Trams

Ref: VI328D

Price:£15.00

Quantity:

Unique film capturing the end of an era…

Just like the UK, tram systems in France reached a peak between the wars. However, only 24 systems out of a grand total of 130 were still running in the 1950s.

This motivated a number of amateur cine cameramen to travel the length and breadth of the country to record them for posterity before they closed. What they filmed are remarkable in many ways and very different to those in Great Britain. For example, many routes ran far out of town, often on single track serving small outlying villages. All vehicles were single deck often pulling trailers. Some were interurban such as from Marseille to Aix-en-Provence.

The archive was compiled by French video company Les Editions du Cabri and first released in France on DVD. It includes cine film taken from the 1930s to the 1970s complete with soundtrack. The video also features a number of fascinating old postcards.

Systems featured include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Dijon, Lille, Fontainebleau, Versailles, Valenciennes, Grenoble, La Ciotat and Toulon.

Availability: AVAILABLE
Narrated by: Yves Aubert
First published on DVD: April 2020
Classification: Exempt
Number of discs: 1 DVD-R
Media Format: DVD-R

Running Time: 75-mins (1hr 15min) , Colour and B&W
.

To tell a friend about this item, click to Share or send an Email:

Ref: VI261D

Price:£17.00

Quantity:

What a great way to see Lisbon and its fascinating tramlines - a Driver's eye view!

This production starts with a brief history of Carris, the company first set up in 1872 to operate horse-drawn trams. The one-time extensive network of routes stretching into the Lisbon suburbs has been reduced over the years to just five. We take you over the two most popular and interesting survivors.

Firstly, we travel aboard one of the 1930's vintage wooden four wheel tramcars on Route 28, taking us from the outskirts of the capital right through the centre. You will see double and single line sections running through the narrowest of streets and the steepest of hills. This route in particular is recommended for tourists as it passes so many landmarks in the old parts of the City.

By contrast we then travel route 15 on board a modern Siemens articulated tram, one of ten dating from 1995. This is the longest of the remaining routes and, running close to the coast, passes many of the popular tourist sites. The 15 also runs past the tram depot at Santo Amaro which is little changed over the years. The depot also contains the Carris tram museum.

There are also two menu driven bonuses!

Bonus 1: The Carris Transport Museum. A look around the sheds at Santo Amaro seeing some of the older tramcars dating from the 1900s.

Bonus 2: The Bica Funicular. Being very hilly, Lisbon has three funicular tramways. We take a look at one of them, the cable-hauled Bica Funicular.

Picture format 16:9 widescreen.

Filmed in 2010

Availability: AVAILABLE
Classification: Exempt
Number of discs: 1 DVD-R
Media Format: DVD-R


To tell a friend about this item, click to Share or send an Email:

Ref: VI305D

Price:£17.00

Quantity:

Milan, the capital of the Lombardy region of Italy, has one of the largest tram networks in the world, dating back to 1881. Today there are no less than 17 routes covering a total of 71 route miles. There are various types of tram in daily use, both ancient and modern operating out of five depots.

This film is divided into four parts:

The Tram History: tracing the origins of the system from the first horse-drawn routes to electrification by the Edison company and the subsequent congestion of routes resulting in their complete reorganisation and closure of the central terminus.

The Current Tram Fleet: consisting of a wide variety of approximately 300 trams of 6 main types dating from 1929 to 2010.

The Depots: We visit each of the main depots. Ticinese, Precotto, Leoncavallo, Baggio and the largest conventional depot of them all - Messina.

Driver's eye view: The main part of this film is a complete Driver's eye view of Line 1. We travel on board one of the Peter Witts-inspired twin bogie tramcars dating from 1929. With all cars being single ended, each terminus begins in a turning circle or loop. Line 1 begins at Greco in a one way street to the north of the City centre. The 55 minute journey takes us through the very heart of Milan, past many of the top tourist attractions. En route, we encounter the amazing tram infrastructure with both reserved track and street running while crossing numerous junctions and tram routes. A tree-lined avenue takes us to the turning circle and loop of the terminus of line 1 at Piazza Castelli.

Filmed in good weather in high definition, this is as near to travelling on a tram in the 1930s as it's possible to get.

Availability: AVAILABLE
Classification: Exempt
Number of discs: 1 DVD-R
Media Format: DVD-R


To tell a friend about this item, click to Share or send an Email:

Ref: VI921D

Price:£10.00

Quantity:

Originally released as two productions on VHS but now combined onto just one DVD for superb value.

Trolleybus Archive Take 1 includes footage from the Southern Counties Touring Society filmed between 1948 and 1967. There are highlights from the film “Heart of the Trolleybus” which captures the workings of the Metrovick factory in Sheffield and excerpts from a very early promotional film made for Richard Garrett & Sons Ltd detailing their ‘latest developments’ in Trolleybus technology out on the near-empty roads of England.

Systems visited include: Ipswich, Southend, Maidstone, Hastings, Brighton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, London, Reading, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Notts & Derby, Mexborough & Swinton, Grimsby, Doncaster and Bradford.

Trolleybus Archive Take Two is 100% in colour.

Peter Goddard’s evocative archive features trolleybuses touring towns and cities in which they would never normally have worked such as Bournemouth, Cardiff, Teesside and Reading. We also visit Walsall, Wolverhampton, Derby, Huddersfield and Bradford. Finally there is the closure of the Maidstone system and the last day of operation in Huddersfield.

Availability: AVAILABLE
Narrated by: John Huntley
Written by: John Huntley & Mark Jerome
First published on DVD: 1993/1995 on VHS, 2003 on DVD
Screen aspect ratio: 4:3 SD
Classification: Exempt
Number of discs: 1 DVD
Media Format: DVD-R

Running Time: 120-mins (2hr 0min) , Colour and Black & White
.

To tell a friend about this item, click to Share or send an Email: