Day Rover
This
programme, which was filmed in July 1997, has more history in it than
any other Locomaster ‘Wired for Sound’ title. And that’s because
most of what’s in it has gone….the Longbridge Rover car plant, the
regular trainloads of car components, Tinsley TMD and it’s Railfreight
Distribution Class 47s, Saltley depot. Sadly, they are all now but a
memory. But this cab-ride was filmed in happier times, when RfD’s
Longbridge-Swindon-Longbridge car component trains travelled out and
back via different routes, both of which were packed with interest and
challenging gradients.
The outward journey is filmed on board a pair of
immaculate Tinsley Type 4s – 47 236 & 47 375. After leaving
Rover’s Longbridge sidings the 900 tonne train travels south (after a
loco run-round at Kings Norton) descending the famous Lickey bank to
Bromsgrove before continuing on to Cheltenham. At Standish Junction the
47s take the scenic Golden Valley route where they tackle the tortuous
12-mile climb of Sapperton bank. With gradients as steep as 1 in 60, the
locos blast their way into the tunnel at the summit on full power! After
descending through Kemble, the train continues over the single-track
section to Swindon where it travels along the truncated remains of the
Highworth branch to reach its destination at the Pressed Steel factory
sidings. On departure from Swindon with the loaded train, the 47s travel
east along the Great Western main line as far as Didcot, before heading
north on a storming run to Oxford. The journey continues via Banbury,
Fenny Compton, Leamington Spa and the steeply-graded Hatton bank before
reaching the outskirts of Birmingham, where the train is routed via
Solihull and Tyseley to Washwood Heath yard. After a short break for a
locomotive change, there is a stirring finale as 47 286 & 47 285
tackle the notorious Camp Hill incline en route to Longbridge sidings.
Soon after this programme was filmed, RfD
disappeared following its purchase by EWS and the Rover trains
subsequently went over to Class 66 haulage. The car component traffic
ceased following the closure of the Longbridge plant in April 2005, by
which time the fleet of RfD 47s had also disappeared. As with our other
re-releases on DVD, this programme has not only been completely
digitally re-mastered from the original footage but because so much has
changed in the intervening years, there is also an updated and revised
script. We’ve also included some additional footage from inside the
then-thriving Longbridge rail terminal - all of which has since been
lifted! So this is a programme packed not only with traction nostalgia
but also a significant piece of Britain’s car manufacturing history.
"A classic programme of sheer enjoyment for the
modern traction enthusiast" Railway Magazine
