Trains from the Arc

It was in the 1890s that the original experiments with cinematography took place in Britain, France and the USA. Trains were amongst the first subjects ever filmed and incredibly many of those clips have survived.

Originally published as three separate productions on videocassette, Trains from theArc' consists of three episodes: Volume 1 Victorian Steam Railways (1895-1901) goes right back to the very start of cinematography and includes all known surviving railway film from the 19th century. Inevitably, scenes were often short and are repeated to give more historical commentary. 

Volume 2 The Edwardian Scene (1902-1912) saw the invention of editing and the introduction of story films. It just so happens that the very first story film included trains. 

Volume 3 The Pre-Grouping Years (1913-1925) shows much more sophisticated motion pictures, including such novel railways as the Listowel and Ballybunion monorail. 

These three separate episodes are all now compiled onto just the one DVD. Great value for just £15! Presented by the late railway film historian John Huntley.

Colour production with black and white archive material.