Collection

Search our collection

Collection of British Railways technical films

Collection of 42 16mm film reels (originals and copies, 35 titles in total). Railway technical films, illustration of scientific research on the railways. Films made by London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in the 1930-1940s and British Railways in 1950s-1960s.

Clear all filters
Image
Category
Maker
Object type
Place
Material
Date
Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF4 Part 2 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent / Including footage of model of locomotives in wind tunnel; lamp testing, track testing, rail chairs , flywheels on road vehicles, hot boxes, coning types, design of coal plants welded track, wind tunnel - "Princess Royal", "Coronation and a diesel./ Approx. 400 feet / Approx. 400 feet

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Scientific Tests on Rolling Stock Part 2'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF17 / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Experimental Carriage Axle Box'

Print; 400 feet cardboard case; Metal canister inside cardboard case / I16 / Title on first frames / on Can: "The Jackson Tamper in Switch & crossing layouts" / 250 feet / Edited print or reversal original / B&W, Silent / Correspond to BRTF16

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'The Jackson Tamper'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF31 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Weighing Locomotive fires L.Y 2-4-2T'

Original camera + Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF8 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / First frames "For comparison, a film was made of the apparatus used on the Highland line", "A light engine demonstrates the apparatus" /tablet exchange on the Highland a light engine demonstrates apparatus. / B&W, Silent / Reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Tablet Exchange'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF12 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Wheel Slipping Black Five'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF10 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent / Vinegar smell / Either an edited print or an original reversal master

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Periodic Side Cutting of Rails'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF33 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Colour, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Opening Technical Centre Derby May 1964'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF24 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal / Approx. 400 feet / Various experiences, men on railway lines installing cables and apparatus, gathering data when train passing, footage taken inside workshop, test on tracks, underframes?

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Lab tests Southern Region 1940's-1950's'

Copy; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF20 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Class A4 locomotive on rail filmed on first frames / B&W, Optical sound

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Rail Stress'

Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF4 Part 1 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Title on can / Title on first frames in "Scientific Research" along with "The LMS Presents", "Produced by LMS Film Unit" textile testing - seats etc, paintwork, water analysis of perfomance of Pacific Boilers, Tyre failure. B&W, Silent / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Scientific Tests on Rolling Stock Part 1'

Copy; 800 feet blue plastic canister; 450 feet / 13 minutes / Kodachrome colour reversal / 1942 / Film with descriptive captions / No title or 'end' captions / Intervention of men from the breakdown train on an engine in a bomb crater, men are seen in the train getting prepared to go on the intervention (putting protective equipment on), first squad going to work, then relieved by another one for a break while GUS assist the first squad with anti-gas ointment and undressing; last footage shows when the job is completed, how the boots are removed / Film warped/crinkled, few or discreet scratches

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Air Raid Precaution Drumclog'

Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF13 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Wheel Slipping'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF32 reference to old railway technical films catalogue; visit of Beeching to Derby Techical Centre, May 1964, model railway marshalling yard, axle test, bogie framework investigations, testing of springs. / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Derby Technical Centre 1964'

Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF2 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Pantograph movements'

Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF1 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / May 1965 / Papernote of shots inside can / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Pantograph Sway'

1965
Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister;BR TF11 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / "London Midland and Scottish Railway" whole locomotives shown, wheel bouncing and track bending / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Wheel Slipping Experiments'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF33/4 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Colour, Silent / Edited original reversal- reel 4

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Opening Technical Centre Derby May 1964'

400 feet plastic canister;Reference BR TF15, in old railway technical films catalogue, on canister

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Snow Clearance with jet engines'

Copy; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF14, reference on Railway technical films illustration scientific research on railways list; British Rail Western Region, tests on long welded rail, trackside recorders register reflections in recording van, film shows "Britannia Hall" and 45xx locomotives test track using electric fires to heat track producing spectacular distortion.

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'BR Western Region'

Print; 400 feet plastic canister;BR TF11/1 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / "Investigation by the engineering section of the LMS Research Department" on frames / B&W, Silent / Reversal / Approx. 250 feet. Experiment with 3 class 5 mixed traffic locomotives, of different weights, adding oil on tracks, close-up shots of wheels to capture wheel slipping (good shot of jumping wheel) and effect on the tracks (shots of bended tracks)

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Wheel Slipping Experiments'

Edited original or duplicate;800 feet blue plastic canister;400 feet / 12 minutes / B&W reversal and B&W print / 1942-1943 / Film with descriptive captions / Opening frame caption: Staged by an LMS (Liverpool) rescue squad / Air raid, footage of plane attack, then debris of house, call for help, Liverpool ambulance coming to the rescue of casualties under the debris / Fair physical condition, clean splices between sequences and few or discreet scratches

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Air Raid Precaution LMS Liverpool Simulated Air Raid'

Copy; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF30, reference on Railway technical films illustration scientific research on railways list / 1952 / Vinegar smell

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Wagon Shunting Tests'

Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF5/2 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / "LMS Study of dynamic problems" on can /shock abosorbing wagon being shunted, tablet exchanges, movement of carriage types, paint locking mechanism, out of balance forces, carriage door locks. One part of the film looks "rusty" / B&W, Silent / Looks like an edited reversal print

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'The Study of Dynamic Problems by Means of Cinematography'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF22 reference to old railway technical films catalogue; a crew hose coupling 1961 shows hoses pulling apart. / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'A crew hose coupling 1961'

Edited original or duplicate;800 feet blue plastic canister;450 feet / 13 minutes / Kodachrome colour reversal / 1942 / Film with descriptive captions / No title or 'end' captions / Intervention of men from the breakdown train on an engine in a bomb crater, men are seen in the train getting prepared to go on the intervention (putting protective equipment on), first squad going to work, then relieved by another one for a break while GUS assist the first squad with anti-gas ointment and undressing; last footage shows when the job is completed, how the boots are removed / Fair physical condition, clean splices between sequences and few or discreet scratches

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Air Raid Precaution Drumclog'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister;BR TF28 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / No title on can or catalogue / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Rail Buckling Experiment'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF33 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Colour, Silent / Edited original reversal- reel 2

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Opening Technical Centre Derby May 1964'

Edited original or duplicate;400 feet blue plastic canister;BR TF3 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / 300 feet / 9 minutes / B&W reversal / 1941-1942 / No captions / Dated 1942 on the canister / LMS locomotives and carriages and workers seen on frames, shot showing a plane very low in the sky and approaching dangerously, then signs informing of 'Danger Gas', 'LMS Air Raid Precaution', men wearing protective equipment and respirators filmed at work, while they are cleaning and decontaminating the locomotives and carriages / Fair physical condition, clean splices between sequences and few or discreet scratches

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Air Raid Precaution Wellingborough'

1941
Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF27 reference to old railway technical films catalogue, I14a on I series list by BRB / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Rail Buckling Experiments'

Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF5 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / "LMS Study of dynamic problems" on can; shock abosorbing wagon steel ball on anvil - bounce, brake van lights, tablet exchange , movement of carriage types wheel balancing, axleboxes, carriage door locks. / B&W, Silent / Reversal print

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'The Study of Dynamic Problems by Means of Cinematography'

Original camera + Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF18 / Title on can / Title on first frames: "Shunting Tests with Handbrake", followed by "New Cheschire Salt Works Northwich, Oct. 26 1957, Research Department Report E.186" / B&W, Silent / Original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Hand Brake Tests 1957'

1957
Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF19 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / "Kegworth" station sign filmed on first frames / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal / Approx. 200 feet /Scratches and splices / Shots showing men shoveling ballast, digging, to bury and install earth pressure cells by the tracks, data apparently collected in signal box by other men, and results being read in laboratory by scientist (man wearing white coat)

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Installation of Earth Pressure Cells'

Original camera; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF33/3 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Colour, Silent / Edited original reversal- reel 3

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Opening Technical Centre Derby May 1964'

Copy; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF25, reference on Railway technical films illustration scientific research on railways list "Riding a limer train 1965" / 16 fps, optical sound

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Riding of Liner Train Bogies'

Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF21 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Class A4 locomotive on rail filmed on first frames / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Rail Stress'

Original camera + Print;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF7 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Title on can and first frames / On following frames "Investigation of failures by the LMS Research Department Derby" / tablet exchange on Somerset and Dorset 1936 a well explained silent film to discover failure of exchange apparatus. B&W, Silent / Original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Tablet Exchange Apparatus on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway'

400 feet plastic canister; BR TF29

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Cement Wagon on Test Bed'

Copy; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF26 / B&W, Magnetic sound / Vinegar smell

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Hunting Bogie'

Negative; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF23 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / B&W, Silent

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'Resonance of Rail Fatigue Machine'

Original camera;400 feet plastic canister;BR TF6 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / Title on first frames; transverse motion of wheels on rails mainly carriage wheels on Southport electrics. / B&W, Silent / Edited original reversal

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'The Transverse Movement of Wheel on Rail'

Print; 400 feet plastic canister; BR TF9 reference to old railway technical films catalogue / First frames "LMS Shock absorbing wagon, Record of Wagon tests, C&W Works Derby, July 21st and 22nd 1937" / B&W, Silent / Reversal print

Film - Acetate - 16mm 'LMS Shock Absorbing Wagon'

1937