Produced by the International Union of Railroads by British Transport Films in 1979, this documentary looks at exciting railway developments in Japan, Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy, and France. There is a short history of previous impressive railway achievements mainly focusing on speed records. It then covers things like the construction of new lines and the development of new high speed trains in the aforementioned countries as a matter of necessity in the “new railway age.” The film features stunning footage of famous trains like the Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV. The film was written by Brian Redhead, narrated by John Stockbridge, edited by Richard Best, photographed by Ronald Craigen, and produced by James Ritchie. The score was by Christopher Gunning.

0:08 Mime (played by David Glass) walking with a briefcase to a rail line and gets on an imaginary train, 1:13 Title “A New Age for Railways” in 6 languages, 1:37 a shot of the first locomotive, the Adler, the first locomotive that was successfully used commercially for the rail transport of passengers and goods in Germany. 2:20 British Mallard steam engine n 1938. Its streamlined, wind tunnel tested design allowed it to haul long distance express passenger services at high speeds. 2:57 French BB 9004 direct current electric locomotives.breaking the world rail speed record, 3:58 the mime at a drawing board, 4:20 view from the engineer’s position, 4:54 engineers in an office along with different tests, 5:23 engineers sitting in a high speed test train looking at equipment, 6:44 mime at the drawing table, 6:55 a railway map of Japan, 7:21 view of the Japanese country side from a high speed train, 7:46 different shots of the outside and inside of the first Shinkansen trains, 8:15 central control in contact with drivers, 8:30 map of the extension of the Shinkansen lines with more shots of the trains driving, 9:15 railway map of Britain, 9:33 British train driving along a curvy line, 9:55 aerial shot of a diesel high speed train driving, 10:17 artist rendering of the “Advanced Passenger Train (APT)” with a demonstration of its curve tilting technology, 10:47 an experimental train being tested on a curvy track, 11:21 brief overview of the production of the APT from the early stages to a finished model, 12:16 railway map of Poland, 12:44 Coal and passenger trains driving on the North-South line, 13:07 overview of the construction process of the new North-South Line, 13:25 engineers flying over and surveying the area the new route would pass through, 14:14 a conductor driving a train full of cars, 14:47 Railway map of West Germany, 15:01 Aerial views of coal and iron trains driving, 15:31 construction work on the Mannheim-Stuttgart line, 16:01 shots of the inside and outside of a German high speed train, 16:36 construction on the Hannover-Würzburg line, 17:01 different shots of the inside and outside of high speed trains, 17:32 map of railways between the Swiss border and Paris, 18:03 construction of a new line between Paris and Lyon, 18:23 unveiling of the first TGV, 18:36 prospecting by engineers on the new route, 19:03 start of construction on the new line, 19:27 construction of the TGV, 19:51 TGV driving, 20:23 railway map between Rome and Florence, 20:48 traffic along the Rome-Florence line, 21:15 construction of the new line between Rome and Florence including the creation of viaducts and tunnels, 22:18 overview of the viaduct over the river Pavia, 22:28 new railway lines being laid, 23:15 summary shots of the different trains covered so far, 23:28 shots of passengers from the inside of the various trains, 24:47 a Shinkansen comes into a station, 25:26 Credits

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com