Churchill -The Last Train Journey

Sir Winston Churchill - 1874 - 1965. Great British Statesman. Much honoured and respected 'First Lord Of The Admiralty', who lead this country to victory through the Second World War.
Like when president J F Kennedy was assassinated and then the landing of the first man on the moon, these 'ground breaking' news stories stick in the mind with lots of background detail. Like where WE were at the time and what our own personal circumstances were then. I remember the rather grainy images on our old black and white 405 line set. The dullness of the picture seemed accentuated by the uniformly greyness of the day when the funeral took place. We shared a profound solemness at this event.
Now, 50 years later there is a certain magic about the occasion with the great statesman having been finally transported by a steam train named after him. Then taken 70 miles away from the media spotlight in London's Waterloo Station to a quiet country chuch yard in a remote corner of rural Oxfordshire.
These memories were refreshed with a visit to the 'National Railway Museum', earlier this year. The gaurds/goods carriage that carried Chuchill's coffin has been lovingly restored and is on display along with the 'Lydia' Pullman carriage that was pulled by the same train. The highlight of the exhibition is the actual iconic 'Battle of Britain Class' steam train named after the great man himself!
The sound track on this video includes Churchill's - 'We'll fight them on the Beaches' - speech, a short clip of the BBC, Richard Dimbleby narration at Waterloo Station..... followed by:-
Duke Ellington's 'Night Train',
played by Lional Hampton's Big Band

Read the real story from the engine driver and fireman ........

Apologies for any offence caused by use of some of these images which are freely available. My use of any third party images for this video is not for any personal financal gain is made for sharing with like minded individuals. Any coyright issues arising are genuinely unintentional.... Jayne Anne