Rolling the Freight

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Take a breathtaking train a ride through Nothern Quebec and Labrador on Canada’s first First Nations-owned railway. Come for the celebration of the power of independence, the crucial importance of aboriginal owned businesses and stay for the beauty of the northern landscape.

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

The story of the railroad man in his role in keeping the trains moving on the rails.

A travelogue, this film provides a guided tour of pre-World War II Utah and of course does not pretend to cinematic greatness. Recommended viewing for those in search of introductory Utah history. Also valuable for persons seeking insight into the state as it would have looked during this time period. Especially informative for those desiring a window into the past for a view of how Utah was in the days of their pre-World War II progenitors living in the state. Those whose Utah ancestors were involved in mining, railroading, sugar beets, and other featured industries; featured towns, sights, recreational attractions, and industries may find this otherwise banal travelogue a quite valuable addition to their family history.

A documentary on the railroads of America produced by the Association of American Railroads

The Channel Tunnel linking Britain with France is one of the seven wonders of the modern world but what did it take to build the longest undersea tunnel ever constructed? We hear from the men and women, who built this engineering marvel. Massive tunnel boring machines gnawed their way through rock and chalk, digging not one tunnel but three; two rail tunnels and a service tunnel. This was a project that would be privately financed; not a penny of public money would be spent on the tunnel. Business would have to put up all the money and take all the risks. This was also a project that was blighted by flood, fire, tragic loss of life and financial bust ups. Today, it stands as an engineering triumph and a testament to what can be achieved when two nations, Britain and France put aside their historic differences and work together.

After the last train at night and before the first in the morning, 800 people are hard at work behind the scenes making London's Underground fit to travel on. Including brushing dust from ventilation ducts, ‘fluffers’ cleaning up rubbish, routine rail replacement and fixing a broken rail discovered at 3.30am.

"The End of the Line - Rochester's Subway" tells the little-known story of the rail line that operated in a former section of the Erie Canal from 1927 until its abandonment in 1956. Produced in 1994 by filmmakers Fredrick Armstrong and James P. Harte, the forty-five minute documentary recounts the tale of an American city's bumpy ride through the Twentieth Century, from the perspective of a little engine that could, but didn't. The film has since been rereleased (2005) and now contains the main feature with special portions that were added as part of the rereleased version. These include a look at the only surviving subway car from the lines and a Phantom tun through the tunnels in their abandoned state, among others, for a total of 90 minutes of unique and well preserved historical information.

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".

TGV Paris-Bordeaux, la ligne de tous les records

A short documentary about the work of railwaymen and life on the railway.

The Second World War is a black page in the history of the Belgian national railways. The company was taken over by the German occupiers and 'trains of death' transported victims of the Nazi regime to concentration camps. In this documentary from 1945 filmmaker Jacques Kupissonoff reconstructs the activities of 'Group G' that specialized in the sabotage of the railway network during the Second World War. The film includes exclusive images of wrecked railway infrastructure.

A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reunite with their distant family, and to revive their love and dignity as China soars as the world's next super power.

This 1996 documentary takes a nostalgic ride through history to present the experiences of Black sleeping-car porters who worked on Canada's railways from the early 1900s through the 1960s. There was a strong sense of pride among these men and they were well-respected by their community. Yet, harsh working conditions prevented them from being promoted to other railway jobs until finally, in 1955, porter Lee Williams took his fight to the union.

Discover the world's most luxurious trains and relive a bygone era, when the journey was an experience in itself, aboard the opulent carriages of the world's railways. A voyage where the passenger becomes a real traveller, steeped not only in the natural, stunning beauty of the surroundings but also in the romance and opulence associated with the golden age of rail. A classic rail adventure experiencing the thrills of crossing the Canadian Rockies. Torrential waterfalls, soaring eagles and the contrast of sapphire blue lakes and snow-capped peaks are spectacular and can all be viewed from either the magnificent bi-level dome car or the observation carriage. The unmatchable comfort and elegance of the Goldleaf service brings to life the era when the railways were the "only" way to travel.

The film explores the destruction of a unique train station in Zurich and the construction of the new prison and police centre in its place. From the perspective of the filmmaker’s window, and with testimony from prisoners awaiting deportation, the film probes how we deal with the extinction of history and its replacement with total security.

On a train crossing Tanzania, a rolling microcosm of East African society, we follow three main characters, reflecting on the strength to survive.

A side-by-side analysis of Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality and S.S. Rajamouli's Maryada Ramanna.