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London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

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Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#21

Post by dredmorbius »

ibrow wrote: post #11

Are the three videos running at the same speed? Or are they constantly adjusted so they keep up with each other so we can see more clearly any changes in landscape? I can actually believe that the journey time hasn't increased since the 1950s. However, possibly the clock at the end of the film is there to indicate the differing journey times? Anyway, interesting video. thanks for posting.

I just checked the clock times, and it's not possible to judge.

1953: no departure time, arrival is 13:05.

1983: departure at 14:00, arrival at 14:03. Fast trip! Or someone cheated setting up clock / departure shots.

2013: departure: 08:32, arrival 09:50.

The Brighton-London trip looks to be about 1:10 based on this site: http://traintimes.org.uk/?page=/service/timetable/lateroutbo...

Trip times here are 58m to 1h 20m. https://www.thetrainline.com/train-times/london-to-brighton

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#22

Post by zimpenfish »

joeyo wrote: post #15
ginko wrote: post #9

It's interesting how much straighter the route has gotten over the years.

I noticed that as well and wasn't sure whether to chalk it up to lens distortion or if it really is a straighter track now. Interesting also how many fewer track "spurs" there are now.

Considering it starts and ends in the same place, goes through the same places, and the UK isn't known for tectonic activity, I'm reasonably sure the track hasn't straightened enough that it would be visible at that magnitude.

Which is a long way round of saying "I think it's lens distortion and placement".

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#24

Post by cclogg »

ricardobeat wrote: post #8

It's a shame they used such a shitty camera for the 2013 video. Things look mostly the same, and there seems to be more green in the more recent videos.

I wonder what the 1983 video was shot on? Would have been cool if all 3 were shot on film too heh.

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#25

Post by mtdewcmu »

nohuck13 wrote: post #20

It's interesting how many more trees there are in 2013. My wife pointed out that it looks the same with pictures of New York from the early 20th century- green space just wasn't a thing we had the desire/means to rate as highly. OTOH the major infrastructure hasn't changed much (bridges, urban areas, not just the train line which is politically determined). Technological change reshapes how live in a lot of ways in s…

I thought there might have been fewer trees in the earliest video, but it was really difficult to tell with the film quality and the speed of things rushing by. If the rail was newly laid in the 50s, then they might have had to cut down the trees, and they take a while to come back.

The difference that jumped out at me the most is the decline in hats. I wonder how many haberdashers were put out of work during this period.

> it's interesting to reminded that big, capital intestive stuff like bridges and tunnels and roads are still built with 50+ year expected lifetimes. I can't imagine writing software with anything like that staying power.

I've given thought to this. Engineers are expected to get things like that right the first time, and the structures have to last a long time. But the engineers don't have to invent a new kind of bridge or road every time they design one. Software, being cheap to make lots of copies of, has to do something completely new every time you write it.

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#26

Post by astrosi »

nohuck13 wrote: post #20

It's interesting how many more trees there are in 2013. My wife pointed out that it looks the same with pictures of New York from the early 20th century- green space just wasn't a thing we had the desire/means to rate as highly. OTOH the major infrastructure hasn't changed much (bridges, urban areas, not just the train line which is politically determined). Technological change reshapes how live in a lot of ways in s…

There is also another, more practical, reason for the lack of trees and general greenery next to the train lines.

In 1953 we are still in the age of steam and trees were cut back from the lines to reduce the risk of fires from hot ash.

There was a pretty interesting article with the BBC to accompany this a while back.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23853863

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#27

Post by exDM69 »

If you enjoy playing Train simulator games, you probably know this route by heart. I think this particular route has been made for every popular train simulator out there.

I don't play that much train sims, only a little every now and then but even I recognized parts of the track.

If you have not tried train sims and feel like the idea is a bit daft, I was once with you on that. I had, however, liked watching trains when I was a kid. But after a friend told he liked playing train sims, I had to try too and I enjoyed it. So here's my warm recommendation to try out a train simulator, it's really difficult and fun!

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#28

Post by harrytuttle »

exDM69 wrote: post #27

If you enjoy playing Train simulator games, you probably know this route by heart. I think this particular route has been made for every popular train simulator out there. I don't play that much train sims, only a little every now and then but even I recognized parts of the track. If you have not tried train sims and feel like the idea is a bit daft, I was once with you on that. I had, however, liked watching trains…

Echoing the above, and having driven a real train (well class 58 unit) around a large east midlands depot (a relative who was fairly senior organised it so I got to do the initial class checkout training for an afternoon) it's a crap load harder than you probably think it is. They really are complicated machines with a lot to learn and driving them is a skill that isn't something that easy to master.

The simulators, particularly MSTS is a pretty good representation and a good challenge. Go try it :) Better than running swearing 12 year olds off the track on Forza.

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#29

Post by harrytuttle »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #2

Its a little sad that repeating the exercise today shows little improvement over 30 years ago. The HST125 is still the fastest diesel train in the world (the actual video was likely taken from a Diesel Multiple Unit which are lighter and more efficient but not faster), those lines are still not electrified little has changed in train signalling with most of the improvements in train control being to centralise it rat…

Bombadier Voyager units (class 220-222) are rated to the same speed.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_Voyager_family

They're much more comfortable and quieter than the 125's (43's + mk3s) plus they don't give you a face full of fumes when they start up or scare your children :)

Re: London to Brighton train ride, 1953-2013 [video]

#30

Post by ido »

harrytuttle wrote: post #28
exDM69 wrote: post #27

If you enjoy playing Train simulator games, you probably know this route by heart. I think this particular route has been made for every popular train simulator out there. I don't play that much train sims, only a little every now and then but even I recognized parts of the track. If you have not tried train sims and feel like the idea is a bit daft, I was once with you on that. I had, however, liked watching trains…

Echoing the above, and having driven a real train (well class 58 unit) around a large east midlands depot (a relative who was fairly senior organised it so I got to do the initial class checkout training for an afternoon) it's a crap load harder than you probably think it is. They really are complicated machines with a lot to learn and driving them is a skill that isn't something that easy to master. The simulators,…

As point of interest, why is it that hard? What makes the task (or mundane parts of it) less automat-able than driving cars (which I think most people would say isn't all that difficult)?
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