
Chicago: America's Railroad Capital
2017 · 68m · Documentary
In this documentary, Chicago, America’s Railroad Capital, you’ll discover how the third largest U.S. city became the nation’s most important hub, serving six of North America’s largest railroads. Along with its robust commuter system, more rail traffic passes through Chicago than any other city in America.
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How They Dug the Victoria Line
1969
First transmitted in 1969, this documentary follows the construction of the world’s most advanced underground system. Macdonald Hastings narrates the story of one of the most complex tunnel engineering feats of its time. He reveals the isolation felt by the miners who spent six years burrowing deep beneath the streets of London, shows what they did beneath one of London's most famous department stores and explains why the ground at Tottenham Court Road had to be frozen during the hottest weeks of 1966. The result is a brave new world of transport with automated trains, two way mirrors, automatic fare collection and closed-circuit television, all choreographed by a computer programme played out by an updated version of a pianola located in a control room somewhere near Euston station.
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David Suchet on the Orient Express
2010 · ★ 6.8
In this travelogue, actor David Suchet journeys across Europe aboard the world famous Orient Express train, as he prepares to play Poirot in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Murder on the Orient Express".
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1958
A light and somewhat satirical look at the problems and pleasures of Continental holiday travel. A passenger on the Hook Continental Express from Liverpool St. imagines the possible destinations of his fellow passengers.
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1961
When a business tycoon allows himself to be 'snared' into seeing some films in a railway traffic manager's office, there must be a reason for it. In this case, it's a particularly giant-sized transport problem. But before he's convinced that the railways can help him solve it, there is an atmosphere of battle in the room, and some interesting and unexpected facts are hurled about in the course of the argument. Made to promote the use of railways to transport raw materials and finished products.
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Witnesses discuss the Ascq massacre by the Waffen-SS during the Second World War 80 years later.
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2023
A side-by-side analysis of Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality and S.S. Rajamouli's Maryada Ramanna.
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Engineering Tragedy: The Ashtabula Train Disaster
2022 · ★ 10
The Ashtabula train disaster and bridge collapse was the worst train disaster of the 19th century, claiming the lives of 97 people. The engineering and structural failures that caused the collapse of a bridge that stood for over a decade, also took down the most luxurious train of the day, “The Pacific Express #5.” The accident happened in Ashtabula, Ohio on December 29, 1876 during a raging blizzard, sending the luxury train crashing 70-feet into a river gorge and costing the lives of 97 people. The disaster shocked the nation, yet it’s a story that’s been lost in the pages of history. In a strange twist of fate and intrigue, the bridge disaster also became the backdrop to the still unsolved murder of Charles Collins, the railroad’s chief engineer. It also contributed to the eventual suicide of millionaire Amasa Stone, the president of the railroad and the designer and builder of the bridge.
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The Great Indian Railway
1995
A puffing steam train climbs into the Himalaya, a rolling rumble echoes over the holy waters of the Ganges, an astonishing five million commuters rush daily through the Bombay Victoria Terminus - join National Geographic as we journey on one of the world's largest railways. Since 1853, India's railway has been a unifying force. Not only did it physically link distant regions, it also connected the myriad of castes, languages, and religions that comprise India. It's a rich history, riding the sumptuous Palace on Wheels through Rajasthan or the "toy train" to Darjiing, but sadly, the age of steam is dying. At the Black Beauty contest, the beloved steam engines are admired for the last time. From the driver in the steaming locomotive to the station master in the sleepy village, from the family traveling to a wedding to the commuters in the large cities, this great institution reflects the country itself. Many are the faces, and varied are the stories, on THE GREAT INDIAN RAILWAY.
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Night Mail
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This documentary short examines the special train on which mail is sorted, dropped and collected on the run, and delivered in Scotland on the overnight run from Euston, London to Glasgow.
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1962
This short documentary shows the reactions of European immigrants as they land in Halifax at the beginning of the 1960s. From the port, we follow them on a snowy journey by train to Montreal.
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