Rolling the Freight

“This film was a gift to me. I make no claims for it, nor do I offer any apologies. It comes from work on The Thoughts That Once We Had. There was one shot we had to cut whose loss I particularly regretted. It was a shot of a train pulling into Tokyo Station from Ozu’s The Only Son (1936). So I decided to make a film around this shot, an anthology of train arrivals. It comprises 26 scenes or shots from movies, 1904-2015. It has a simple serial structure: each black & white sequence in the first half rhymes with a color sequence in the second half. Thus the first shot and the final shot show trains arriving at stations in Japan from a low camera height. In the first shot (The Only Son), the train moves toward the right; in the last shot, it moves toward the left. A bullet train has replaced a steam locomotive. So after all these years, I’ve made another structural film, although that was not my original intention.”

Impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, before it was demolished. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2010.

A one-month-journey of twin sisters from London back to their home, Bangkok, by train. They traveled via the famous trans-Siberian route through many countries such as Germany, Russia, Mongolia and China, with many stories to tell.

This is the incredible story of the men and equipment that battle the long cold winter months against the impossible odds to keep this historic mountain pass open! You'll see the Legendary Snowfighters of Donner Pass in action as they struggle against the winter fury of the High Sierras. This amazing story shot with the full cooperation of the Southern Pacific, bringing you the spectacular footage that takes you directly to the front lines of The Battle for Donner Pass!

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Class 31s in Kent, Last 31s on Bedford to Bletchley line, Scottish 117 DMUs, Last 37s on China Clay in West Country, Freightliner 66s, Class 92s on West Coast duties, Yarmouth loco haulage, West Coast convoys with 37s, 73s and 31s, Sandite Class 37s, Welsh Rugby Specials, Dumfries Diversions, Class 66s News, Deltic and ‘Ixion’ specials, Bo’Ness Preservation, Dereham Anniversary, ‘Hastings’ unit on Yarmouth Special,Class 56s in decline with Ketton Cement, 56007 on engineers, Class 37 variety with double heading on steel workings, Sandite 37s, Freight News with Norfolk Freight, Green 101 unit, Double headed 37s on MGR and Baglan Bay Tanks, Freightliner 66s, Eurostars on test on ECML, Royal Train, Modernisation on Cromer Branch, ‘Crompton’ Special, West Somerset Autumn Gala, ‘Hastings’ unit, Extra trains to Rugby International at Cardiff with Deltic.

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

It was one of the greatest heists in British history. £3 million – worth over £40 million today – stolen from a moving train by a gang of thieves who almost got away with it.