Hey Joe

What's Your Favorite Train Documentary and/or TV Program?

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Hey! Do you have a favorite TV show, series and/or documentary program about trains?

I've started to get interested in trains again after a long hiatus and am not so familiar with what's been put out recently.

Personally, I've always enjoyed Michael Palin's travel documentaries such as; 'Around the World in Eighty Days' and 'Pole to Pole', although they're not strictly about trains. He's also done a show in the 'Great Railway Journeys' series from the BBC, hasn't he?

There are a couple of railway-related series that I have been watching lately:

> 'Rail Away' - the English version is a documentary series of twenty-five programs in which they go to a different European country each show.

> 'Extreme Trains' - an American show of eight episodes with a different focus each time, i.e.; freight train, steam train, etc.

Kid-related shows are, of course, Thomas and the 'Choo Choo Bob Show'. There's also a show called 'Chuffington' or something like that, isn't there?

What have I missed?

Thanks, Joe

Edited by Hey Joe

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Choo Choo Bob is a kids show, but they assume the kids are thinking too and it works on an adult level as well. I'd recommend it if you have kids who are moderately into trains and definitely worth watching the free episode that's on line if you are board.

While it is not new, Emperor of the North Pole is a fairly accurate train movie.

Then there is

, a promo for timkin roller bearings. Then while sitting on youtube, search for "Night Mail"

Yeah, I'm going backwards in time not forwards

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Choo Choo Bob is a kids show, but they assume the kids are thinking too and it works on an adult level as well. I'd recommend it if you have kids who are moderately into trains and definitely worth watching the free episode that's on line if you are board.

While it is not new, Emperor of the North Pole is a fairly accurate train movie.

Then there is

, a promo for timkin roller bearings. Then while sitting on youtube, search for "Night Mail"

Hey, thanks!

"The Emperor of the North Pole" is actually in my video collection, but I've not watched it yet. I will do so promptly.

YouTube is blocked here in China. It's easy enough to get around with a VPN, but I'm a cheapskate!

Joe

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Well, I just finished watching "Emperor of the North Pole". Ernest Bourgnine played a very bizarre character, a demonic conductor. It really looked as though his eyes were going to literally pop out of his head when he was choking that 'kid'.

There are some really beautiful train shots in that film in a beautiful part of the US.

I'm not quite sure how I missed that film in first place, especially as one of my all-time favorite movies is "The Flim Flam Man" with George C. Scott. "Emperor" is a much darker film though and "The Flim Flam Man" has a stronger cast.

Joe

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I bought a DVD set of a whole bunch of old documentaries and other things a few years back. Most of them are in black and white. My favorite is a school video for the kids of that time. :laugh:

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I remember watching something like Great Railway Journeys when I was a child and it was quite fascinating for me back then.

At present Thomas the Tank Engine is the most favourite train-related show in our home, courtesy of my children. Though a kids series, the railway infrastructure shown is quite inspiring. Sometimes I must refrain from watching it in order no to get too much ideas. :laugh:

The other show that you mentioned is actually called Chuggington, but it is computer animated and in my opinion not even half as visually appealing as Thomas. But my elder son likes it anyway. :classic:

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In the U.S. we have a show on PBS called Tracks Ahead. It is mostly model railroads , Garden railways and prototype trains but sometimes they have LEGO trains if they are covering a NMRA event . Some of the episodes can be found on Youtube.

Bill

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Well here in Germany they have a show which has a lot of information on old trains, called Eisenbahn Romantic, its a little geeky but intersesting none the less

here is a link, now I can't really say if this is available for people outside of Germany (ip filter) but please let me know!

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My all time favorite documentaries from National Geographic called "The Great Indian Railway" (1995) as well as "Love Those Trains".

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Personally I like to think that my Lego Train network is run along the same lines and professionalism as "Oh, Mr. Porter!" This, if you haven't seen it, is a classic Black and White 1937 movie from the UK starring Will Hay, Moore Marriot. It's available to d/l or watch at the site below.

http://archive.org/details/Oh_Mr.Porter_1937

Highly recommended!

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When I was a lad, I enjoyed watching Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends on television. I still like to see classic episodes, but the newer episodes of the series...they're getting better, but before them, the shows were pure sh-I mean Mega Blocks.

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Hey! Thanks for the replies!

I remember watching something like Great Railway Journeys when I was a child and it was quite fascinating for me back then.

At present Thomas the Tank Engine is the most favourite train-related show in our home, courtesy of my children. Though a kids series, the railway infrastructure shown is quite inspiring. Sometimes I must refrain from watching it in order no to get too much ideas. :laugh:

The other show that you mentioned is actually called Chuggington, but it is computer animated and in my opinion not even half as visually appealing as Thomas. But my elder son likes it anyway. :classic:

It's too bad that only a few of the 'Great Railway Journeys' shows are available on DVD (the two Michael Palin ones). That's an excellent series.

The level of modelling on the earlier 'Thomas' shows is outstanding, isn't it? Those guys were really, really lucky to have a gig like that. The later stuff is CGI, right? We have a three year-old ourselves. :wink:

In the U.S. we have a show on PBS called Tracks Ahead. It is mostly model railroads , Garden railways and prototype trains but sometimes they have LEGO trains if they are covering a NMRA event . Some of the episodes can be found on Youtube.

Bill

Thanks, I can't get into YouTube here and don't see that show anywhere else to download, but that's the kind of thing that interests me. I'll be moving back to the States soon, so I'll be sure to watch it.

Well here in Germany they have a show which has a lot of information on old trains, called Eisenbahn Romantic, its a little geeky but intersesting none the less

here is a link, now I can't really say if this is available for people outside of Germany (ip filter) but please let me know!

Thanks, that link and the videos there work. Unfortunately I don't speak German, but it looks like there are some interesting things on that site.

My all time favorite documentaries from National Geographic called "The Great Indian Railway" (1995) as well as "Love Those Trains".

Yeah, I've got those and they are excellent, I need to rewatch them.

Personally I like to think that my Lego Train network is run along the same lines and professionalism as "Oh, Mr. Porter!" This, if you haven't seen it, is a classic Black and White 1937 movie from the UK starring Will Hay, Moore Marriot. It's available to d/l or watch at the site below.

http://archive.org/d..._Mr.Porter_1937

Highly recommended!

That sounds familiar, I'll take a look thanks!

Cheers, Joe

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I have just bought the Extreme Trains DVD set and have enjoyed revisiting the series. When I was a little boy I used to love watching Thomas the Tank Engine /Shining Time Station. I have not watched the show in a long time, however I regularly revisit the original Railway Series books, I am surprised how the Rev. Awdry pushed for so much detail in the books; and I like to think of the later books in the series as a subliminal political rant against nationalism.

Now back to film; I also own a boxed set titled America by Rail, however all the segments are rather boring; although the Colorado segment is actually interesting and served as the inspiration for my trip to Durango CO last year.

I also once watched a PBS documentary on the Oriental Express. The title escapes me at the moment but I thought it was interesting.

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I have just bought the Extreme Trains DVD set and have enjoyed revisiting the series. When I was a little boy I used to love watching Thomas the Tank Engine /Shining Time Station. I have not watched the show in a long time, however I regularly revisit the original Railway Series books, I am surprised how the Rev. Awdry pushed for so much detail in the books; and I like to think of the later books in the series as a subliminal political rant against nationalism.

Hey, I was going to say, if you haven't read the original Thomas stories, it is well worth it. I grew up before the TV series with several of the original books (3"x5", great for little hands). There's a 15 yr old book out there that has them all collected (used copies seem to be reasonably priced), though it loses the small book feel, the stories are all excellent. You see the arc, from the first stories that were about common steam engines, told to his son and eventually recorded in a book, then to the nostalgic railfan sad to see steam railroads disappear. Along the way you have great wording, making the sounds of a working steam locomotive. Many of the stories are clearly based on real events. And of course it is not all PC (fat controller, the engines paying it out, etc.).

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For me, that´s GOT to be "Eisenbahn Romantik". Alas, I think it is only in german, but maybe you can catch a few episodes using YouTube caption. (which still works really bad though...)

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I have just bought the Extreme Trains DVD set and have enjoyed revisiting the series. When I was a little boy I used to love watching Thomas the Tank Engine /Shining Time Station. I have not watched the show in a long time, however I regularly revisit the original Railway Series books, I am surprised how the Rev. Awdry pushed for so much detail in the books; and I like to think of the later books in the series as a subliminal political rant against nationalism.

Now back to film; I also own a boxed set titled America by Rail, however all the segments are rather boring; although the Colorado segment is actually interesting and served as the inspiration for my trip to Durango CO last year.

I also once watched a PBS documentary on the Oriental Express. The title escapes me at the moment but I thought it was interesting.

Hey! Thanks for the replies.

We (my three year-old and I) have been watching some (we try to limit his screen time) Thomas here lately. Interestingly, he prefers the older series that were actual models to the CGI ones. Anyway, the books are a little on the spendy side here in China, but I will get him some when we get back to the States. I'm not so familiar with them other than seeing them in the store. Are you sure you meant to use the term 'nationalism' and not 'nationalization'?

The "Extreme Trains" series is ok (I just recently watched it for the first time), but highlights the low points of American TV IMO; an over-the-top presentation style, loud music, needless (and even non-sensical) drama, quick and flashy video cuts, etc., etc. I really prefer British-style TV shows, they seem more mature and intelligent.

Joe

Edited by Hey Joe

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Oops, I meant "nationalization".

Anyway, I own that 15 year old collection book Zephyr mentioned, the only issue is that it only has the original Awdry stories and not his son's books. I forgot to mention the art in the latter books is amazing.

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Oops, I meant "nationalization".

I thought so as, if memory serves, they came out in the seventies? Guess Awdry's son was a big Thatcher fan.

Cheers, Joe

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I watched the first series of Great Railway Journeys of the World about 100 times as a child. Back then I never paid attention to anything in the show that wasn't train related, but having rediscovered most of them on youtube recently, it's really interesting to see the political or historical stuff that went over my head as a child. The episode in which historian Michael Wood travels from Cape Town to Victoria Falls is especially interesting given the political turmoil in the region during and after that time. Also, the inspirations for 2 of the most recent Lego trains were featured in this series, with the Flying Scotsman in the Michael Palin episode, and the introduction of the TGV at the end of the European "Changing Trains" episode.

Edited by Thorg23

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Anyway, I own that 15 year old collection book Zephyr mentioned, the only issue is that it only has the original Awdry stories and not his son's books. I forgot to mention the art in the latter books is amazing.

My kids have a couple of Awdry's son's books (clearly before HiT), they seem to be more about ponies and kitty cats than trains. Nothing wrong with that, but they do lack the subtle tones from the original series of someone who watched and studied steam trains endlessly.

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