The summer of 2003 was likely to be the
last one for Mail Trains in Britain.
The number of trains operating had already
been reduced and this was the last chance to record the Travelling Post Offices
and many other aspects of moving the Royal Mail by rail before the axe fell.
This programme takes the viewer on a tour
of the country, looking at the remaining Mail Trains.
There's footage of:
- The Dover, Swansea and Norwich
TPOs
- The many 67 or 90 hauled van-trains
- The Class 325 EMUs on the East and West
Coast Main lines at Doncaster, York, Newcastle, Crewe, Preston and Carlisle.
Most trains run late in the evening or
overnight and were filmed during the light summer nights of June, July and
August.
Although not every train is here, the video
shows many different formations and combinations, from the Class 09 empty TPO
move from Tyne Yard to a pair of 67s from Swansea.
The summer of 2003 will go down in history
and this DVD is a timely reminder - a souvenir - of just how it used to be.