The fourth of a six-part series produced for Tyne Tees Television by Honky Tonk Productions that explores the great railway age from the early horse-drawn waggon ways, through the romance of steam, to futuristic monorail of the 21st century. In this programme presenter Andy Klutz looks back on the heydays of the railway from the middle of the 19th century to the end of World War Two when trains formed an important part of British Life. He travels to Saltburn-by-the-Sea along the East...

The fourth of a six-part series produced for Tyne Tees Television by Honky Tonk Productions that explores the great railway age from the early horse-drawn waggon ways, through the romance of steam, to futuristic monorail of the 21st century. In this programme presenter Andy Klutz looks back on the heydays of the railway from the middle of the 19th century to the end of World War Two when trains formed an important part of British Life. He travels to Saltburn-by-the-Sea along the East Cleveland coastline to learn how the Victorian resort town was created and thrives because of the railways. Also in this programme Andy learns about developments in passenger comforts and how the extensive branch line networks became a lifeline for many rural communities. Coming out of Carlo’s Fish and Chip shop holding a fish and chip supper wrapped in newspaper, presenter Andy Klutz explains that during the middle decades of the 19th century Britain was experience an incredible rapid spread of the railway network known as ‘railway mania.’ Holding up his supper as an example, he explains that it was possible to transport fish from the coast inland within hours of it being caught and to read a newspaper the meal is wrapped in on the same day it was published wherever you were in the country. In every way the railway was bringing the nation together. Title: The Railway Story “Comfort and The Celestial City” Over a montage of images on an oil painting depicting a busy railway station in the 1850s, Andy provides details on how the expansion of the nation’s railway network was finding its way to the coast and that not only was there an exodus to the seaside, but also opportunities for people to make their fortune. Walking along its clifftop Andy relates the story of Henry Pease, son of Edward Pease one of the founders of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, who while visiting nearby Marske Hall in East Cleveland walking with his wife along said cliffs one day had a vison of a ‘Celestial City’ on this spot which would be named Saltburn. Along the clifftop at Saltburn-by-the-Sea men and women dressed in Victorian costumes. A group of four take a ride in the Saltburn Cliff Railway before walking along Saltburn Pier. A photograph of the private railway platform leading into what was once the Zetland Hotel morphs into Andy walking with Saltburn Historian and Photographer Tony Lynn beside the same platform. Tony provides details on how this station worked and about the development of this resort town that was created by the railways. Over a montage of the frontage of the hotel, now private flats, Tony explains that the white bricks used in its construction, along with many other buildings in the town, were manufactured by the Pease family and brought in by the railway. Over a montage of archival photographs featuring the Zetland Hotel and its staff, Andy explained that it opened in 1863 and that during the 1860s the town sprang up around it with Pease’s Saltburn Improvement Company sparing no expense and that even today a century and a half later the buildings remain unfaded. Men and women in Victorian costumes walking around the towns crown jewel its Italian Gardens with Andy explains that during the Victoria era it was the place see and be seen. The costume characters fades to be replaced by Andy and Tony Lynn talks about its development believing the ideas were cribbed from similar gardens in Scarborough. Down on Saltburn beach Andy and Tony walk along the promenade with Tony explaining the stones used to make it were blocks taken from the horse-drawn waggon way of the old Stockton to Darlington Railway. Over several photographs from the period Tony talks about a mechanical hoist which operated for thirteen years transporting people from the clifftop to the promenade. This was then replaced by a water-balanced cliff tramway which still operates today, the oldest operational one in the country. Standing beside the beach with the pier in the background Tony explains that Saltburn Pier is the only one along the Northeast and Yorkshire coast. With people surfing in the sea Tony takes the programme into a commercial break by reminding Andy that Saltburn-by-the-Sea is a testament to the Victorians and their railway. Title: End of Part One Part Two Inside the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum as Andy closes a series of doors on a carriage built in 1846 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, he explains that until the 1860s travelling by train was quite an ordeal. Climbing inside one of the compartments and taking a seat he describes them as both cramped and uncomfortable. Stepping out of a toilet cubical Andy provides details on how over the next forty-years railway companies improved comfort for passengers and that by the 1890s passengers were ‘positively pampered’. At the National Railway Museum in York a montage inside the Royal railway carriage of Queen Victoria described as a ‘palace on wheels.’ Coming to take a seat inside a carriage built in 1898 Andy is joined by David Wright Curator of Collections at the museum who explains why railway suddenly improved the comfort on trains. David talks about a competition for passengers between the east and west coast routes between London and Scotland and that while the west coast won out on speed, the east coast won on comfort and scenic views. A montage around the carriage with David also explaining the general design of carriages such as these didn’t change much for the next sixty years. Over a montage of archive footage featuring various steam locomotives in operation, Andy explains that the turn of the 20th century was a golden age of railways and that no community in Britain was more than twenty miles away from a railway station. If commerce was Britain’s life blood, explains Andy, then the railway network was its veins and arteries. More archive of soldiers from World War One getting onto trains to be transport to France with Andy explaining how railways played an important role in transporting troops and weapons to the front. A poster of railway liveries 1923-1947 with Andy explain how in 1923 railway companies amalgamated into four firms whose initials became synonymous with the ‘great and good old days’, London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southern, Great Western and the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (LMS). Standing at the ticket office inside Darlington Railway Centre and Museum Andy speaks with Sheila Crosby who started as a clerk on the railways in 1945 and worked all around the regional network. Over archive of passenger trains travelling the branch line between Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay Sheila talks about her experience working the very last golden days of the branch line explaining to Andy what it was like then and how life revolved around the trains and the bicycle. Two old-fashioned bicycles standing in the corner of the room with Sheila explaining how important her bicycle was to her sometimes having to cycle from Richmond in North Yorkshire back to her home at Ormesby in Middlesbrough. Over more archive of staff at a local branch line stations Sheila provides details on how trains where an important part of local rural life back then. Over a montage of what use to Stokesley railway station Sheila talks about her time working there. The now derelict Stokesley signal box where, Sheila explains, you could get a haircut for 4p. Archive from onboard a train travelling the Wensleydale branch line in North Yorkshire with Andy explains that by 1930 Britain's railway network was at its greatest and for those living in places like Leyburn the railway was heart of everyday life. Standing across the railway tracks from the house where he was born, Andy speaks with Arthur Hartley about how this branch line, now derelict, was an important part of his local community and about the kind of freight these train would transport. As he speaks about what life was like more archive of a train stopped near to Arthur’s home and photographs of Leyburn railway station. Over views of the now derelict railway station Arthur talks of his hopes that the railway might one day return. Arthur and Andy walk around the station which was for many years was the best kept station in Yorkshire with a prize-winning rockery now overgrown with weeds. As he stands overlooking the Durham Viaduct as a passenger trains crosses it, Andy explains how during World War Two the railway network was badly neglected and starved of investment and that once peace was restored something drastic had to be done. In 1948 the railways were nationalised, but that something else was fast catching up that would cause untold damage on the network. Over the closing credits archive of the internal combustion engine and cars travelling along the region’s road. Title: With thanks to British Pathe PLC, Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, Peter Hutchinson, Tony Lynn Collection, National Railway Museum York, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Saltburn Victorians, Peter Stoddart Credit: Written and Presented by Andy Klutz Title Music Alan Clark Graphics Dave Richardson Research Robert Smith Sound Terry Black Camera / Director Janusz Ostrowski Editor Trevor Wonfor Executive Producer Jane Bolesworth Producer Liz Treadway End title: A Honky Tonk Production for Tyne Tees Television. © MCMXCIX