British Steam - The Bluebell Railway (DVD)

Advantages: Fantasitc footage of the last days of steam
Disadvantages: None

...This is another in the eminently professionally produced DVD programmes on steam train released through Green Umbrella. With the Very Best of British Steam of Yesteryear, you are given a real feast for the eyes and also, for the memory, of course. Well, for those of us old enough to remember when steam trains regularly plied their business up and down the main lines of the United Kingdom. The last regular steam runs in Britain came to a very sad halt in August 1968. That's slightly under a year before the first manned space flight to the moon, for those interested in transport trivia. Without an unsung bunch of dedicated enthusiasts and professional and semi-professional film makers in the previous two decades, these wonderful steam trains would not be available to the general public. They would only exist as the personal... Read review

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Advantages: a nice day out, nostalgia,
Disadvantages: too expensive, stops too long in Mallaig

...slows down on the viaduct in order to take pictures and it is indeed a fantastic sight. We experienced steam at first hand, when we went through the tunnels and were left choking as the smoke came in through the door windows. On the return trip the train could not get up the hill and had to go back to make another go at it. Mallaig is pretty average really, your average fishing port really. We had some lunch in a cafe and wondered around the shops but it was quite difficult to kill 1.5 hours there and we were glad to get back on the train again. HARRY POTTER ++++++++++++++ Apparantly the West Coast Railway Company which runs the trips, supplied the engine and carriages for the Harry Potter films and the more recent films used some of the line for filming, especially the viaduct. The foreign tourists went mad over the Harry... Read review

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Advantages: The interview
Disadvantages: Not as good as it should be

...to stop running and just comes to an unceremonious halt. You are shown steam trains (where are they? What are they?) but you are given no details about their location, what they are used for, etc., which was, I thought, very disappointing. Various steam locomotives in stages of dishabille, obviously ready for maintenance work, were seen waiting. But where? It is clearly a preserved line, but if we were told, it was when the commentary was beaten by a combination of various noises off. The titles revealed that it was a preserved line in Gloucestershire. Interestingly, we are also shown a collection if preserved diesel locomotives. The next scene was recorded at the Chasewater Railway in Staffordshire. This was interesting, as it gave a rare opportunity to look at a wide-ranging collection of industrial locomotives and goods trucks... Read review

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