ to late.

[@pauloconnor2980]

British Railways obviously hadn't heard of PAH's in those days. Nobody was wearing gloves!!!

[@davedavis4269]

Health & safety nightmare nowadays 😂

[@southofthethames]

Strange how it's Colour Film until 18.50 then Black & White for the remainder

[@michaeldutsonlandscapephot2184]

Probably due to colour film not not having a fast ISO rating at the time i.e. not working very well at night in low light conditions, whereas B&W film did work well in low light.

[@Watchmaker_Gereon-Schloesser]

@@michaeldutsonlandscapephot2184 correct with the ASA/ISO. Very likely that this is Kodachrome which had 25 ASA in the early 60's. Kodachrome holds best the colors - GUARD/ RETAIN the original films even if digitalised. I think they will survive even that digi-stuff in the next solar storm (carrington event of 1859) or a russian EMP attack.

[@quintoflyer]

I spent 5 years in the S & T we were labourers for each department day release was a GPO course. 5 years wasted

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

What do you mean? That they just used you as free help during that time? Forgive me if I got that wrong.

[@dangruner5926]

Back when Britain was great. Often wish I was alive then :)

[@ianmedium]

I was and the living conditions now are much better for this class of person than they were back then!

[@rayrandall5680]

@@ianmedium I some times look back at that period and reminisce but i wouldn`t like to go back to them,no central heating,outside toilets etc.Life was pretty grey.

[@ianmedium]

@@rayrandall5680 exactly Ray, in winter my pocket money job was to go to the outside lavvy and break the ice in the bowl! And in the winter only two rooms warm where the fire was and in the kitchen. No minimum wage laws, don’t get me wrong, have lots of happy memories, it definitely was less rushed due to lack of phones and only three channels on the TV ( which for most like our family was rented as they cost so much to buy) and I bet those who never experienced it would love to go to the dentist back then, driller killers! There is good and bad in all times of course but apart from some fond reminiscing most who lived through it would rather live now even with all the things that are bad. I do however feel really sorry for anyone born in the nineties or later, there really is nothing new now as it was all invented before they were born and everything I think on tv or music is pretty bland in comparison. I sometimes sit and think, wow, I was alive when the Beatles played or when the real Hollywood greats were still alive or when concord flew. I think back then we were much more forward thinking than the younger generation now who seem to just want to live in our past in terms of fashion and other things.

[@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome]

@@ianmedium Live in our past? Mate, the younger gen now wants to destroy the past, and claim it was all bad or racist, sexist or whatever "ist" they can come up with, and pretend it never existed, and change the facts tyo suit their own. Indoctrinated by our shitty schools and colleges and turned into mini commies and socialists. Bunch of entitled, mollycoddled, spoiled brats who don't get told "no", and all need to do 2 years NS to learn some skills and discipline. That's what is lacking today. But I would love to go back 40 years to my youth. Sod mobile phones and the internet. It was way less complicated. Telly was better when it had 3 channels, much higher standard of programming. I don't even have cable/satellite anymore, got rid ages ago, it's all PC garbage and propaganda intended to brainwash us. If I could go back knowing what I know now, I'd be a bloody world beater. Plus I could blow people's minds by telling them about the future ahahaha!! Right, I'm off to continue working on the time machine. Cheers.

[@gwo7610]

ah fuck it lads, lets just burn the old shit outside the signal box, lets do the work at night with terrible flame lamps and no high vis, these were the days!

[@dblissmn]

Where's the overpass at about 5:03?

[@yuris6434]

Nice pics from 19th century

[@highdownmartin]

There’s some total muppets in signaling design now, Portsmouth harbour springs to mind. After you’ve had the platform indication on what used to be the home signal, there’s one more peg before you get to the buffers. It could be red, you could run by it , but when you get to it you’re blocking the entire station throat. So what’s the point in it being there ffs? Old school driver, retired, jobs gone to shit

[@EgilGVB]

Not a high visibility jacket in sight.

[@chrisperry8368]

Nor high vis trains, although it was not long before they gained yellow front panels

[@ZaphodHarkonnen]

@1:50 "Osh? Never heard of him. Is he the new fella starting tomorrow?" I'm happy we've learnt since then that maiming and killing the people who operate and maintain the railway is generally a bad idea.

[@tanyajane100]

Have they? Not according to recent RAIB reports...

[@chanchalkumarsonawane9732]

At 11:47 see what they actually studied in that room.....

[@petes6814]

Its just light bulbs (yeah I know - lamps) and wires, should have joined the permanent way for a mans life!!

[@markh.6687]

At 11:47....as he says "Curves", and the photo of the woman in the background showing her curves..

[@place910]

And not one square inch of high-vis to be seen!

[@JintySteam1]

Oops, must have run out of colour film at the end. XD lol (joking)

[@jijzer3284]

learn by doing it good lessons for phd's they think they know everything. here is shown how realy smart man where created

[@djcb4190]

These signal engineers corrode because copyright.

[@DarrenJCalvert]

Rubbers have motors these days - lol

[@fatboyslim785]

СЦБ

[@gainsbourg66]

How much worse the country is 60 years on. No one back then could have conceived how awful the places served by the new signalling would look in the future. The irony is that everyone assumed everything would be so much better, but Britain has been uglified and the British people have become a minority group in their own capital city.

[@chewyfoks1840]

How is it worse now than 60 years ago? (Answer without tech please, no internet, mobile text).

[@thomaspolice9400]

Yea, no Smallpox or Polio, little fatality on the track, and the last bit is filthy racism/xenophobia.

[@steveluckhurst2350]

Nice. Turned a pleasantly nostalgic video about railways into a racist rant. Considering the the population of London is just under 9.5m, and the total number of migrants living there is just under 3.5m I fail to see how that makes British people the "minority". Please check your facts before you crawl out from under your stone again.

[@coloradostrong]

@@thomaspolice9400 Nothing wrong keeping races separated. You go live with the 68 IQ morons that still make holes in the ground covered with leaves as a "home". And have carved sticks as "art". Countries have God set borders for a reason.

[@ansyansy1463]

@@steveluckhurst2350 ggb

[@ianburnett7333]

Terrorists must not know about Track Ciruits.

[@lrcb40]

Ah, those were the days! Working on a horizontal mill, with a shirt and tie on!

[@GregInTokyo]

Pens, pencils, motorized erasers, rulers, protractors and slide rules. No computers or CAD applications. Definitely “brain work”.

[@daviddrake9467]

Also curves, with a very apt poster in the background!

[@waleedarif6740]

But I bet any applicant was given the training he/she would need to understand the job properly. You wouldn't get any shitty speeches like ' Due to the overwhelming number of applicants, we cannot respond to all the applicants, so if you do not get a response from us within 3 weeks, please suggest that your application has been unssuccessful '.

[@markjosephbudgieridgard]

These vintage BTF are so enjoyable.... Lovely to see the majority of men wearing a shirt and tie.... and not a high viz vest or jacket in sight for those guys working on the rail network no goggles for eye protection in the engineering shop... Health and safety... What's that? Haha absolutely love watching these films a real snapshot into life in great Britain in the 50s/60s/70s excellent!

[@K1lostream]

Don't forget smoking fags, walking on operating tracks and slinging all the old junk on a bonfire!

[@christopherhulse8385]

It's great to see this period of time in colour.