This vintage railway film, produced by British Transport Films in 1962, shows what cleaning and detailing of urban and interurban rollingstock entails.
Gosh! When you watch these old films it just shows how much secondary work used to go into running trains! Makes me wonder if all this is still done today! But I guess this is one of the under appreciated part of rail travel. This is one of the reasons for the RMT
Managing a team of modern day aircraft cleaners, I can tell you that little has changed, except now all of that would have to be completed in 20 minutes by a total of 3 cleaners. Things may have been harder and more labour intensive back then, but standards were obviously way higher and to be honest I'm not convinced it was worse !
OK so a bit later than this but late 70's you used to be able to smack the seats to watch a great cloud of dust come out. The cleaning regime had certainly gone downhill a decade or so later. And work/study became Time and motion and you had no choice but to take part. Great film though loving these :)
Time and motion was usually a prelude to getting rid of half the staff. And given this was 1962 and Beechings report came out the following year I’ve no doubt that’s exactly what happened. Less thorough cleaning and reduced staff to save money.
These Women are worth their weight in gold. They should have been paid as much as the drivers as what they did was just as important. I remember the trains of the late 70's where the toilets in particular were in disgusting condition! It was a miracle that you came out of them without throwing up!
@@Mike8981 It is a balance between going around in a modern hospital corridor or being transported in someone's unkempt living room. Living room every time. This stuff was still rattling around in the 90s and I miss it.
I supervised carriage cleaners in the mid 1980s. That work study created a book where evert task was recorded in SMVs - standard Minute Values. I spent some time working nights at Blackpool Enfield Road. The Mk3 Lancashire Pullman was hand washed with Exmover every night. Hosed down rather than brushed rinsed. That was not an easy job, and that stuff was evil if you got it in your face.
I am incredulous that those women didn’t wear any kind of protective equipment! No gloves when using Carborex for example, a strong alkaline cleaner, or eye protection or even overalls! It looks like normal day wear, cardigans and blouses! Bet most of them had dreadful psoriasis or rashes! Health and safety sure has improved things!
Exmover.. wretched nasty stuff. I used it when I started out as a junior railman in 1975. Effectively a loco cleaner cleaning windscreen before becoming a secondman. The stuff would probably be banned today.
That opening sequence reminded me that in the 2000s the old slam door trains still arrived at Victoria and Waterloo with the doors flapped open and people jumping out and heading to be first out of gate, and all before the train had stopped moving!
That was the first thing that caught my eye. All those people quickly, efficiently leaving the train, all allowed to do so at their own risk. If those cleaners waited at the far end of the platform, they could've stayed cleaning within seconds of the train stopping.
@@VespaT5 The other factor with the old slam door Southern region stock was the sheer number of doors per carriage. No one ever had to queue to get out.
Each door weighd 200 weight which is quite heavy and if you were standing close to the platform edge when the train came in you'd get one hell of a whack which usually knocked you off your feet . It never happened to me personally but I saw it happen to many passengers while I was spotting locos .
So true. In past times the trains were comfortable and clean, a joy to travel on , I regularly travel on Hastings Diesels railtours on their "Thumper" made in 1956 and the soft seats filled with horsehair and felt are a joy to sit on , not like the modern hard thin plastic seats you get now. There was pride in your work in those days .
Watched this just at the right time, my monitor screen was rather grubby. But after all that effort by the cleaners, it's much clearer now. I can actually see what's going on in the video.
Very interesting film. These trains put their successors to shame when it comes to space and comfort. I would happily pay a hefty surcharge to travel in them than in the IEP trains, amd wait for one to come along. Pity it was not in colour. The upholstery is called "chain", I believe. The toilet basins and panelling was primrose on BR stock. LMS stock was green. At 9:00 and 13:00 s the GWR stock with Art Deco type hammock style suspension spring seating. 9:50 is BR EMU stock fitted with Gresley bogies as the BR design was so bad. The sleeping cars were very well thought-out and equipped. BR mark 1 bogies (first version with double bolsters) were on their way out by the time this film was made - they became rough riding after short a while and replaced by the B4 type and nothing better has come out since apart from the BT10 type which are a bit soft but can run at higher speeds. X-mover was probably oxalic acid.
Once again, B B R: Thank you. This very insightful upload shows how hard these women (and men) worked, behind the scenes. As a 'young' 70-year-old, I clearly remember travelling with my Grampa on steam-locomotive-driven trains from Glasgow Queen Street to Rannoch Station (on the West Highland Line, of course), where we and a few others from the Polmadie Anglers' Club would spend a few days living in a railway camping coach. Those wee holidays took place in the early to mid-1960s. We departed Queen Street circa 6am, arriving at Rannoch Station about 9am. Sometimes the coaches would have a corridor; sometimes not. The coaches were always pristine. Shame I did not realise (as a circa 14-year-old) how that cleanliness came about! Remembrances over, until the next time ... Stay free. Rab 🎯 🍻 😎
Polmadie Anglers Club? Don't remember many ponds or rivers in Polmadie😁 Spent many days there in the 70s grabbing loco numbers and trying not to get chased away. All gone now thanks to the motorway. A lot of Glasgow and my memories as a 54 year old swept away. Mind how you go Rab.
@@jsa-z1722these were coaches (usually old and retired) that were placed in sidings or bay platforms of railway stations- in tourist areas such as the Yorkshire Dales, Cornwall, Highlands. And they had been converted into a series of separate rooms for sleeping as holiday accommodation.
Keeps these videos coming. as they are great for research and inspirational for us model railway enthusiasts. to give ideas of what railways looked like back in those days....thank you for sharing...........Cheer's Tony
As a kid in the 60 we were lucky enough to ride in these carriages to Leeds when we went trainspotting 2 the sheds in in Holbeck Neville and Copley hill. This comfort Inn carriages will never return sadly.
Hi Graham thank you for your reply. its just like most railways of the past, they have either shrunk or disappeared through time. hence why i have re-built a station that was pulled down in 1998. south shields. and like of us are keeping our railway heritage alive. but in our own ways...best wishes Tony
I loved the smell of the cabins, beddings etc. Just looking at the cabins brings the overnight locomotive reminiscent in my mind. Wonderful days.❤❤❤❤❤. "Made in England" was the label choice for quality. Where did you lose it? Is it wealth, complacency or both??????
In the mid 60's I used to go on many enthusiasts rail tours with steam haulage, often starting at Waterloo, and I would take a damp cloth in a plastic bag with me to clean the window by my seat. The glass was often so filthy I couldn't see much out of it.
What I wouldn't give to be able to sit on those big, springy bench seats in a nice Mk1 corridor coach on the way to/from London today! Sure the modern trains are faster, safer etc. but also damn sterile inside!
The seats in alot of modern trains are not comfortable at all. I can't work out if this the point....eg. they don't want you to be in the train for too long; or whether it's to do with savage 'cost cutting'. Either way it's not good enough. Not really acceptable imo. But the TOC's and the government don't care. Why would they when TOC execs and government ministers are chauffeur driven everywhere.
@@robtyman4281 Hate to play the devil's advocate, but those Mk1's, although comfortable, were a massive fire hazard if involved in a collision. The RSSB (Rail Safety and Standards Board) is responsible for the wood-like seating we see on trains today. The idea is if there's an accident, seats can be easily removed for trapped passengers and they won't serve as kindling for any fires to start. This isn't the first time trains have had rough seats mind you. One look at a Victorian carriage that wasn't for nobles will tell you that basic cushions were reserved for 1st class or royalty. Everyone else got wood and open air. Would be nice to ride from Paddington - Plymouth in a nice, cushioned seat, but the RSSB declared them unsafe, so no TOC can have them.
Great footage, the British always took a pride in train presentation. The cleanest trains I travelled on would have to be Japan, spotless. Love the old fashioned Bundy Clock, like the locomotive depot employee "token" system, all consigned to the past in favour of electronic swipe cards. Train interiors would have been easier to clean when the steam engines were phased out.
It's like ' Health and Safety Act ' was around in the 1960s when in the UK, it was founded in the 1970s. I'm aware that cakes, biscuits and breads were really popular in them days and so were franchises.
Makes me wonder if they didn't clean, would those who drop litter cease doing so? No doubt some would still do so, making us all pay for their slovenliness.
Yes....but they lived during a time when standards in their job and in life in general were considerably higher than we know today. I suspect they found a great deal of satisfaction in their well-organised employment which few would be able to claim nowadays. I found myself yearning for a return of those times.
Greedy bosses has ruined the railways nowadays ...no wonder strikes are an everyday occurrence. In fact Greedy bosses and politicians have ruined Britain
Thank you for this wonderful little film, it's very interesting to see :D Can i see a film about shunting operations, if you can find one? Anyway, good video as always
The shunting footage I have seen have been part of more general railway film. This one has an excellent (and hair-raising) feature about 11 minutes in. ruclips.net/video/QquUikuHf9M/видео.html
After 10 years service you're given a long handled brush and maybe even a vacuum cleaner!!! Cleaning all those winders with the same damp chamois is achieving little, your'e just spreading the dirt When were pressure wasers invented, why weren't these coaches cleaned in a car type wash. See later in film. My experience of commiter trains into St Pancras in the 70s was that the windows were generally filthy
Those were the days when you did a hard days (or nights) work and went home satisfied! These days there is only one job. Staring at a computer screen for hours!
Just want to go bck to that time period! Everything was right in its place and people had their own responsibility!! Peaceful days!! We have lost it sadly!! How many of you agree with me???
@nagarajsivamani1114 no TV, no video, no computer, no car, no foreign travel, coal smog everywhere, dirty coal heating, sod all food choices, low pay... the list goes on and on. I'm not saying there weren't benefits, but those glasses might be a bit rose tinted.
@10:50. I mean why do things efficient. Instead of removing the Exmover off by hand after scrubbing it in. Someone should have simply come along with a hose and hoses it off . Now ‘removed it with another brush with fresh water on it having to be replenished every 5 minutes.
Priceless. Interesting ‘gendered division of labour’. All seats line up with the windows which for some reason cannot be accomplished in trains today. Many passengers are stuck with hardly any, and sometimes NO window to look out of, plus high seat backs in front of them close, making for a claustrophobic experience.
Not to mention the endless train announcements which are stupid and drive you crazy. The train companies obvoiuoulsy think the travelling public are totally stupid and we should be treated with complete contempt. They clearly admire the Ryanair approach to customer-care.
@@Clivestravelandtrains I admit to getting very irritated by stations being referred to as ‘the next calling point is’, ‘train stations’. ‘Doncaster is the next Stop’ is better. When zipping along at 125mph I am definitely a ‘passenger’ who has entrusted the ‘train operator’ aka ‘railway company’ with my safety. I’m not in a position to tell the ‘provider’ to ‘go faster’ ‘stop welcoming me to Winersh Triangle’ ‘put on extra carriages’ ‘tighten up all the fastenings so the train does not rattle so much’ and ‘make sure all seats line up with windows’ etc. I have tried of course, but oddly enough, the railway is ‘not customer focussed’. I am ok with safety as I’d rather arrive late than dead. Yours Truly, A Passenger 😉
@@stephensmith799 Agree that the railways have a good record on safety, right from 1825 they learn lessons from every single accident. I think the announcements go too far though. On my line, it takes about three minutes to get from Robroyston to Stepps (my station) and we get "The next station is Stepps" TWICE then "We'll soon arrive at Stepps" then "This is Stepps" - all in the space of three minutes. When I go Stepps-Edinburgh (which takes about an hour) the announcements seem continuous. Totally un-necessary but when you question it, the answer is that it's for Safety therefore you can't question it - which I think means that some Jobsworth Safety Officer sits in an office all day dreaming up announcments and notices to justify their job. And you CANNOT question anything a Safety Officer says, no matter how ridiculous, because they tell you that you obviously don't care if people die. Incidentally, they can't say "the next stop" they have to say "the next station" because the next stop might just be a red signal.
No, it was a British brand of soft drink. Mainly orange, I think. Often sold in cinemas during the interval by a woman with a a dimy-lit strap-on tray thing. Also sold tubs of ice cream and choc ices. I asked ChatGPT "What is the correct term for the strap-on tray used for selling ice creams in cinemas during the interval?" "The correct term for the strap-on tray used for selling ice creams in cinemas during the interval is often referred to as an 'usherette tray' or simply an 'usher tray.' Usherettes were traditionally female attendants in theaters who would assist patrons and sell snacks, including ice cream, using these trays. The trays are designed to be worn around the neck or strapped to the front of the usherette, allowing them to easily carry and sell snacks to audience members during breaks in the show."
I’m disappointed. They didn’t show the team that block up the lavatory, pee on the floor, steal the soap and block the sink, take away the loo roll and then lock the door from the outside so no one can get in anyway. Those were the days.
Exmover = Oxalic Acid Still used/available today however it’s now sold in ready mixed liquid form as Thickened Exmover rather than just dry crystals. Procedure for use is the same (except for the lack of PPE in the vid)
why do i remember the carriages (kings cross to peterborough and beyond) as being dirty and worn out..? i certainly never saw a platform in the mid 60's that wasn't covered in litter, they obviously did major cleanup for the intro to this film... nevertheless, films like this bring back great memories... :-)
This is such an interesting and informative film! It’s like looking through the window of a Time Machine. But I CRINGE when I see those women dipping their bare hands into buckets of cleaning chemicals! Gloves, girls, where are the gloves?
The way passengers open the doors just before the train stops must have been a safety issue, modern trains all or most are electrically operated by the driver at stops with control on closing the doors by the guard but not always as well as the despatchers seeing that no one is too close to the train at moment of departure. Also bet those woman cleaners never handed-in all the coins found under seats etc where an uncovered half-crown would be just about one hour's wages in 1962. Hand bashing in the depot, that's the men with the long handle brooms washing the train exterior should wear goggles to avoid splashbacks, apart from that all appear to be doing a good job. British rail need to be bought back, would be better nationalised should become a improved service & an end to outsourcing those train cleaners of today.
It was a safety issue but a personal one not a corporate one. Each person knew & accepted their limits. They knew what spotted they could jump off at, just like they did on the old buses. Today, people always look to blame someone else, this is why we are now completely locked in trains until the driver/guard decides to let us out.
@@VespaT5 Yes, common sense and personal responsibility were more part of daily life then. BR did have a poster addressing the issue of opening doors before the train had stopped. It was titled "A moment's impatience, a lifetime of remorse", and showed an arrogant looking businessman opening a door, which is knocking down a young girl. I never forgot it.
No dust masks for those brushing seats or any other protection for the chemicals on their hands or that which would drip in their eyes when cleaning ceilings. The good old days!
@@nikerailfanningttm9046 First female train driver in UK was Karen Harrison in 1977 , yes it has been a male dominated profession . I worked for Db Cargo , in past 10 years they have taken on quite a few female freight drivers , daughter drove for Db Cargo on freight then drove for Freightliner
Aye and made so by people who do anything they please like putting their feet up on seats opposite with or without removing their shoes and it makes no difference despite the bs counter indignation claim that shoeless they make nothing dirty well maybe not but it is no less a filthy disrespectful gesture...and all badly brought up and expecting others to run behind them to clean up after their selfish lack of consideration for others. Two years of National Service would cure them!
16:38 As an EX BR man I remember the work-study AKA: 'time & motion' men assessing my productivity as 'piece work' was part of the norm.
Gosh! When you watch these old films it just shows how much secondary work used to go into running trains! Makes me wonder if all this is still done today! But I guess this is one of the under appreciated part of rail travel. This is one of the reasons for the RMT
Managing a team of modern day aircraft cleaners, I can tell you that little has changed, except now all of that would have to be completed in 20 minutes by a total of 3 cleaners. Things may have been harder and more labour intensive back then, but standards were obviously way higher and to be honest I'm not convinced it was worse !
OK so a bit later than this but late 70's you used to be able to smack the seats to watch a great cloud of dust come out. The cleaning regime had certainly gone downhill a decade or so later. And work/study became Time and motion and you had no choice but to take part.
Great film though loving these :)
Time and motion was usually a prelude to getting rid of half the staff. And given this was 1962 and Beechings report came out the following year I’ve no doubt that’s exactly what happened. Less thorough cleaning and reduced staff to save money.
Can't imagine many people would be prepared to do such hard work today ,mores the pity !
These Women are worth their weight in gold. They should have been paid as much as the drivers as what they did was just as important. I remember the trains of the late 70's where the toilets in particular were in disgusting condition! It was a miracle that you came out of them without throwing up!
A vanished world, if ever there was one. Fantastic film.
Yes Paul you're right they were so comfortable and quality upholstery sadly will never return
@@grahamfrear9270 The trains were smelly and generally dirty and uncomfortable. Modern trains are generally much nicer - believe me!
@@Mike8981 It is a balance between going around in a modern hospital corridor or being transported in someone's unkempt living room. Living room every time. This stuff was still rattling around in the 90s and I miss it.
No one ever calls in too say now clean trains are only the defects.
Wonderful film from a different time long a go.....
Lovely old film and beautiful MkI coaches in maroon livery. How I enjoy making those in 4mm scale.
4mm scale you have the patience of a saint and fingers that don’t wobble lol
I supervised carriage cleaners in the mid 1980s. That work study created a book where evert task was recorded in SMVs - standard Minute Values. I spent some time working nights at Blackpool Enfield Road. The Mk3 Lancashire Pullman was hand washed with Exmover every night. Hosed down rather than brushed rinsed. That was not an easy job, and that stuff was evil if you got it in your face.
I am incredulous that those women didn’t wear any kind of protective equipment! No gloves when using Carborex for example, a strong alkaline cleaner, or eye protection or even overalls! It looks like normal day wear, cardigans and blouses! Bet most of them had dreadful psoriasis or rashes! Health and safety sure has improved things!
Exmover.. wretched nasty stuff. I used it when I started out as a junior railman in 1975. Effectively a loco cleaner cleaning windscreen before becoming a secondman. The stuff would probably be banned today.
That opening sequence reminded me that in the 2000s the old slam door trains still arrived at Victoria and Waterloo with the doors flapped open and people jumping out and heading to be first out of gate, and all before the train had stopped moving!
That was the first thing that caught my eye. All those people quickly, efficiently leaving the train, all allowed to do so at their own risk. If those cleaners waited at the far end of the platform, they could've stayed cleaning within seconds of the train stopping.
@@VespaT5 The other factor with the old slam door Southern region stock was the sheer number of doors per carriage. No one ever had to queue to get out.
Each door weighd 200 weight which is quite heavy and if you were standing close to the platform edge when the train came in you'd get one hell of a whack which usually knocked you off your feet . It never happened to me personally but I saw it happen to many passengers while I was spotting locos .
Yes, I remember it well stampeding towards the Ticket Barriers….God help the poor sod who fell over in that rush!!!
Just look at the lovely comfortable interior of the carriages a joy to sit in.
When first class *WAS* first class, not just second class badged as first class
Second class were just as comfortable.
By the 70s though everything was utterly filthy and broken on British Railways
@@hoofie2002that was what that time and motion man was doing. Working out how many to retrench and hence by the 70’s we got dirty transport.
So true. In past times the trains were comfortable and clean, a joy to travel on , I regularly travel on Hastings Diesels railtours on their "Thumper" made in 1956 and the soft seats filled with horsehair and felt are a joy to sit on , not like the modern hard thin plastic seats you get now. There was pride in your work in those days .
love the vacuum cleaner. sounds like an rb211 turbo fan engine spooling up.
Watched this just at the right time, my monitor screen was rather grubby. But after all that effort by the cleaners, it's much
clearer now. I can actually see what's going on in the video.
5.20 She always wanted to clean mirrors. She could see herself doing that job.
My dad used to have a summer job at EMR washing the train windows just how they did it in the video. He still uses the same technique to was cars.
Interesting and strangely relaxing film. The lack of PPE was certainly an eye opener!
Notice their was no hi-vis clothing back then and no hard hats either
@@annie482000*there
From my experience in corridor coaches on the SVR, I would wish anything for them to return to the mainline permanently.
Very interesting film.
These trains put their successors to shame when it comes to space and comfort. I would happily pay a hefty surcharge to travel in them than in the IEP trains, amd wait for one to come along. Pity it was not in colour. The upholstery is called "chain", I believe. The toilet basins and panelling was primrose on BR stock. LMS stock was green.
At 9:00 and 13:00 s the GWR stock with Art Deco type hammock style suspension spring seating. 9:50 is BR EMU stock fitted with Gresley bogies as the BR design was so bad. The sleeping cars were very well thought-out and equipped.
BR mark 1 bogies (first version with double bolsters) were on their way out by the time this film was made - they became rough riding after short a while and replaced by the B4 type and nothing better has come out since apart from the BT10 type which are a bit soft but can run at higher speeds.
X-mover was probably oxalic acid.
We need to go back to basics. These are great films.
That’s the good old days where the people doing this job had it hard but respected.
Once again, B B R: Thank you. This very insightful upload shows how hard these women (and men) worked, behind the scenes.
As a 'young' 70-year-old, I clearly remember travelling with my Grampa on steam-locomotive-driven trains from Glasgow Queen Street to Rannoch Station (on the West Highland Line, of course), where we and a few others from the Polmadie Anglers' Club would spend a few days living in a railway camping coach. Those wee holidays took place in the early to mid-1960s.
We departed Queen Street circa 6am, arriving at Rannoch Station about 9am. Sometimes the coaches would have a corridor; sometimes not. The coaches were always pristine. Shame I did not realise (as a circa 14-year-old) how that cleanliness came about!
Remembrances over, until the next time ...
Stay free. Rab 🎯 🍻 😎
Polmadie Anglers Club? Don't remember many ponds or rivers in Polmadie😁 Spent many days there in the 70s grabbing loco numbers and trying not to get chased away. All gone now thanks to the motorway. A lot of Glasgow and my memories as a 54 year old swept away.
Mind how you go Rab.
A railway camping coach? Please tell us more! I’ve not heard of these. 😊
@@jsa-z1722these were coaches (usually old and retired) that were placed in sidings or bay platforms of railway stations- in tourist areas such as the Yorkshire Dales, Cornwall, Highlands. And they had been converted into a series of separate rooms for sleeping as holiday accommodation.
My gran used to do this, Finsbury Park carriage sheds...
Great film, thanks for posting. Jobs for everyone in those days, hard work to.
They missed the bit where one checked under the cushions in the first class for the dirty magazines.
A great piece of social history!
Love the buckets!
Amazing no Graffiti .
Keeps these videos coming. as they are great for research and inspirational for us model railway enthusiasts. to give ideas of what railways looked like back in those days....thank you for sharing...........Cheer's Tony
As a kid in the 60 we were lucky enough to ride in these carriages to Leeds when we went trainspotting 2 the sheds in in Holbeck Neville and Copley hill. This comfort Inn carriages will never return sadly.
Hi Graham thank you for your reply. its just like most railways of the past, they have either shrunk or disappeared through time. hence why i have re-built a station that was pulled down in 1998. south shields. and like of us are keeping our railway heritage alive. but in our own ways...best wishes Tony
I loved the smell of the cabins, beddings etc. Just looking at the cabins brings the overnight locomotive reminiscent in my mind. Wonderful days.❤❤❤❤❤. "Made in England" was the label choice for quality. Where did you lose it? Is it wealth, complacency or both??????
Just discovered site. And I'm glad I did. Amazing footage. Thankyou
The station at the start of the film was Liverpool Street station, the depot i think is Stratford which in those days occupied a huge area.
I remember seeing the flags on the coaches at Longsight and Newton Heath depots
In the mid 60's I used to go on many enthusiasts rail tours with steam haulage, often starting at Waterloo, and I would take a damp cloth in a plastic bag with me to clean the window by my seat. The glass was often so filthy I couldn't see much out of it.
... I see the Ladies all wore a nice bright Cardigan for the film. Good & honest viewing...👍🎶💃🕺🍻
good lord
the number of times i taken trains all over Uk,
and never once spared a thought for these chaps/esses.
wow
One rag cleans a multitude of surfaces without rinsing. Two buckets of water and a few brushes and hey presto the carriage is clean.
most enjoyable. thank you
What I wouldn't give to be able to sit on those big, springy bench seats in a nice Mk1 corridor coach on the way to/from London today! Sure the modern trains are faster, safer etc. but also damn sterile inside!
Me, too. Travel was a joyful and sometimes exciting experience, in those days.
older mock 1 coaches were much more luxurious than the modern ones
The seats in alot of modern trains are not comfortable at all. I can't work out if this the point....eg. they don't want you to be in the train for too long; or whether it's to do with savage 'cost cutting'. Either way it's not good enough. Not really acceptable imo.
But the TOC's and the government don't care. Why would they when TOC execs and government ministers are chauffeur driven everywhere.
I remember going across the Peak District from Manchester on an old train with these seats, simply wonderful, todays seats are hideous by comparison.
@@robtyman4281 Hate to play the devil's advocate, but those Mk1's, although comfortable, were a massive fire hazard if involved in a collision. The RSSB (Rail Safety and Standards Board) is responsible for the wood-like seating we see on trains today. The idea is if there's an accident, seats can be easily removed for trapped passengers and they won't serve as kindling for any fires to start.
This isn't the first time trains have had rough seats mind you. One look at a Victorian carriage that wasn't for nobles will tell you that basic cushions were reserved for 1st class or royalty. Everyone else got wood and open air. Would be nice to ride from Paddington - Plymouth in a nice, cushioned seat, but the RSSB declared them unsafe, so no TOC can have them.
Nice documentary.
So satisfying!
Great footage, the British always took a pride in train presentation. The cleanest trains I travelled on would have to be Japan, spotless. Love the old fashioned Bundy Clock, like the locomotive depot employee "token" system, all consigned to the past in favour of electronic swipe cards. Train interiors would have been easier to clean when the steam engines were phased out.
Everyone smoked then, it would have been a horrible job cleaning the thick brown layer off those white ceilings and glass lampshades!
Enchanting 👍
It's like ' Health and Safety Act ' was around in the 1960s when in the UK, it was founded in the 1970s. I'm aware that cakes, biscuits and breads were really popular in them days and so were franchises.
Those were the days.
Makes me wonder if they didn't clean, would those who drop litter cease doing so? No doubt some would still do so, making us all pay for their slovenliness.
Was the station at the start Liverpool St?
It’s a shame to think that probably the majority of people in this film are dead or well into their nineties.
I was just thinking the same, I do love these old films but like you often think "even the children are at least pensioners now"
Yes....but they lived during a time when standards in their job and in life in general were considerably higher than we know today. I suspect they found a great deal of satisfaction in their well-organised employment which few would be able to claim nowadays. I found myself yearning for a return of those times.
Worlds gone mad these days
Greedy bosses has ruined the railways nowadays ...no wonder strikes are an everyday occurrence. In fact Greedy bosses and politicians have ruined Britain
@@andybailey9347Yeah, whatever happens to those lovely world wars.
God bless those Women.....
Where was the opening terminal? I'm thinking Liverpool Street in London?
Nice
4:00 - bottles are returned to canteens or bottle makers. Not crushed, and neither these are disposable plastic bottles, dumped in the ocean.
Everyone took pride in their work
Well, they did when they were being filmed.
Thank you for this wonderful little film, it's very interesting to see :D
Can i see a film about shunting operations, if you can find one?
Anyway, good video as always
The shunting footage I have seen have been part of more general railway film. This one has an excellent (and hair-raising) feature about 11 minutes in. ruclips.net/video/QquUikuHf9M/видео.html
After 10 years service you're given a long handled brush and maybe even a vacuum cleaner!!! Cleaning all those winders with the same damp chamois is achieving little, your'e just spreading the dirt
When were pressure wasers invented, why weren't these coaches cleaned in a car type wash. See later in film. My experience of commiter trains into St Pancras in the 70s was that the windows were generally filthy
1657 - 1703 is reconstuction of Colchester in 1960/61 or possibly a bit earlier
Is that when the North bit of Colchester North was dropped?
I wonder what ‘elfin saftie’ would have to say about the guy on the carriage roof and jumping over the gap between them.
British Transport Police. Formed on 1st January 1949.
When trains looked like trains a family could relax in their own compartment
Luxury…..better than today’s trains one hundred times over
And not a single Hi-viz jacket in sight
9:14 “gotta vacuum this coach”
“Start the Bristol Jet Vacuum, over”
“Copy that!”
Hard work in the 60's.
Those were the days when you did a hard days (or nights) work and went home satisfied! These days there is only one job. Staring at a computer screen for hours!
Just want to go bck to that time period! Everything was right in its place and people had their own responsibility!! Peaceful days!! We have lost it sadly!! How many of you agree with me???
@nagarajsivamani1114 no TV, no video, no computer, no car, no foreign travel, coal smog everywhere, dirty coal heating, sod all food choices, low pay... the list goes on and on. I'm not saying there weren't benefits, but those glasses might be a bit rose tinted.
Cleaning, the most underrated Job in history , yet without it, life would be that much poorer, health and wellbeing...
Thorough indeed. But it's too labor intensive for today's railways.
@10:50. I mean why do things efficient. Instead of removing the Exmover off by hand after scrubbing it in. Someone should have simply come along with a hose and hoses it off . Now ‘removed it with another brush with fresh water on it having to be replenished every 5 minutes.
Priceless. Interesting ‘gendered division of labour’. All seats line up with the windows which for some reason cannot be accomplished in trains today. Many passengers are stuck with hardly any, and sometimes NO window to look out of, plus high seat backs in front of them close, making for a claustrophobic experience.
Not to mention the endless train announcements which are stupid and drive you crazy. The train companies obvoiuoulsy think the travelling public are totally stupid and we should be treated with complete contempt. They clearly admire the Ryanair approach to customer-care.
@@Clivestravelandtrains I admit to getting very irritated by stations being referred to as ‘the next calling point is’, ‘train stations’. ‘Doncaster is the next Stop’ is better. When zipping along at 125mph I am definitely a ‘passenger’ who has entrusted the ‘train operator’ aka ‘railway company’ with my safety. I’m not in a position to tell the ‘provider’ to ‘go faster’ ‘stop welcoming me to Winersh Triangle’ ‘put on extra carriages’ ‘tighten up all the fastenings so the train does not rattle so much’ and ‘make sure all seats line up with windows’ etc. I have tried of course, but oddly enough, the railway is ‘not customer focussed’. I am ok with safety as I’d rather arrive late than dead. Yours Truly, A Passenger 😉
@@stephensmith799 Agree that the railways have a good record on safety, right from 1825 they learn lessons from every single accident. I think the announcements go too far though. On my line, it takes about three minutes to get from Robroyston to Stepps (my station) and we get "The next station is Stepps" TWICE then "We'll soon arrive at Stepps" then "This is Stepps" - all in the space of three minutes. When I go Stepps-Edinburgh (which takes about an hour) the announcements seem continuous. Totally un-necessary but when you question it, the answer is that it's for Safety therefore you can't question it - which I think means that some Jobsworth Safety Officer sits in an office all day dreaming up announcments and notices to justify their job. And you CANNOT question anything a Safety Officer says, no matter how ridiculous, because they tell you that you obviously don't care if people die.
Incidentally, they can't say "the next stop" they have to say "the next station" because the next stop might just be a red signal.
@@Clivestravelandtrains Enduring that every trip… Aaaaargh!
You don’t get that level of cleaning on a turn around trip for any train in Britain like that these days .
"Kia Ora" box come from New Zealand ?
No, it was a British brand of soft drink. Mainly orange, I think. Often sold in cinemas during the interval by a woman with a a dimy-lit strap-on tray thing. Also sold tubs of ice cream and choc ices.
I asked ChatGPT "What is the correct term for the strap-on tray used for selling ice creams in cinemas during the interval?"
"The correct term for the strap-on tray used for selling ice creams in cinemas during the interval is often referred to as an 'usherette tray' or simply an 'usher tray.' Usherettes were traditionally female attendants in theaters who would assist patrons and sell snacks, including ice cream, using these trays. The trays are designed to be worn around the neck or strapped to the front of the usherette, allowing them to easily carry and sell snacks to audience members during breaks in the show."
I’m disappointed. They didn’t show the team that block up the lavatory, pee on the floor, steal the soap and block the sink, take away the loo roll and then lock the door from the outside so no one can get in anyway. Those were the days.
0:16, aaaaaah, the pre-covid years, where train travel was taken in large groups and passengers debarked all at one time, those were the days
also pre vaxxing, praise Quanon!!!
@@keithskelhorne3993hate to break this too you. Vacinations existed in 1962.
And if you look at the state of some of our roadsides they now throw their rubbish out of the car window rather than drop it on the carriage floor!
No High vis coats - and the ladies are walking across the tracks after waiting for a gap. Not today!
17:02 is that footage of a class 15?
Looks like it. Must be quite rare.
Talking about social distancing, BR, could have upgraded their livery stock, much, much, earlier.!
I wonder how many fell from the roofs of the coaches. Plenty of trip hazards up there. Add leather soles and heels.
Exmover = trisodium phosphate?
Exmover = Oxalic Acid
Still used/available today however it’s now sold in ready mixed liquid form as Thickened Exmover rather than just dry crystals. Procedure for use is the same (except for the lack of PPE in the vid)
@@19MRJ85 Thanks
why do i remember the carriages (kings cross to peterborough and beyond) as being dirty and worn out..? i certainly never saw a platform in the mid 60's that wasn't covered in litter, they obviously did major cleanup for the intro to this film... nevertheless, films like this bring back great memories... :-)
I have to agree. I have heard reports from a lot of people that the carriages were dirty mainly from the steam at that time.
@@stablefairy9437True , and half the passengers smoking didn’t help either.
2:00Foreman hadn't been paid for a speaking part
The opening shot looks like London Victoria
i think it was Liverpool Street
I must be doing something wrong, the first 10 seconds or so just keep looping.
I notice the cleaning ladies do nt use rubber gloves.
Poor Hands
This is such an interesting and informative film! It’s like looking through the window of a Time Machine. But I CRINGE when I see those women dipping their bare hands into buckets of cleaning chemicals! Gloves, girls, where are the gloves?
The way passengers open the doors just before the train stops must have been a safety issue, modern trains all or most are electrically operated by the driver at stops with control on closing the doors by the guard but not always as well as the despatchers seeing that no one is too close to the train at moment of departure.
Also bet those woman cleaners never handed-in all the coins found under seats etc where an uncovered half-crown would be just about one hour's wages in 1962.
Hand bashing in the depot, that's the men with the long handle brooms washing the train exterior should wear goggles to avoid splashbacks, apart from that all appear to be doing a good job.
British rail need to be bought back, would be better nationalised should become a improved service & an end to outsourcing those train cleaners of today.
It was a safety issue but a personal one not a corporate one. Each person knew & accepted their limits. They knew what spotted they could jump off at, just like they did on the old buses. Today, people always look to blame someone else, this is why we are now completely locked in trains until the driver/guard decides to let us out.
@@VespaT5 Yes, common sense and personal responsibility were more part of daily life then.
BR did have a poster addressing the issue of opening doors before the train had stopped. It was titled "A moment's impatience, a lifetime of remorse", and showed an arrogant looking businessman opening a door, which is knocking down a young girl.
I never forgot it.
Not to be a "Debbie Downer", but I couldn't help notice the difference in workplace safety between then and now.
Could someone send this video to Southeastern Railways training department please lol
...and people slate 'British Rail/Ways'...seems to me things were much better in those days.....
It might help if the passengers weren't slobs - even to this day.
That's a bit of a hard comment 😕 I would like to think I'm not a slob. As you so eloquently put it. I love the trains past and present 😁
@@fran-kittyayers5329 Sorry, I should have said a FEW passengers. Most, I'm sure are responsible people.
@@bearbon2 thankyou. Xx
P.s that's a cute doggie 😍
To think the majority lived through and survived wwll and some wwl also
Pinching the sugar and milk 17:48?
Yes, but would want sterilised milk. Gastly stuff.
Bare hands in a carbolic solution? (Carbo-Cleanser) 12:46 onwards, Ye Ghads! - 'Elf 'n safe-tee would be having dickie fits in this day and age!
No dust masks for those brushing seats or any other protection for the chemicals on their hands or that which would drip in their eyes when cleaning ceilings. The good old days!
My goodness, did people leave that much junk behind 😳?
Far worse today!
The narrator is Welsh - I think.
I wonder how dangerous to health "x mover" was,and its ingredients !!
Narrated by Harry Enfield lol
Eye thenk ewe mate bee correct
Yes, I was expecting a "L" is for Labour.. "L" is for Lice.
Don't suppose these cleaners will progress to be drivers ,like the engine cleaners in the steam age
Nope, female enginemen weren’t around till the late 90’s I believe, yet even in the 90’s only 1 of every 100 women in England were engine drivers.
@@nikerailfanningttm9046 First female train driver in UK was Karen Harrison in 1977 , yes it has been a male dominated profession . I worked for Db Cargo , in past 10 years they have taken on quite a few female freight drivers , daughter drove for Db Cargo on freight then drove for Freightliner
Accountants ruined everything
Cleaning jobs were too much than in modern Ukrainian railways👍
Not like nowadays, filthy coaches. :(
Aye and made so by people who do anything they please like putting their feet up on seats opposite with or without removing their shoes and it makes no difference despite the bs counter indignation claim that shoeless they make nothing dirty well maybe not but it is no less a filthy disrespectful gesture...and all badly brought up and expecting others to run behind them to clean up after their selfish lack of consideration for others. Two years of National Service would cure them!
It's just some of society these no pride and couldn't