16mm film, print, Railway Roundabout film 'The Italian "Settabello"'

Filmed in 1959 in Italy. The film shows the high-speed train 'Il Settebello', electric train of the Italian State Railways in service between Milano and Roma. Footage at the engine shed, maintenance on the Settebello, wheel pit under the train, wheel tightening, interior shots of staff setting up the seats, pantograph, exterior shots of the observation car. Exterior and interior footage of Roma Termini station, porters and passengers crowd inside station, station cafe and shops, streets at night around the station, daytime shots of other trains in station. Settebello departing from station, interior footage with passengers in the observation car, landscape from inside the observation car, kitchen staff, driver and driver's cab, railway staff working on tracks whilst train is passing by, service and passengers in dining car, passenger cars. A film produced by John Adams and Patrick Whitehouse for Railway Roundabout BBC TV. First broadcast on 13 July 1959 on BBC Television. This is a print (show copy), black and white, silent. Duration: 9 minutes

This film is part of the Railway Roundabout collection donated by the makers of the programme, John Adams and Patrick Whitehouse. They produced films on contemporary British and foreign railways for the BBC Children's programme 'Railway Roundabout, broadcast monthly between 1958 and 1962 on BBC Television. The commentary was created and broadcast live, so the original films in the collection are silent. The Railway Roundabout collection includes the original masters, prints, some offcuts and working material for Railway Roundabout programmes as well as other films (non-Railway Roundabout) made by the John Adams and Patrick Whitehouse and a small number of films made by others. The collection also includes the original un-edited audio recordings made between 1960 and 1965 by John Adams and Patrick Whitehouse for the BBC radio programme Railway Roundup. Additionally, John Adams and Patrick Whitehouse were both photographers, their respective photographic collections are held by the National Railway Museum.