davesgcr's channel

Incredibly evocative ....(but there are still London trams in Croydon)

Incredibly short sighted in retrospect)

Good stuff - and some long departed "friends" of one of my ex managers appear in this film....a great snapshot of a recent past.

Very good Bob - nice to see you are catching the interesting things ......now how is my pet branch line GCG ?????

Can you imagine what it was like - my grandad , born 1891 was there ....he must have dreamt of being at home in Paddington , not in some dugout with a tin of corned beef. !!!!

One of the best films ever ...

My first ever NYC subway ride in 84 was on a slant - miss these unique cars.

This comes from the UK - good job they were refurbed and cleaned up !

Hope I get some for my next NYC trip in 2 years time ,,,,

Some of these comments below are just sheer quality ..

Music = sense of place + time period.

Thank God for the internet and thinking , sensitive people ,

Excellent - I have a 45 of these guys - my cousin used one of em as an electrician for a domestic job , so I acquired the vinyl.

Whatever happened to them 30 years on

Very good - the idea of painting the cars white as anti- graffitti measure was a total and utter disaster ! (as this film shows , just gave a new surface to paint on)

I am amazed how the graffiiti problem "dissapeared" from 1988

it might be a lot blander today - but the squalor is quite shocking from this perspecitive - I remember being quite unerved on my first subway ride in 1984 - and that was in the CBD area.

Poor lighting also.

Cant have been much fun being an employee in those days , spending all day in a vandal...

Good effort , respect from London !

Comment made before - but hits a chord (pun) from when living for the first time in London in 1980 and coming to terms with it all. Classic and loved track - remember buying the single as soon as it came out in Finchley Road Our Price records - how "London is that !

Gutted when this era ended - ...

Yes - dont even live in the USA - but I too , miss the slants ! Travelled on them in the 1980's when they were graffitied and so on , glad to see them cleaned up ,and really gutted I nver got another ride on then before they left. Quirky design

Its a bit tricky when you live in the UK !

Outstanding - with possible electrifrication on the way !

Fair play >....(good boy as they say in Wales)

@thatguystefan

I was around - 20 at the time _ and was so gutted when the Jam broke up !

Good for you to appreciate class music ! (even my teenagers quite like it - when pushed !)

@Punkyadam2k8

Good on you for appreciating class - saw the great man once at a student do (I was young once) - what a great chap>

Coming from an Ammanford coal miners background - this is deeply personal - as it explains much of what my own father did from 1938 as a 14 year old miner.The whole film explains a culture of self improvement , hardship and community whcih is now lost (but nver forgotten) - not glamerous , but I ...

Real quality - aided by the contemporary shots of the tube - neon lighting and passengers with big shirt collars !

!959 tube stock for the spotters - probably the Northern or Bakerloo lines !

Best track ever to be stoned to ......Happy times

God I love this track - so evocative of the early 80s

Bad news - he has a 142 !

Great bit of filming - using a WW2 spitfire ace.(Taffy something or other)

An engine without a train does not have great brake force ...

Note the braking technigue - full Westinghouse application , release - then a bit more , plus reverse gear when nearly stopped. Proper .....railway procedu...

Excellent report , but bad vibes at the moment for visitors with the Coalition Govt plans which may well wreck this in the short term ! - this wouldbe a tragedy of the highest order.

Have visited Paradox once , and look forward (please) to going again

Bought one of those Jamaican joints 10 days ago - didnt seem to do much - but nice to buy like this- went there PDQ also !

Maybe for not much longer with the new coalition government !

From his diaries - it seemed a contrived occassion - however for the non Germans - a translation would be good.

@adventuresineurope

Nice to know we met the boss ! - a great ambassador , look forward to going again

NIce and comfy - smoked a few bowls there last week - give him my compliments ! - nice coffee shop

Reminds of an aunt of mine ! - classy and funny

Had a spliff there today - tidy !

@knavesmire

Nicking from Woolies was all part of grwoing up in the 80's !!!

Hope you still have the (ill-gotten) 45 !