Extreme Railways

[westfalen]

Thanks densha, that proxy works. I'll have to watch these when I get the chance, I'm still going through the 45,000 yen worth of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs I bought back from Japan.

 

One thing I found with the old BBC Great Railway Journeys series was that apart from the episodes done by confessed railway enthusiasts like Michael Palin you didn't see much of the actual railway as they seemed intent on getting away from the train at every opportunity and they turned out like every other travel show except there were a couple of minutes of trains joining the scenes together. The BBC has made some of the best TV documentories on just about every subject imaginable but I don't think they've ever done a serious series on railways.

[Mr Frosty]

There has been a recent series presented by Michael Portillo on great railway journeys of UK and Europe. He has been using a copy of a 1913 Bradshaws railway book as a guide.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ntzsb/broadcasts/upcoming

 

The Switzerland one was particularly good. You guys may need to use that proxy link again.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

The first series of GRJotW was best for that...oddly enough I found Palin's trip through Britain perhaps the most contrived...Rainhill Trials celebration, Flying Scotsman across the Peak District, the Edinburgh Festival and the Highland games...all within a couple of days of each other! For me, South Africa followed by Peru were the best.

 

The series deteriorated as more 'celebrities', were used - although Japan had the journalist Fergal Kean.

 

The best series BBC did was about 20 years ago called 'The Train now Departing; 20 years since the end of steam'. I have never seen it repeated, although the 'modern' railway depicted in the series is now as distant to us as steam was to them; most of the routes were loco hauled then, none are today. A fascinating series using much of the Ivo Peters film archive dating from the 1950/60s.

[marknewton]

The BBC has made some of the best TV documentories on just about every subject imaginable but I don't think they've ever done a serious series on railways.

 

Have you seen "Railway Roundabout"? 

 

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[westfalen]

The BBC has made some of the best TV documentories on just about every subject imaginable but I don't think they've ever done a serious series on railways.

 

Have you seen "Railway Roundabout"? 

 

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

I'd forgotten about that one. I guess railways were more a part of people's lives back then.

[marknewton]

You're not wrong - it was a great series.

 

I can remember as a kid watching a short black&white program on the ABC which featured railways, the start of it was closeup footage of the wheels and motion of what appeared to be a French passenger engine, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Found a proxy:

(take note your internet connection goes via a private server so be sure NOT to fill in personal data or passwords and only watch this video with it)

http://www.justproxy.co.uk/

And then fill in this URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxHv77QKjGs

Thanks Densha and Mr. Frosty,  great series. Looking forward to seeing more.

 

Spiff

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

I thought I might report about this.  I watched all three video in series.  I want to try all. 

 

I found these video on a website called www.thebox.bz  The site has many video about British train.

 

I am excited.

 

Now, I am downloading 4 series of Great British Rail Journeys.  Already I watch 10 episodes.  Such enjoyment.

 

I recommend to you.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Ochanomizu

[Mr Frosty]

There is a second series now showing on Channel 5 in the UK.

 

http://www.channel5.com/shows/chris-tarrant-extreme-railway-journeys/episodes

 

Episode 5 should elicit some interest. :)

 

The Great Japanese Train Ride Chris journeys a thousand miles across Japan, starting out in Nagasaki, where the story of eastern railways began 150 years ago with the help of an enterprising Brit. In Fukuoka, he visits one of the Bullet Train's giant repair centres and in Hiroshima, he unravels what happened to its streetcar network after the world's first atomic bomb devastated the city. Along the way, the presenter also meets a superstar cat and a singing conductress, while also checking into a popular trainspotter hotel and riding a steam-powered mountain railway

 

 

[Fenway Park]

I enjoyed this episode. He was enthralled with Japanese railways and there were no sarcastic remarks.

Good variety 885 to 700 series Bullet plus views of 500 series. Oigawa Railway Hiroshima Tram 651 Gono Line plus Chuo Line..

 

Recommended.

[katoftw]

Cannot seems to get the payback to work on the BBC website.  Says "video unavailable".

[Densha]

I don't think this has been shared here before, so I'll post this here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA3IuzyQoC8

[toc36]

EXCELLENT!!!

[utrainia]

Just finished watching all of season 2. Enjoyed it on the whole, though his Japanese place name pronunciation was painful! A-o-mori!? And at times I found him a little rude or disrespectful to the locals. However the places he journeyed were quite spectacular.

 

PS: HD torrents of the series are available in the usual places.

[NXCALE]

Nice stuff, thanks for posting it.

 

Cheers,

 

Nxcale

[Ochanomizu]

Hello,

 

Yes, I watch season 2 about 2 months ago.  Much better than season 1.

 

Also, for those of you interested in British rail videos on Torrents ... TheBox is no longer operating.  I now get from TVChaosUK.

 

New series "Full Steam Ahead" just posted.  I have not yet watched.