:00:08. > :00:13.Welcome to Trainspotting live, I can promise you are very exciting
:00:14. > :00:18.evening of a vast network with its tunnel, bridges and is patience and
:00:19. > :00:22.its trains is the very backbone of this marvellous country. Where there
:00:23. > :00:27.are trains there are the much maligned train spotters and rail
:00:28. > :00:30.enthusiasts. We are here at the Didcot really Centre in Oxfordshire
:00:31. > :00:35.for the next three nights to show you how they are the heroic
:00:36. > :00:40.custodians of our glorious history. I have been a real enthusiasts and I
:00:41. > :00:44.was one-year-old, it's not just the look of trains but that speed and
:00:45. > :00:54.power and joy of travelling in them. We are out to discover what makes it
:00:55. > :00:58.so exciting to people like us. I am Dr Hannah Fry, I am a mathematician
:00:59. > :01:03.and I will look at how equations keep trains on the rails, keep the
:01:04. > :01:09.network running and keep train spotters out there. We will be
:01:10. > :01:14.working away the ages of railways and spotting, from the first spot of
:01:15. > :01:19.the earliest steam train, to the latest spot of a high-speed train
:01:20. > :01:23.yet to be watched. And we have an army of spotters up and down the
:01:24. > :01:28.country who are going to send us their spots over the next hour. We
:01:29. > :01:35.received this just before we went on here, this is a Class 66 from Simon
:01:36. > :01:42.in Dawlish. Going like a bomb, wonderful. Up north from here we
:01:43. > :01:46.have a man who likes nothing more than being covered in engine oil and
:01:47. > :01:52.grease from head to toe, engineer Dick Strawbridge. Doncaster is one
:01:53. > :01:57.of the central hubs of the North of England. Here in the real works they
:01:58. > :02:02.build The Flying Scotsman and The Mall are, this is a busy station,
:02:03. > :02:10.much loved, train spotters all over the platform and I will be joining
:02:11. > :02:12.them. And up in Scotland is Tim Dunn, are train spotter
:02:13. > :02:19.extraordinaire, he is after a spot of the rarest type of train on the
:02:20. > :02:24.network. I am looking for something very rare later on, I am here for a
:02:25. > :02:28.steam train. One of the only ones the national network tonight in this
:02:29. > :02:33.magnificent place, it's a very special place and a very special
:02:34. > :02:36.train. We have already mobilised a whole Trainspotting community, over
:02:37. > :02:40.the last few weeks enthusiasts have been collecting footage across the
:02:41. > :02:43.network for us including the journey by the newly restored The Flying
:02:44. > :02:49.Scotsman am the most famous locomotive running in the UK. Most
:02:50. > :02:54.importantly we want to inspire you at home to get out there and spot
:02:55. > :02:56.trains with us. We will show you how in just a bit. Welcome to
:02:57. > :03:15.Trainspotting Live. Here in Didcot, built in the heyday
:03:16. > :03:20.of real construction, at the time it was the longest route on the
:03:21. > :03:24.network. Ten days ago they celebrated the 100s of diverse
:03:25. > :03:27.anniversary and this is a living museum full of absolutely beautiful
:03:28. > :03:37.restored engines and carriages. Here to give us insight from the National
:03:38. > :03:42.Railway Museum in York is Bob, have you been a spot in your time? I have
:03:43. > :03:49.not been but I am certainly an enthusiast. We had 50 years in
:03:50. > :03:53.which, the last 50 years have been pretty dodgy, a bumpy time, 30 years
:03:54. > :03:59.ago it looked like you were going bust but now something has happened,
:04:00. > :04:03.and new dawn? We are in a Renaissance, definitely, new lines,
:04:04. > :04:08.stations, electrocution, it's definitely a Renaissance. What kind
:04:09. > :04:16.of trains can you expect from here? Class 66, Voyagers, up to
:04:17. > :04:21.Birmingham, high-speed trains, what's different things to see we
:04:22. > :04:25.expect all sorts of excitement. We have a camera on the other side of
:04:26. > :04:33.the trees so let's see if there is anything coming? Never mind!
:04:34. > :04:38.Anticipation is everything. We are going to come back to that live feed
:04:39. > :04:42.during the programme but there are a few trains which we have seen in the
:04:43. > :04:46.last hour or so from here if you could talk is through them? That is
:04:47. > :04:53.one of the Voyagers going up to Birmingham. That will be doing 100
:04:54. > :05:01.mph or so, that is a high-speed train. That's a Class 66 blowing its
:05:02. > :05:07.thorn in the background. The line which goes up to Oxford? That's
:05:08. > :05:12.right. And the Cardiff line on the other side? We are in the middle of
:05:13. > :05:21.two huge mainlines. Let's look at the star of the show tonight, the
:05:22. > :05:26.Class 66. Here it is. Yes, going down to Southampton presumably.
:05:27. > :05:31.Those are the trucks going along, the classic physics is essentially a
:05:32. > :05:37.freightliner? Yes, it was built to upgrade the locomotives we had in
:05:38. > :05:41.the UK and the level of service. This programme isn't just for
:05:42. > :05:46.existing enthusiasts because we want all of you at home to become train
:05:47. > :05:50.spotters. Every night we will set you a 24-hour challenge, spotting a
:05:51. > :05:54.specific type of common train and sending in your photos and videos.
:05:55. > :06:00.Then in the next programme we will see how you got on. The first we
:06:01. > :06:06.want you to spot is the Class 66 locomotive. Here is the guide to it.
:06:07. > :06:11.When you are spotting work for the numbers at the front of the
:06:12. > :06:18.locomotive. The first two donate the class, diesels are classed from 01-
:06:19. > :06:24.70. The Class 66, or shed as it has been nicknamed our type five and
:06:25. > :06:32.produce over 3000 horsepower. When the design is modified it is
:06:33. > :06:37.assigned a subclass. The eagle eyed will have noticed the subclasses go
:06:38. > :06:42.up to number nine. But there is no subclass starting with one or two
:06:43. > :06:47.but there is one starting with zero. Note the colour scheme or a livery
:06:48. > :06:53.which belonged to one of the 66's five operators. It is crucial to
:06:54. > :06:57.record the time and place of a spot. Penn, notepad and camera are
:06:58. > :07:05.traditional tools but smartphone apps are catching on. Only spot from
:07:06. > :07:10.public land. No flash and geography. If you spot from a station let the
:07:11. > :07:12.staff know you are there. And an anorak is not obligatory but make
:07:13. > :07:20.sure you dress for the weather. That's the challenge, send your
:07:21. > :07:30.pictures and videos on social media or e-mail. As they come in we will
:07:31. > :07:46.use them to update this marvellous spotting map. These are the little
:07:47. > :07:53.blue pins. Young Dick Strawbridge up there, and Tim Dunn up here. We have
:07:54. > :08:00.all these Class 66's, we will build the map up over the evening, how
:08:01. > :08:04.important is this train again? It is what delivers, everything from
:08:05. > :08:07.things going to supermarkets to aggregates to oil, all kinds of
:08:08. > :08:12.things which make Britain work have been pulled around the country by
:08:13. > :08:19.these locomotives. We have this little red pin, we have just had a
:08:20. > :08:28.call from Sam Smith who is 13 in Cardiff. He is showing us a Class
:08:29. > :08:34.66. There it is. I have two seed, it's not the most beautiful
:08:35. > :08:41.locomotive is it? The enthusiasts nicknamed them sheds, but people
:08:42. > :08:46.like sheds when you think about it. What does it have to do with sheds?
:08:47. > :08:51.They decided that is what they looked like. Every train has a
:08:52. > :09:02.nickname. The Class 66 pulls great, and that is a crucial target --
:09:03. > :09:07.pulls great. Dick up in Doncaster. Your timing would have been perfect
:09:08. > :09:13.to see a Class 66, we have been waiting for one, and with my ex
:09:14. > :09:21.Burki, the evening star did not come through -- my expert. Tell me about
:09:22. > :09:26.it. The evening star, the last Class 66 built for use in Great Britain,
:09:27. > :09:37.in the tradition of British Railways who name their last steamer
:09:38. > :09:42.locomotive evening star. It would have been lovely to see that we have
:09:43. > :09:48.missed it. The Class 66's have such an important role to play. They are
:09:49. > :09:53.everywhere, almost 500 in the country. You can see them at any
:09:54. > :09:59.time, they came to this country in the 1990s when we needed to replace
:10:00. > :10:05.ageing locomotives. They have been a marvellous stopgap and will be here
:10:06. > :10:08.for a long time. We saw one coming through, the engineering, they are
:10:09. > :10:12.rolling stock and the engineering, less pressure on the tracks, they
:10:13. > :10:19.are smoother and better for the cargo. Great engineering. Great
:10:20. > :10:22.engineering, the axle loading on the track is low which means less damage
:10:23. > :10:30.to the track and the structures, well engineered machines. I am
:10:31. > :10:36.gutted, I want get to see 6670 79, but I have eight down already that I
:10:37. > :10:41.have seen. This is a busy place but I was looking to see the last of the
:10:42. > :10:44.type, one of the things I love about looking at the actual rail and
:10:45. > :10:49.looking at these going past does is you can see the industry of Britain.
:10:50. > :10:55.You certainly can and it goes back in time to the Victorian era right
:10:56. > :11:01.up to the present. The ones we have been looking at and going through, I
:11:02. > :11:06.just wish we had seen the last one because the numbers is a great idea,
:11:07. > :11:10.the liability is there. At this moment in time I have my notebook
:11:11. > :11:15.ready and poised and I have to actually be working here in
:11:16. > :11:16.Doncaster, I will get lots of Classics T6's. If you sit here long
:11:17. > :11:32.enough you will get them all! You are a train spotters dream! Over
:11:33. > :11:37.to another enthusiast, Malcolm in Preston, are you there? Can we see
:11:38. > :11:43.you? How are you? Very well thank you. You are Trainspotting like mad?
:11:44. > :11:52.I am, two coming through as we speak. The Voyager just leaving
:11:53. > :12:01.Preston. And on the right shoulder we have the trans-Pennine class 185.
:12:02. > :12:11.Beautiful. Much more pretty than the Class 66, I shouldn't say that!
:12:12. > :12:16.Which is your favourite? We have had all sorts of units, we have one of
:12:17. > :12:27.the newly branded trans-Pennine's the new livery to replace the old
:12:28. > :12:35.colours. The livery, the colour of the train. Yes. Lovely. You are busy
:12:36. > :12:38.by the sound of it, how long have you been Trainspotting? I have been
:12:39. > :12:43.doing it seriously now for the last five years INAUDIBLE
:12:44. > :12:51.Great. Thank you for all that, great. As well as the Class 66 we
:12:52. > :12:56.have an even bigger challenge, we want you to try to find this. Very
:12:57. > :13:01.hard to spot even though it is yellow. There are not many of them.
:13:02. > :13:07.What is it and why is it sought after? This is the network real
:13:08. > :13:12.measuring train, it goes and checks the tracks to make sure everything
:13:13. > :13:17.is right. This is the one with the high-speed locomotives at the end of
:13:18. > :13:27.it and it is yellow. The one they called offline -- the Colby flying
:13:28. > :13:32.banana. It is just the only one and it could be anywhere in the country.
:13:33. > :13:37.That is the holy Grail we want you to spot. Ours is the oldest rail
:13:38. > :13:41.network in the world, we did invent the railways after all, dating back
:13:42. > :13:45.almost two centuries. We invented the train and ever since people have
:13:46. > :13:50.been trying to spot them. Extra bridge spent a day with Bob at the
:13:51. > :13:55.National Railway Museum in York tracking down evidence of the first
:13:56. > :14:02.ever train spotters. -- Dick Strawbridge spent the day.
:14:03. > :14:08.On the shelves are countless documents covering every aspect of
:14:09. > :14:11.the railways. From the latest high-speed network to the Stockton
:14:12. > :14:17.Darlington, the first public line in the world to run steam locomotives.
:14:18. > :14:24.Amongst the treasures is a rare record from one of the first real
:14:25. > :14:29.enthusiasts in history. What we have got is John writing to his sister in
:14:30. > :14:32.1825, my dear sister you might not understand what this drawing at the
:14:33. > :14:38.top means but it represents the opening of the Stockton Darlington
:14:39. > :14:42.Railway which took place on the 27th of December 18 25. I love the
:14:43. > :14:49.drawing, we have little carriages and what is this? It's the first
:14:50. > :14:55.locomotive. Supposedly 60,000 people turned out to see it. The train is
:14:56. > :15:00.reported to have about 600 people on it. I love a 14-year-old boy drawing
:15:01. > :15:02.a train for the first time, how many youngsters have drawn train since
:15:03. > :15:17.then? All of us! All of us, Bob! 20 years after John Backhaus's
:15:18. > :15:25.letter comes evidence of the first true spotter. I have here bound
:15:26. > :15:29.Eddises of the 1935 Great Western Railway magazine. It is quite a
:15:30. > :15:34.small article but it is quite an important one. It is a record of a
:15:35. > :15:38.14-year-oldcating back to 1861 and in here I have names of engines on
:15:39. > :15:43.the Great Western that I have seen. There's a whole record of all the
:15:44. > :15:49.engines that have been spotted. This is evidence of the first
:15:50. > :15:56.trainspotter. Their notebook. The name of our trainspotter? Fanny
:15:57. > :16:01.Johnston. She was a girl. But for trainspotting to really take off,
:16:02. > :16:07.one key ingredient was missing, and would only appear 80 years after
:16:08. > :16:14.Fanny's teenage spots. It starts with this in 1942, which is the very
:16:15. > :16:21.first ABC produced by Ian Alan, when he was just 20. This directory of
:16:22. > :16:26.loco motives is a game changer. For the first time rail fans had a
:16:27. > :16:30.comprehensive checklist on the network against which they could
:16:31. > :16:35.record their sightings. Only 2,000 were produced and they sell out.
:16:36. > :16:40.When did they become trainspotters? Again, the title comes post war,
:16:41. > :16:43.when all of a sudden people recognised this phenomena of
:16:44. > :16:52.hundreds and hundreds of people, mostly boys, out in field or on
:16:53. > :16:56.stations, taking numbers. Loco spotting as they call it has become
:16:57. > :17:02.the number one hobby for school boys in recent years... Trainspotting
:17:03. > :17:06.exploded in popularity partly because the newly nationalised
:17:07. > :17:10.British railways encouraged it, giving data books for free. At most
:17:11. > :17:15.stations the railway authorities give plenty of facilities to the
:17:16. > :17:20.lads and they in turn make sure they don't cause problem. Some supports
:17:21. > :17:26.find out that those no tress passion signs mean what they say... But such
:17:27. > :17:32.popularity didn't come without its problems. Go on, keep in there! It
:17:33. > :17:36.becomes a bit of a worry to the north at large, because these people
:17:37. > :17:44.are clearly not controlled. It is a bit of a change from Fanny Johnson,
:17:45. > :17:49.first person to write it down, more and more information, then we've got
:17:50. > :17:55.a plague. Time's up. Let's hope they have learnt their lesson. But you
:17:56. > :18:00.can't keep a good spotter down as easily as that. Everybody, look at
:18:01. > :18:06.this. It is not a traffic jam on the M4. We can just see the Class 66
:18:07. > :18:10.locomotive pulling these cars along, it has stopped for a moment. There
:18:11. > :18:15.it goes. All these cars all the way down to the West Country. What a
:18:16. > :18:18.wonderful sight. It is time to catch up with our expert trainspotter Tim
:18:19. > :18:23.Dunn, who is near Fort William in Scotland. His mission over the next
:18:24. > :18:31.three nights is to spot the rarest trains out there. What have you got
:18:32. > :18:35.for us tonight? I'm here to see a really interesting locomotive. I'm
:18:36. > :18:40.on the West Highland Line. Over there is Fort William and down there
:18:41. > :18:43.is Mallaig. It is a really remote part of Network Rail. It's a
:18:44. > :18:46.stunning part of the country and of railway as well. But even more
:18:47. > :18:51.interesting and even more stunning here in the summer when two
:18:52. > :18:54.different trains run every day, two different locomotives, hauling The
:18:55. > :19:05.Jacobite, with two steam locomotives. You might recognise the
:19:06. > :19:10.viaduct from Harry Potter for example. It is difficult to get
:19:11. > :19:14.through because of the terrain. In 1876, the-and-a-halfies, if they
:19:15. > :19:21.found an obstacle, they would have to go over it, under it or around
:19:22. > :19:27.it, but get through it they must. Today trains are still getting
:19:28. > :19:31.through it. Today we had 62005, built for LNER many years ago. That
:19:32. > :19:38.went through only this afternoon. Still to come this evening is 44871,
:19:39. > :19:42.a Black 5. A Black 5 is often thought of being a workhorse, an
:19:43. > :19:50.average steam locomotive. But it is very special. These are can-do go
:19:51. > :19:56.anywhere locomotives. There were 872 built. They are really special, like
:19:57. > :20:00.any locomotive. Any steam locomotive is really quite special. Steam
:20:01. > :20:05.locomotives are special to me because I think of them as being
:20:06. > :20:10.almost iron dinosaurs. They are the close thing we as human beings, as
:20:11. > :20:15.men, as man, have ever built. They are elemental. They are built from
:20:16. > :20:22.iron, mined from underneath where we stand. They are fuelled by coal
:20:23. > :20:26.which we have hacked out from prehistoric plants. They are lit by
:20:27. > :20:30.a flickering flame. Those things come together to create elemental
:20:31. > :20:34.life. These steam locomotives are rushing about the place and every
:20:35. > :20:39.single one has a personality. They are living creatures made by man. It
:20:40. > :20:44.might sound mad but I honestly believe that. It really is almost
:20:45. > :20:48.akin to real life. We rescue these things as British people, and other
:20:49. > :20:52.countries as well, but mostly in Britain. We love them and restore
:20:53. > :20:58.them. Tonight we are going to see whiff those things. Like bird
:20:59. > :21:02.watchers we spent our time hunting these things down to appreciate
:21:03. > :21:09.them. Tonight we are pretty much on a steam safari, looking for some of
:21:10. > :21:12.the creatures that we love. And we genuinely love them, these
:21:13. > :21:18.whistling, clanking, crashing supreme machines. Creatures in
:21:19. > :21:23.another place. Tonight in its natural habitat we'll see a Black 5
:21:24. > :21:28.coming past, from Mallaig. There is no turntable from Mallaig. It is
:21:29. > :21:31.come back from its main day on The Jacobite. I hope you see it, because
:21:32. > :21:37.it is a wonderful thing to share with you. I really am churched to
:21:38. > :21:41.bits that I'm able to do it. I hope we manage to see it as well.
:21:42. > :21:45.Apologies there for issues with the sound. To add to the knowledge that
:21:46. > :21:50.Tim and our spotters are collecting from all over the country I wanted
:21:51. > :21:54.to show you how mathematical our railways are. In everything from
:21:55. > :21:58.timetables to engines there is an stonishing amount of maths that goes
:21:59. > :22:06.into keeping everything running. We kick off with the help of this
:22:07. > :22:12.beautiful steam engine here and with museum curator here at Didcot Park
:22:13. > :22:16.way Roger. This is the King Class locomotive built in 1930 by the
:22:17. > :22:19.Great Western rail way. One of the engines designed to pull heavy
:22:20. > :22:23.passenger trains from Paddington up to Birmingham and down the Plymouth.
:22:24. > :22:28.A beautiful thing. Later on we are going to get to see this engine
:22:29. > :22:34.moving. But if it is going to move it has to accelerate from zero. And
:22:35. > :22:38.that means it has to obey Newton's second law of motion, which says
:22:39. > :22:42.that force is equal to mass times acceleration. A classic equation
:22:43. > :22:46.here. Because of it has to accelerate from zero we know the
:22:47. > :22:51.acceleration here has to be positive, so this whole thing has to
:22:52. > :22:55.be greater than zero. But there isn't just one force acting on the
:22:56. > :22:59.engine. This splits off into several different forces. So you have
:23:00. > :23:04.attractive force. That's essentially the pushing force that is moving the
:23:05. > :23:08.engine forward. But then you also have lots of resistive forces. This
:23:09. > :23:12.can be things like friction, it could be air resistance. Lots of
:23:13. > :23:17.them, you have to sum them up the. That has to be greater than zero.
:23:18. > :23:21.Roger, tell us how this steam engine turns the steam into attractive
:23:22. > :23:25.force? We have a coal fire that's heighting the water in the boiler.
:23:26. > :23:30.The steam is collected at the top and is transferred to the cylinders
:23:31. > :23:35.via outside pipes on this engine and connected into the driving wheels.
:23:36. > :23:40.Lovely stuff. Whatever the design of your engine mass is going to come
:23:41. > :23:44.into it somewhere, so let's see if this is the theory I guess, let's
:23:45. > :23:52.see if Newton is right in practice and we can start this train moving.
:23:53. > :23:56.OK, let's go. I'm genuinely excited about this.
:23:57. > :24:13.Here we go. Newton's law is in practice.
:24:14. > :24:21.What a beautiful engine, Han na. The only trouble is it is called King
:24:22. > :24:27.Edward II, the most useless King in English history. Don't get
:24:28. > :24:33.overexcited about this replica, it is only the iron Duke, Duke of
:24:34. > :24:49.Wellington. It is an 1850s engine, but it is a replica. While Han Loves
:24:50. > :24:54.ennewsing if you do see that flying Washington, send us a picture.
:24:55. > :25:00.Somewhere in Cambridge. Ince the dawn of the steam age artists such
:25:01. > :25:08.as Turner and writers such as Thomas Hardy have found Ince inflation the
:25:09. > :25:13.rail network. I went to meet a man christened the trainspotter's poet.
:25:14. > :25:17.Ian, what is it about trains that fascinates poets? I think poets are
:25:18. > :25:21.fascinated by the idea that a train journey is like a narrative. It is
:25:22. > :25:27.about rhythm, about movement. When you make your way down a summit it
:25:28. > :25:31.is like making your way from St Pancras to Kettering. You see things
:25:32. > :25:36.on the way, and you can sit in a train as though you are sitting in a
:25:37. > :25:40.poem. As if on the train all these amazing things are happening. When
:25:41. > :25:47.you get off at the other end it is as though you are falling out of the
:25:48. > :25:51.poem. Poetry and trains always go together, Robert Louis Stevenson,
:25:52. > :26:01.Thomas Hardy, Sir John Betjeman. Who is your favourite? Edward Thomas.
:26:02. > :26:07.Yes, I remember Adelstrop because one afternoon of heat, it was late
:26:08. > :26:14.June. I love the wait begins. When it goes, yes, I remember Adelstrop.
:26:15. > :26:19.The train pauses, he looks out. It is that moment of stasis that you
:26:20. > :26:24.get in a poem and sometimes in live, when you sit and wait and sow in
:26:25. > :26:31.that waiting history turns, culture turns and then right at the end,
:26:32. > :26:34.that wonderful line, all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire,
:26:35. > :26:41.they rise up and united can hear them singing. Farther and farther
:26:42. > :26:48.all the birds of ox thirdshire and Gloucestershire. Ian's own poem,
:26:49. > :26:55.Love Me? Tender, captures the excitement of trainspotting. It is a
:26:56. > :26:59.late night moment on a freezing station. The anything shall, the
:27:00. > :27:03.whistle, the thrill of the number you never thought you would get
:27:04. > :27:08.after days of frustration and weeks of regret. I love the line in your
:27:09. > :27:12.poem when you say, the thrill of the number, which you never thought you
:27:13. > :27:16.would get. What is poetic about trainspotting? I think it is the
:27:17. > :27:21.thrill of being the completes. Like being a jazz fan and finding the
:27:22. > :27:24.rarest 78 that you can. It is about seeing this number and somehow
:27:25. > :27:29.transferring the number, the number becomes a metaphor for the moment
:27:30. > :27:35.you were there. So I've got the 41963. That the moment they will
:27:36. > :27:40.remember that they were at can Ford station and the sun was going down.
:27:41. > :27:46.So it becomes an image that can define exciting things in their
:27:47. > :27:53.lives. He and I could have chatted on for hours. In fact we did. At the
:27:54. > :28:01.end of the show we'll be premiering Ian's newest poem composed to go
:28:02. > :28:06.with ex-Clive footage of the flying Scotsman. We are beginning to get a
:28:07. > :28:12.picture of how dedicated trainspotters are. Other rail
:28:13. > :28:16.enthusiasts have amazing personal collections. And each evening we'll
:28:17. > :28:20.be meeting one of them. Tonight we start with a man who photographs
:28:21. > :28:24.stations. By the way, he has photographed every single station in
:28:25. > :28:29.the UK, with a train in it. It is David Brewer. You must be dotty.
:28:30. > :28:37.Well, I've always enjoyed railways. As a boy growing up in the late '50s
:28:38. > :28:41.and '60s I was a keen trainspotter. I travelled around the country
:28:42. > :28:46.visiting many sheds. What does the life think about that? She is glad
:28:47. > :28:51.to get me out of the house. Take me through some of your best
:28:52. > :28:59.photographs Over the last ten years I have visited all the stations. The
:29:00. > :29:07.best kept station is Dolau on the Wales line, looked after by
:29:08. > :29:15.volunteers, and the East Coast line, Chathill. My favourite station for
:29:16. > :29:21.the location are stations on the Kyle of Lochalsh line. There is the
:29:22. > :29:28.waiting room, the hexagonal waiting room. There's drum Craig... All in a
:29:29. > :29:33.beautiful location. Those are my favourites. What was the most
:29:34. > :29:37.difficult one to get at? A number of stations had just one train calling
:29:38. > :29:46.each week and others every day. One train a tweak? This station has two
:29:47. > :29:51.trains calling on a Saturday. It is on the line between Ely and Norwich.
:29:52. > :29:55.It's the least-used station at the moment, with just 22 passengers
:29:56. > :30:03.using the station. 22 passengers each... In the last year. You're
:30:04. > :30:08.joking! Extraordinary. It has taken over from Teesside airport. I think
:30:09. > :30:10.it is probably cheaper. There's a lot of these smaller stations still
:30:11. > :30:22.there. This is perhaps the most room all
:30:23. > :30:27.station, the nearest road is about three miles away. -- the most room
:30:28. > :30:33.ought station. This is Redditch South and along with Kent and they
:30:34. > :30:38.are on a line between Stockport and Stalybridge, one train once a week
:30:39. > :30:48.on a Friday. This is the train just calling. How many stations have you
:30:49. > :30:54.pictured? Everyone. Over 2500. Extraordinary. This is your book,
:30:55. > :31:00.lovely. I prefer the least used stations and that is what the book
:31:01. > :31:04.is called, it covers 200 of the least used stations, pictures I have
:31:05. > :31:12.taken and facts about them. You started as a train spotter? Yes in
:31:13. > :31:18.the 1960s. I think at the time there was not much for boys to do, young
:31:19. > :31:23.boys have a lot more to do today. Train spotters UC now tend to be
:31:24. > :31:27.people of my generation who are still interested. We don't call
:31:28. > :31:35.ourselves train spotters, I think rail enthusiasts is the word we
:31:36. > :31:42.would use. Thank you. Back up to Doncaster and Dick. Trains
:31:43. > :31:50.everywhere, one has parked! How long have you been doing this? I started
:31:51. > :31:59.when I was two years old in 1957. How come? My father took me to York
:32:00. > :32:03.station to watch the trains. My father was not a train spotter, he
:32:04. > :32:09.had a great interest in engineering and worked on Halifax bombers during
:32:10. > :32:13.the war. You were two years old but after that when it came time to
:32:14. > :32:25.review to have a choice, what major do it? The whole environment was
:32:26. > :32:31.fantastic, steam locomotives, the colours, just being in a really was
:32:32. > :32:36.great. Looking at the train behind us, it's not very exciting is it?
:32:37. > :32:40.I'm afraid it is not but it is useful which is good because it can
:32:41. > :32:50.run on services which are lightly used and provide a service. It has a
:32:51. > :32:55.good purpose. How many of these have you spotted? All them. I have got
:32:56. > :33:06.them all. In that case I think it's about time I had my first sprinter
:33:07. > :33:16.number. 153374 is in my book. Thank you very much. Beautiful freight
:33:17. > :33:20.train is going along, incredibly slowly, one of the most puzzling
:33:21. > :33:24.thing about the railways is this train is going very slowly but in
:33:25. > :33:30.five minutes time on that line we will see an express racing past.
:33:31. > :33:39.It's a miracle quite frankly. We are going back to Scotland and Tim,
:33:40. > :33:45.anything yet? Yes, I can see steam and smoke on the horizon over the
:33:46. > :33:54.back of the woods. That means that the black five locomotive isn't far
:33:55. > :33:58.off. It is heading to us, about a minute away, coming around a corner,
:33:59. > :34:05.steaming up on the gradients, it will come over the top of the hill
:34:06. > :34:10.and coast past us. The black five was designed in 1934, it is known as
:34:11. > :34:14.the black five because of its powerful classification which is
:34:15. > :34:24.group five and that was painted on the side of the cab. And they were
:34:25. > :34:29.painted black. This is a black five. It's just over a there, perhaps a
:34:30. > :34:38.bit further than I thought it was initially, I can just hear it now.
:34:39. > :34:45.For 4871 was built in Crewe in 1945 just before the end of World War II.
:34:46. > :34:55.Strange time but it was then drawn from that shed. One of the last
:34:56. > :34:59.locomotives running on British Railways. It has no name, it was
:35:00. > :35:06.called sovereign for a short while but not any longer, it is now just a
:35:07. > :35:11.number. In 2008 it was restored to full mainline glory by Riley and
:35:12. > :35:17.son, welder engineers who have also restored the icon of British team
:35:18. > :35:20.locomotive owned by you and me, The Flying Scotsman. This locomotive is
:35:21. > :35:24.no different, it has been restored to run on this line up and down and
:35:25. > :35:32.does almost every single day in the summer and it is magnificent. The
:35:33. > :35:36.mainstay of this branch line. I can see it coming, you can see in the
:35:37. > :35:44.distance probably just passing over, storming up the bank. Plumes of
:35:45. > :35:50.smoke. Here it comes around the corner on this S-bend. It's a
:35:51. > :36:04.magnificent sight. Isn't that a lovely thing? In a
:36:05. > :36:08.moment, rather than talk over all of this I will just stand back and let
:36:09. > :36:09.everyone delight in the magnificent of a steam locomotive on the
:36:10. > :37:06.national network. A black five! Give us a quick
:37:07. > :37:11.summary. The best mixed traffic locomotive that Britain ever had. 90
:37:12. > :37:18.mph in the last days of steam, 1968, that engine was there when steam
:37:19. > :37:25.ended. Built in this country? Of course. We are going to go back to
:37:26. > :37:30.the Class 66, keep sending us your pictures. This is where we saw the
:37:31. > :37:45.black five, up here. We have just seen one going past. Triple headed.
:37:46. > :37:53.Three locomotives! Those are the brand-new ones coming from the docks
:37:54. > :37:58.in Newport is my guess. There was about 67 66s there. I think they are
:37:59. > :38:07.being delivered, I think there are brand-new. The 66 is mostly built in
:38:08. > :38:17.London on Dario and the latest one is built in Indiana I think --
:38:18. > :38:21.London, Ontario. We have manufacturing in Derby and Newton
:38:22. > :38:27.Aycliffe, we have a number of places trains are built. So all is not
:38:28. > :38:31.lost? All is not lost. We are going straight down to Martin in
:38:32. > :38:38.Leicester. I can hear you in Leicester. What is going on? Right
:38:39. > :38:46.now not a lot happening, we are actually waiting for a Class 66 to
:38:47. > :38:48.come through which is working but it seems to be delayed. We thought it
:38:49. > :38:56.would fit in great with the programme tonight. That will be a
:38:57. > :39:02.treat still to come. Tell us about what you have seen, you have been
:39:03. > :39:05.there all day? No, I have been at work today, finished about 4pm and
:39:06. > :39:11.thought I would come to Leicester and we have seen other riot merely
:39:12. > :39:22.high-speed intercity, we have also seen a number of cross country
:39:23. > :39:28.units. We have seen quite a bit of variety. There are about four
:39:29. > :39:33.freight trains and they don't always run to time and tonight three of
:39:34. > :39:37.them appear to not be running. Keep us posted. I think we have seen a
:39:38. > :39:52.picture of the flying banana. There she is. In King 's cross. Remind us
:39:53. > :39:59.about that? It is the way that the track is measured and kept correct,
:40:00. > :40:05.you have a mobile observatory, a mobile laboratory that tells you
:40:06. > :40:11.what the track is light and enables you to do what you need to do
:40:12. > :40:16.subsequently once it's gone down the line. Great, keep sending us your
:40:17. > :40:22.spots and the pictures of your spots. We are trying to build up the
:40:23. > :40:25.map, we've done well but some mysterious rail services operating
:40:26. > :40:31.unknown and unseen including one directly undermined pleasant Royal
:40:32. > :40:40.Mail sorting office in London. We sent Tim to seek it out.
:40:41. > :40:50.How far are we coming down? 65 feet down, the platform level. Crikey.
:40:51. > :41:00.These stations closed over a decade ago. This is a working platform, two
:41:01. > :41:09.of the 1930s trains. English Electric. Built in Preston. Put the
:41:10. > :41:13.power on. They are trains by themselves. You could couple two
:41:14. > :41:17.together, put a mechanical link and these two plugs would be cross
:41:18. > :41:22.coupled so the woodwork electrically as a single unit. The trains
:41:23. > :41:29.themselves identified by these works plates. The train numbers signified
:41:30. > :41:32.what type it was. There used to be a six minute service where if you are
:41:33. > :41:38.on a platform train would arrive every six minutes to be loaded or
:41:39. > :41:42.unloaded. The network connected nine stations. Starting in the Paddington
:41:43. > :41:47.sorting office ending up at the Eastern district office in
:41:48. > :41:52.Whitechapel. But it became cheaper for Royal Mail to transport the post
:41:53. > :41:56.by road. After privatisation above ground sorting offices were moved
:41:57. > :42:04.making the underground station is redundant. That is terribly sad. A
:42:05. > :42:10.sign saying that this station seems -- ceased to be on 22nd of April 19
:42:11. > :42:15.95. People spent a lot of time down here, it would be like losing a
:42:16. > :42:22.friend or member of the family. The tunnels, tracks and trains remaining
:42:23. > :42:26.good conditions of who wouldn't take up the offer of a ride? Lights on,
:42:27. > :42:35.handbrake off. It's remarkable, a real museum down
:42:36. > :42:55.here. Quite a tight squeeze. It is. That
:42:56. > :42:58.was absolutely extraordinary, something you only get to do once in
:42:59. > :43:05.your life, a real privilege, thank you. What a wonderful Railway.
:43:06. > :43:13.I am back here with the king Edward the second doing a little drive by,
:43:14. > :43:19.looking absolutely beautiful. It's going about ten mph, you can see the
:43:20. > :43:24.number on the side of the cab, 6203 and that got me thinking, because
:43:25. > :43:29.what is the fastest speed train has to be going before a train spotter
:43:30. > :43:35.won't be able to see the number? For that you need Pythagoras. This is
:43:36. > :43:42.the train track, I think we are standing about ten metres away from
:43:43. > :43:46.the train tracks. The DVLA says you have to be able to read a number
:43:47. > :43:51.break from 20 metres away so I will use that as the sides of the
:43:52. > :43:55.triangle, 20 metres each. Using Pythagoras you can work out the
:43:56. > :44:00.distance along the track you have to be able to read the number on the
:44:01. > :44:04.cab and it comes out at about 35 metres. The speed of the train will
:44:05. > :44:11.be the lady to how quickly your brain can process the image and that
:44:12. > :44:15.is eager .1 seconds, that's how quickly a human can decipher the
:44:16. > :44:26.numbers. Speed equals distance over time. We have 35 metres on the track
:44:27. > :44:32.to read the number and 0.1 seconds. That is 35 over 0.1 which is 350
:44:33. > :44:37.metres per second, the fastest train can be going to read the number.
:44:38. > :44:44.That might not sound like much but it's the equivalent to 782 mph. That
:44:45. > :44:48.is faster than the speed of sound. We have not accounted for motion
:44:49. > :44:54.blah but given that the fastest train in the world goes at 373 mph
:44:55. > :44:59.we do have quite a lot of room for error.
:45:00. > :45:06.Are you accounting for slower brains like mine? I haven't added in an
:45:07. > :45:12.excitement quotient either, Peter. Thank you. We are heading up to
:45:13. > :45:21.Doncaster. Dick, what have you got for us? Unbelievable. We've had an
:45:22. > :45:31.amazing evening, topped off by 66779, Evening Star was here! We've
:45:32. > :45:40.got 66779, Evening Star has arrived! That is unbelievable. We were told
:45:41. > :45:46.it was going to be to hours late. It's brilliant. It really looks
:45:47. > :45:49.nice. It is magnificent. And the green, what a fantastic livery. It
:45:50. > :45:56.is superb. Spotters up and down the platform. You can see how happy they
:45:57. > :46:03.are. That's phenomenal. That's a result for them. The amazing thing
:46:04. > :46:09.is you look at that, it looks gorgeous. Look, he's getting his
:46:10. > :46:15.numbers in here straight away! But as a train, that locomotive on the
:46:16. > :46:21.front end of it, it's engineering I'm listening to going by here. The
:46:22. > :46:25.thing you notice about that locomotive is you can barely hear
:46:26. > :46:32.it. That's how eco-friendly it is. Why would call that a shed? It's
:46:33. > :46:36.gorgeous. It is a rude name, it is derogatory. I would love a shed like
:46:37. > :46:46.that with a lathe and a milling machine. The Evening Star has been
:46:47. > :46:55.to Doncaster. We've had 10 Class 66s here. It is amazing. We had a rare
:46:56. > :47:01.locomotive. They are rare. You don't see many, but you do at Doncaster.
:47:02. > :47:06.There are quite a few here So they get seen in Doncaster, but if you
:47:07. > :47:12.want to see a Colas, come to Doncaster. I've seen some amazing
:47:13. > :47:20.things. I've seen a Darth Vader. A class 180. It looks like Kath saider
:47:21. > :47:26.from the front. One of the most poignant things, is 91111. Yes, for
:47:27. > :47:33.the Fallen. It is appropriate given the First World War remembrance, and
:47:34. > :47:38.it follows in the tradition of naming locomotives after the First
:47:39. > :47:42.World War remembrance. It is really nice to see that. It is amazing.
:47:43. > :47:46.We've seen a lot of different things. We've had a lot of variety.
:47:47. > :47:50.I've got to tell you, I'm back tomorrow in a brand-new location,
:47:51. > :47:58.with a brand-new team of spotters looking after me, and I can't wait.
:47:59. > :48:06.You've done us proud, Dick. Lots of 66s. Amazing. Let's check on that,
:48:07. > :48:10.more 66s than ever before. At Doncaster, where Dick Strawbridge is
:48:11. > :48:17.based. Here is the build-up around ourselves. Looking at this map,
:48:18. > :48:21.which looks similar, what are we trying to do about Beeching's cuts?
:48:22. > :48:25.In some parts of the country they have put the railways back,
:48:26. > :48:28.particularly in Scotland. The Borders Line re-opened just last
:48:29. > :48:36.year. A big success. They have done that on a number of lines up there.
:48:37. > :48:40.We've put a number of stations back and now with capacity, where there
:48:41. > :48:46.was once a single track we are making a double. This is the Great
:48:47. > :48:49.Western main line. This is our executive producer who shot this
:48:50. > :48:57.marvellous picture. Is this a freight liner? It is not a 66. He's
:48:58. > :49:01.taken it from the train, so he is relaxed, taking that photograph.
:49:02. > :49:07.We've got the Flying Banana to show you now. It is in Cambridge. There
:49:08. > :49:12.she is. What a lovely picture. This is the very, very, very rare Flying
:49:13. > :49:19.Banana. Isn't that great Bob? It is. We've got it on the map. It It
:49:20. > :49:25.started from King's Cross anded up in Cambridge. Yes. Back to. In
:49:26. > :49:31.Beeching. Am I talking about what happened 50 years ago when Dr
:49:32. > :49:36.Beeching was told you've got to cut the railways back because we can't
:49:37. > :49:42.afford it all. About a third of the network disappeared as a result of
:49:43. > :49:46.that report. As a rail enthusiast, do you think the country should
:49:47. > :49:51.regret that now? I think one of the mistakes that was made was they
:49:52. > :49:55.simply got rid of the track and dishasn'tled the railway quickly.
:49:56. > :49:59.Hasn'tled the railway quickly. -- dismantled the railway quickly. If
:50:00. > :50:04.the track had been left the economics would have been possible
:50:05. > :50:09.to re-open that line 10-15 years later. Keep sending us your
:50:10. > :50:15.pictures. We've got tomorrow and Wednesday. We are on for three
:50:16. > :50:21.nights, so send us your pictures and footage and we'll show you the best
:50:22. > :50:23.tomorrow. Find out how to get involved as well as exclusive
:50:24. > :50:28.content on www.bbc.co.uk/trainspottinglive. The
:50:29. > :50:33.development of the rail networks had a profound effect on many aspects of
:50:34. > :50:37.British life. It was a major driver of the Industrial Revolution. I'm
:50:38. > :50:42.talking about 200 years ago. Easing the passage of coal, iron and steel
:50:43. > :50:47.around the country. It dem okra tides travel. Travel. Suddenly
:50:48. > :50:53.people could explore the UK. It even changed the way in which we
:50:54. > :50:56.understood time. For nearly 100 years the Royal Observatory in
:50:57. > :51:03.Greenwich marked the beginning and end of time. All clocks were
:51:04. > :51:09.standardised to GMT and its reference line the prime meridian.
:51:10. > :51:14.But it wasn't always so. In the early 19th century few people had
:51:15. > :51:19.any reason to pay attention to Greenwich Mean Time. Instead they
:51:20. > :51:24.would set their time by sundials. That meant that time wasn't standard
:51:25. > :51:29.across the country. It would vary depending on where you were. If you
:51:30. > :51:35.were in the east, where the sun rise ever so slightly earlier, your
:51:36. > :51:40.clocks would run slightly fast. In fact for every 10 miles travelled
:51:41. > :51:45.east of Greenwich, solar time gains just over a minute. And this
:51:46. > :51:47.variation is compounded just over a minute. And this variation is
:51:48. > :51:53.compounded by an additional problem - no one day is exactly the same
:51:54. > :51:57.length as another. Clocks work on something called meantime. Meantime
:51:58. > :52:01.is actually an approximation of solar time, but it is something that
:52:02. > :52:04.is the same the whole way through the year. The y through the year.
:52:05. > :52:09.The difference between the two - solar time and men time, looks like
:52:10. > :52:15.this. The straight line represents meantime. And the curvy line shows
:52:16. > :52:19.how in Britain solar time Dave United States from the meantime
:52:20. > :52:23.across a year, sometimes running ahead and sometimes behind. You can
:52:24. > :52:29.see the variation can be pretty huge. Up to 16 minutes at certain
:52:30. > :52:33.points in the year. If London is using meantime, other places are
:52:34. > :52:44.using solar time, you can really see how the local time differences start
:52:45. > :52:52.to build up. Oxford was five minutes behind Greenwich time. Leeds was six
:52:53. > :52:57.minutes. Carn fort 11 minutes, and Barrow 13 minutes. None of this was
:52:58. > :53:01.a proper until the 1830s when the number of trains on the tracks
:53:02. > :53:06.boomed and then there was all sorts of confusion between the station
:53:07. > :53:12.master's and the train guards, because a train could literally go
:53:13. > :53:16.through a different time zone in the space of 20 miles. The growth of the
:53:17. > :53:22.railway network meant that ultimately we had to invent a way to
:53:23. > :53:31.synchronise the country's clocks automatically. How many clocks do
:53:32. > :53:36.you have here? Several thousand. The curator of the Royal Observatory in
:53:37. > :53:47.Greenwich. How do they solve it? Had the Shepherd S master clock,
:53:48. > :53:51.designed by Charles Shep period. He realised by using this
:53:52. > :53:56.electromechanical clock you can district observatory time along a
:53:57. > :54:04.Telegraph met work. At a prearranged time every day this clock would send
:54:05. > :54:08.out a series of pulses to try to keep clocks in sync with Greenwich
:54:09. > :54:11.time. You can spread the signal across the network to all your
:54:12. > :54:16.railways and stations and cities across the country. This clock
:54:17. > :54:22.became the hub of the standard time across the railways. By 1855, 98% of
:54:23. > :54:27.British towns had converted to Greenwich Mean Time. And this really
:54:28. > :54:37.was the beginning of our modern way of thinking about the value of time.
:54:38. > :54:43.That's all the time we have tonight but I hope you got some idea of the
:54:44. > :54:51.huge excitement of the railways. We are going to say goodbye at the
:54:52. > :54:57.moment... Here comes Hannah in her chough-chough. Hello there. You are
:54:58. > :55:02.driving a train I assume? How amazing is this? Really wonderful.
:55:03. > :55:07.We are going to be back tomorrow night at 8 o'clock when we'll bring
:55:08. > :55:15.things more up to date and focusing on a classic, the Intercity 15. I'll
:55:16. > :55:19.be in Swindon keeping my eyes open for 15s too. It's been fantastic
:55:20. > :55:24.seeing a steam train in Scotland tonight, so tomorrow we are heading
:55:25. > :55:30.south to Carlisle where we'll see some Class 37s. And you've all been
:55:31. > :55:35.terrific. You've sent us pictures of that Flying Banana. A rare train and
:55:36. > :55:39.we spotted it twice in Cambridgeshire and King's Cross.
:55:40. > :55:44.Keep them coming in. We are going to leave you with the poem from Ian
:55:45. > :55:48.McMillan that we promised you earlier set to beautiful footage
:55:49. > :55:52.that captures the whole of our rail heritage through the Flying
:55:53. > :56:28.Scotsman, sent in by spotters. Bye-bye.
:56:29. > :56:44.More an old and young ones craning for a look. This is poetry in
:56:45. > :56:52.motion. This is more than a dream. This is more than engineering. This
:56:53. > :56:57.is more like art. The Flying Scotsman rolling up the land. The
:56:58. > :57:04.pounding of the pistons match the pounding of your heart. In moving
:57:05. > :57:10.ways I just can't understand. These are the trainspotters. See them wait
:57:11. > :57:17.by fence and hedge and B road. Woods and garden gate. These are the
:57:18. > :57:22.trainspotters, see them smile as the Scotsman does its flying over mile
:57:23. > :57:28.and mile and mile. These are the trainspotters. Hear them cheer. As
:57:29. > :57:35.the sound gets ever closer, the legend is getting near. These are
:57:36. > :57:44.the trainspotters. This their prize. A memory to cherish. Passing right
:57:45. > :57:50.before their eyes. This is more than history. More than a past. Recalled
:57:51. > :57:57.through rose tinted glasses. More than nostalgia for things that just
:57:58. > :58:06.can't last. I'll just pause the poem while the Scotsman passes. This is
:58:07. > :58:18.more than the power of solved coal. This engine is a thing you will
:58:19. > :58:26.never forget. Like a stolen kiss. Or a cup-winning goal.
:58:27. > :58:29.For a trainspotter, this is the best moment yet.