London to Brighton. Are our attention spans getting shorter?
October 1, 2006 8:02 AM   Subscribe

London to Brighton in Two Minutes (2006) [HI Apple Quicktime, LO Adobe Flash] preceeded by London to Brighton in Three-and-a-Half Minutes (1983) [RealMedia, context] preceeded by London to Brighton in Four Minutes (1953) [RealMedia, context]
posted by riotgrrl69 (21 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Don't forget the scooter version on the Quadrophenia DVD!
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:11 AM on October 1, 2006


Cool stuff. Can't get the earliest one to load, though.

Interesting that the 1983 version doesn't stop at East Croydon. OK it isn't that interesting.
posted by handee at 8:16 AM on October 1, 2006


Or clapham junction for that matter.
posted by handee at 8:17 AM on October 1, 2006


This?
posted by riotgrrl69 at 8:17 AM on October 1, 2006


The old one loads fine for me. Try copy and pasting into RealPlayer? Warning: serious compression.
posted by riotgrrl69 at 8:18 AM on October 1, 2006


Maybe the BBC booked a special nonstop journey for their films.
posted by riotgrrl69 at 8:19 AM on October 1, 2006



Can someone name all of the stops?

Can't get used to seeing that train going down the left side of the tracks.
posted by wfc123 at 8:22 AM on October 1, 2006


riotgrrl69, nah, there's an actual POV scooter run from Southwark to Brighton included on the disc, in about 8x real time. It ain't no C'etait un Rendezvous, but it's fun.
posted by adamgreenfield at 8:47 AM on October 1, 2006


I live in the building with the scaffolding on at the start of the 2006 film.

Can someone name all of the stops?

Yes (the route is London Victoria to Brighton via Clapham Junction and Streatham Common).
posted by cillit bang at 9:01 AM on October 1, 2006


That is really freaking cool. I have seen the older videos but I think the video quality is so much better here. Beautiful day and season to shoot it. Also it is interesting to see things basically as they are now.

The only stops are Clapham Junction (the busiest station in Britain, at about 60 trains each hour), and East Croydon (where there is a fairly long dwell). After a couple of tunnels you can see the large Gatwick Airport stop but the train zooms right through it.
posted by grouse at 9:08 AM on October 1, 2006


Thank you for posting this. I have fond memories of the 1983 version, my dad recorded it off the telly and I'd occasionally sit and re-watch it when I was bored. Shame it's so compressed here.
posted by chill at 9:12 AM on October 1, 2006


Time lapse Rugby–Glasgow from the same people. And they have a lot of non-railway stuff too. None of it is as cool as the original post I think. Thanks riotgrrl69.
posted by grouse at 9:28 AM on October 1, 2006


I know that line far too well, given that I live near Clapham Junction, work near Victoria, used to work in Croydon and go to Brighton a lot. By the time I die I will probably have spent months on it. Watching this fast-forwarded is like some surreal "life flashing before my eyes" type moment - as if the train's going to crash when it hits the buffers at Brighton.
posted by greycap at 10:34 AM on October 1, 2006


It's not very far, is it?
posted by dydecker at 10:37 AM on October 1, 2006


About 50 miles.
posted by grouse at 11:32 AM on October 1, 2006


It's about 50 miles / 80km. Which I guess makes the average speed here 1500mph.
posted by chill at 11:37 AM on October 1, 2006


I commuted this route till June. Never went that fast for me (well, maybe after a couple of late nights...)

Fantastic post, thanks.
posted by athenian at 11:39 AM on October 1, 2006


Can't get used to seeing that train going down the left side of the tracks.
Living in Japan will clear that right up. Standing up behind the drivers like a little kid was one of my more fun diversions in Japan. There's even one train where you can sit in the driver's actual seat ...
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 12:40 PM on October 1, 2006


Nice, thanks riotgrrl69! Having seen this numerous times from the side, it's nice to see what it looks like from the front.
posted by carter at 4:13 PM on October 1, 2006


< zombie> TRAIIIIIINNNS! < /zombie>
posted by pmbuko at 9:10 PM on October 1, 2006


I know the stretch of line between Victoria and East Croydon pretty well, plus I love speed so that was very cool. Thanks!
posted by ob at 7:04 AM on October 2, 2006


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