Comments on: London to Brighton. Are our attention spans getting shorter?

London to Brighton. Are our attention spans getting shorter?

riotgrrl69 — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:02:37 -0800

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]

By: adamgreenfield

adamgreenfield — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:11:28 -0800

Don't forget the scooter version on the Quadrophenia DVD!

By: handee

handee — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:16:13 -0800

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.

By: handee

handee — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:17:09 -0800

Or clapham junction for that matter.

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:17:29 -0800

This?

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:18:26 -0800

The old one loads fine for me. Try copy and pasting into RealPlayer? Warning: serious compression.

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:19:20 -0800

Maybe the BBC booked a special nonstop journey for their films.

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:22:11 -0800

Can someone name all of the stops? Can't get used to seeing that train going down the left side of the tracks.

By: adamgreenfield

adamgreenfield — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 08:47:59 -0800

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.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:01:30 -0800

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).

By: grouse

grouse — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:08:44 -0800

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.

By: chill

chill — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:12:08 -0800

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.

By: grouse

grouse — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:28:37 -0800

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.

By: greycap

greycap — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 10:34:47 -0800

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.

By: dydecker

dydecker — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 10:37:28 -0800

It's not very far, is it?

By: grouse

grouse — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 11:32:27 -0800

About 50 miles.

By: chill

chill — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 11:37:25 -0800

It's about 50 miles / 80km. Which I guess makes the average speed here 1500mph.

By: athenian

athenian — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 11:39:34 -0800

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

By: Heywood Mogroot

Heywood Mogroot — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 12:40:17 -0800

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 ...

By: carter

carter — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 16:13:18 -0800

Nice, thanks riotgrrl69! Having seen this numerous times from the side, it's nice to see what it looks like from the front.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 21:10:48 -0800

< zombie> TRAIIIIIINNNS! < /zombie>

By: ob

ob — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 07:04:26 -0800

I know the stretch of line between Victoria and East Croydon pretty well, plus I love speed so that was very cool. Thanks!