(narrator) Beneath soaring mountains and through deep glens, over towering viaducts, across historic bridges, and along shimmering shorelines, Britain's railways travel a landscape like no other.

For the teams protecting the network.

(man) We've got a breathtaking landscape and the trains out our shore window.

There's nowhere I'd rather be working.

This is stunning.

(narrator) For the volunteers preserving our steam heritage.

(woman) It's a unique thing.

You know, it's not just press a button and it goes.

(narrator) And, for the engineers, safe guarding the track.

(man) My patch of railway probably has the best views in Britain.

Rain, hail, or shine, you're gonna get a crackin' view of something somewhere.

(narrator) The dramatic landscape and spectacular views are part of the joy of working on Britain's scenic railways.

(man) Absolutely beautiful!

Probably the world's most beautiful railway, this is.

It's gorgeous.

That view is outstanding.

(bright music) ♪ (whistle blowing) ♪ (train chugging) (orchestral music) (narrator) Following the twists and turns of the river, a Heritage railway runs through the rolling meadows and ancient woodland of the Severn Valley between Worcester and Shropshire.

Crossing the historic Victoria Bridge, the line follows 16 miles of the old Great Western Railway and was revived by a group of dedicated supporters and volunteers 50 years ago.

♪ This morning in the Budleigh station yard, driver Bob Drew is on the early shift.

(Bob) Everywhere where you see a cork, oil goes in, and this is just lubricating all the moving parts.

Quite an essential duty first thing in the morning.

Obviously, if you don't oil everything up, it just seizes up and we stop.

It's as simple as that.

It's London, Midland, Scottish Railway design engine, officially called an Ivatt 260, but more affectionately known as the Flying Pig, because it flies along and it's pig ugly.

(soft music) (narrator) During their working life in the 1950s, these freight locomotives were also nicknamed Mucky Ducks and Doodlebugs due to their unconventional appearance.

But since arriving at the Severn Valley Railway in 1968, the Flying Pig has covered over 120,000 miles and become a firm favorite.

(Bob) I think it's quite nice looking, really.

And it's still going quite well.

(narrator) Bob began volunteering at the Severn Valley Railway over 20 years ago.

(Bob) I come from a railway family.

My father was a guard in Liverpool from 1947 after he finished with the war.

And it's in the blood, really.

I never dreamt I'd get through to the stage of being a driver.

It's a dream come true, really.

(narrator) Working the footplate with Bob today is fireman Tom Clark.

(Tom) We lit the fire and prepped the cab of the engine, and then it's a case of going around the outside and giving it a good old scrub over.

It's unique, it's the last one of its class remaining, so we're very privileged to have it.

(narrator) A childhood fascination with steam engines has become a lifelong passion for Tom.

(Tom) My dad used to bring me up here when I was very little, and as soon as I was able to do so, I started volunteering.

It's just a great hobby to have and there's a lot of people my sort of age range and we're all good friends.

We all go down the pub of an evening and have a good laugh and a joke about what we do and what we get up to.

(bright music) (narrator) Along with its perfectly preserved locomotives and carriages, the railway is proud of its quaint village stations.

Like Hampton Loade, just three stops down the line, where work is on the way to restore some period detail to the platform.

♪ (man) I love working here in a beautiful station.

I mean, what's not to like?

It's just a privilege to be here doing what you love doing.

♪ And I'm just using my scriber here to cut in a sharp, straight edge, reproducing the sharp lines of the GWR on the Randall.

♪ (narrator) Stone mason Philip Chatfield is one of the craftsmen tasked with maintaining the railway's vintage charm.

♪ (Philip) It's just important to keep steam locomotives and carriages in good order.

But all the infrastructure needs TLC too.

People on the trains as they go by have been looking out the window like, "Oh, that's nice!"

Or they say things like, "Oh, you've missed a bit."

One of the guards said, "Oh, have you spelt that properly?"

It's quite funny.

(whistle blowing) (narrator) Out on the track, Bob and Tom are making their first run of the day onboard the Flying Pig.

(Tom) We're here for a good time and we're here to look after and run these superb machines.

I enjoy doing anything, working with steam engines is a privilege.

It's what I've always wanted to do.

Since I was about yea high.

And I've got a six-year-old son who I bring down here every time I can, and he wants to aspire to do the same thing.

(Bob) It's a great satisfaction, at the end of the day, of everyone getting off the train and congratulating you and thanking you.

That's really what does make it.

Absolutely wonderful job.

Best job in the world!

(narrator) Bob and Tom's route follows part of the Great Western Railway that was closed in 1968.

But the traditions are being preserved along this stretch of the reopened line.

(Philip) I think that Art Deco period, that great period of the golden age of railways is reflected in the lettering type.

The Great Western Railway is summed up in this sort of format.

It's just amazing to be able to continue that today in 2021 in the same way.

Same tools, same buildings.

(soft music) I just love all the camaraderie on the line.

It's great fun, there's some wonderful people.

I just feel I'm part of the Heritage Railway soup, you know?

We all bring something to the table.

♪ When you make these things, you've got to see them from a distance, because that's how they work.

♪ That's lovely.

Spot on.

Just needs a bit of weathering.

GWR, God's Wonderful Railway.

♪ (chugging) (calm music) (narrator) Bridging river estuaries and navigating open coastlines, the landscape and the railway in the Southwest of England are intertwined.

Traveling this stretch of the line is a treasured highlight of any train journey along the South Devon Coast.

Built in the mid-1800s, the Riviera Line runs from Exeter and follows the River Exe to Dawlish.

It hugs the shoreline to Teignmouth before heading further west to Torquay and the taverners at Paignton.

(woman) This stretch of railway is sandwiched, in effect, between twin threats of the sea on one side and the cliffs on the other and the railway line hugs the coast here and you get these amazing views of the estuaries and the sea and the cliffs as you travel along it.

People come from far and wide to see the views that you get from the train, but it's also an absolutely vital artery connecting the Southwest with the rest of the network.

(narrator) In February 2014, a ferocious storm hit the South Devon Coast.

Seventy-mile-per-hour winds sent waves crashing onto the line, and at Dawlish, a section of the wall between the sea and the railway was breeched.

Hundreds of tons of ballast was washed away, leaving the track suspended in midair.

(man) I used to live directly opposite the station building, and I have seen it from the bedroom window where waves will come up over the station and almost engulf it as they've hit the station building.

(waves crashing) (narrator) The line through Dawlish is the only connection to the Southwest Peninsula, which was suddenly cut off from the rest of the railway.

Working through winter storms, Network Rail engineers installed a temporary seawall made from 19 welded shipping containers as they battled for more than two months to repair the hundred-meter breech and get trains running again.

(solemn music) (piano music) Now work is underway on a more permanent solution.

An £80 million rail resilience scheme will build a seawall to protect Dawlish by deflecting waves back towards the sea.

(drilling) (Jack) It's definitely a very challenging environment to work in.

Logistics is one of our biggest issues.

Obviously, we're working in a tidal environment, so we only get access to the beach at low tide, so typically we get around about four to six hours for the installation process.

So we're averaging around about three facing panels on each shift.

It's a very slow, controlled movement with the crane.

They're landed down into the trough and they basically block the panel off in position once it's landed into the trough.

(soft music) ♪ (narrator) The wall panels are supported by 12 meter iron piles, which have been installed by an unlikely star of this coastal resilience scheme.

The WaveWalker is a giant moving platform known in the business as a jack-up barge and was used to drive the piles into the ground.

(Jack) The WaveWalker is a very innovative piece of kit.

It was almost like a tourist attraction when it arrived to Dawlish.

There were numerous rounds of people who wanted to come down and look at the WaveWalker in operation.

(narrator) The first of its type to be used on the UK rail network, the WaveWalker's adjustable platform height meant that working hours were not restricted by the changing tides, but with a top walking speed of just 30 meters per hour, it was slow progress.

(Jack) It is a very slow operation, but believe it or not, when the WaveWalker was operating down here in Dawlish, it did actually set the most amount of meters walked in a 24-hour period, which I believe was somewhere around 415 meters.

♪ (narrator) Phase one of the new seawall is complete and stands two and a half meters higher than before.

It has a curved top to deflect waves back towards the sea.

(Julie) This has been designed to withstand the impacts of climate change, global warming over the next 100 years, so we've taken into account around a meter of sea level rise, which is what we're expecting in this area, so this should be here for certainly decades to come.

(bright music) ♪ (orchestral music) (narrator) From magnificent soaring viaducts to wonderfully ornate stations, Britain's railway network is blessed with 19th century architectural gems, a reminder of the skill and ambition of our great Victorian engineers.

♪ On the Menai Strait between the Welsh mainland and the Island of Anglesey sits the Britannia Bridge.

♪ Built by legendary railway engineer Robert Stephenson, it was the final link in the line that carried passengers from London to the Port of Holyhead.

♪ Much of the bridge was rebuilt 50 years ago following a fire, and a road was added.

But its three limestone towers have survived.

Preserving them for the future is a round-the-clock job for Network Rail's maintenance team.

Project Manager Peter Caulfield and Engineer Dave Parker are checking up on the site.

On the riverbank, a section of the original bridge stands as a monument to Stephenson's ingenuity.

(Peter) At the time it was built, back in 1850 it was completed, it was the longest wrought iron bridge in the world.

It was a real feat of engineering.

(Dave) The box sections themselves were just riveted together from wrought iron gutters.

(Peter) It's got the plate girders at the top and at the bottom and they help to stiffen up and obviously take the load of the trains that were traveling through.

(Dave) There would've been a tunnel across the bridge, so not much sunlight getting through there, -I would imagine.

-No.

I think it would've been extremely dark.

There wouldn't have been a huge amount of working area either side of where the trains ran.

(narrator) At 461 meters, it would be the longest tubular bridge in Britain, but it had to be strong enough to support high-speed locomotives.

Stephenson's solution, allowing trains to run through the iron tunnels, was a milestone in structural engineering.

Now a listed building, the 200 foot towers are constantly monitored, and a recent inspection revealed a problem.

(Peter) The stone lintels have got hairline cracks in them.

Nobody's quite sure what the cause of the cracks are.

So because of concerns, they're putting fiber-reinforced plastic lintels underneath to support them.

(narrator) But the extensive repair schedule has been interrupted by some unexpected visitors.

(Peter) One of our partners at Welsh Government pointed out that there had been a history of peregrine falcons nested in the towers.

Just as we mobilized the site, we undertook an environmental survey, and there was evidence that the peregrine falcons were in the Britannia Tower, which is the central tower in the estuary, which means they're gonna take longer.

But the birds are a Schedule one protected species, protected by law, so the right thing was for us to suspend the works.

(mellow music) (narrator) The UK's largest falcon, peregrines are among the world's fastest animals, reaching speeds of up to 200 miles per hour when diving on their prey.

In recent years, they've been found nesting in unusual places from cathedrals to office blocks.

♪ Ecologist James Campbell has been monitoring the protected peregrines over the past four months, conducting dawn and dusk surveys.

(James) The last count was only 1,500 breeding pairs in the country.

All of them definitely need looking after, and if they've had a brood, that's excellent, 'cause that's that's adding to the future.

Ideally, I'd like to see multiple birds and to have a 100% location on where they're nesting.

But I don't know, that's asking a lot on a stretch of lattice.

It's a case of scouring the metalwork underneath the bridge.

Peregrine will come in and it'll just cruise along the metalwork, and if you're not paying attention, you really wouldn't notice it.

(narrator) It seems that the bridge's Victorian design is very falcon-friendly.

(James) It provides shelter from the adverse weather that they obviously get through here.

They can push themselves back into the stonework.

I know for a fact that there were two carcasses up on the ladder, so they've definitely got plentiful prey around here.

(narrator) James advises the railways on all manner of wildlife nesting, burrowing, or swimming near the line.

James, how you doing, mate?

We think that somewhere in the steel structure under the service deck between the Caernarfon tower and the central tower.

We've seen them feeding, we've seen them observing, and we've seen them foraging from there on numerous occasions.

(Peter) When would we anticipate that they would leave the nest for good?

(James) They'll still continue to use the nest area from now until at least a good couple of months, I would imagine.

Their range is massive, and this is a perfect area for them.

(narrator) After 20 years, James' career is still a labor of love.

(James) I've lived in the countryside all my life, and I've always been interested in wildlife.

When I started, it was a new thing.

You didn't know many ecologists, so it was brilliant to find a job in it.

Every day, there's something new, something different.

When you get to come and spend time in a place like this, it's definitely a positive.

(acoustic guitar music) So we've got a peregrine just landed on the bridge up on the port cloister's iron stonework.

They can appear like lightning from out of nowhere.

It's absolutely incredible.

Yeah, it's in the ladder now it's just feeding.

Possibly on a pigeon carcass.

He's having a good old munch.

The peregrines are definitely still here and they're definitely still using the central tower.

I'm very happy that that's turned out.

With half an hour to go till dusk.

(narrator) The falcons seem in no hurry to leave, but the nesting season will end in just two months' time.

(James) Hopefully any birds that are here will have moved on by then and they can carry on with the works.

♪ (narrator) In the glorious Worcestershire countryside, it's a busy morning for Severn Valley Railway Locomotive 43106, more commonly known as the Flying Pig.

It's being put through its paces on the 60-mile Heritage line by driver Bob and fireman Tom.

-Bright light, we're on!

-We're clear!

(soft music) One of the things that draws a lot of people to this railway is the camaraderie.

I mean, I can call Bob a miserable old git, and he'll agree with me.

(Bob) As long as he's steaming the water, that's all I'm worried about.

(Tom) Only on a good day, Bob!

(Bob) That's true.

Go to the white light.

(calm music) (narrator) Passengers looking for some steam nostalgia can enjoy wonderful views on board beautifully preserved vintage carriages.

♪ (woman) It's the atmosphere, the scenery, remembering things as a child with the steam and the sound.

It's just fabulous.

(man) I used to go trainspotting at the local station.

We used to like to inhale the smoke from them if we got half a chance.

♪ (dramatic music) (narrator) Conserving the heritage of the line while keeping it safe for paying passengers requires constant care from volunteers like Nick Yarwood.

(Nick) I have experience of construction.

That was my background.

Made a living for the best part of 40 years.

Now that I'm retired, I'm able to give some of my time to something which I really enjoy.

(narrator) On Nick's list of jobs today at Hampton Loade is a bridge just north of the platform.

-Hi, Philip.

-Hi, Nick.

Well, here we are, Bridge 23.

(Nick) We've got this zigzagging crack... -Right.

-...down the wing wall here.

(Philip) This is a bit like a zip you get with teeth that engage, so the stones are unzipping, basically.

(soft music) (Nick) Having a resident stone mason is an absolute bonus.

Philip has done work on lots and lots of structures up and down the line.

Often, when these problems occur and modern materials get used, that's not what we want to do, we're keeping the heritage of the Severn Valley Railway absolutely intact.

So it's great that we've got somebody with the skills who can help us do that.

(train chugging) (whistle blowing) (Nick) You can feel the vibration from the train.

(Philip) Yeah, it's quite a thump!

(Nick) You'll be able to feel that all right.

♪ Whilst we're here, we can put some stitching in the motor joints to help... (Philip) Tie it together?

That's the worst one, with the split through.

So yeah, I can replace that one, carve a new block.

We've got some stock of old stone up at Bridge North, so that'll be the same stone, same color, so you wouldn't notice.

(mellow music) (narrator) Last year, Nick and Philip were part of a huge effort to try and save one of the railway's most famous landmarks.

♪ A marvel of Victorian engineering boasting seven magnificent archways, the Falling Sands Viaduct was in peril.

(Nick) Over time, the original drainage in the structure had stopped working.

If we hadn't have intervened there there would have come a point where we could no longer run trains over it.

Not only would it have meant that the viaduct would have been at risk as a wonderful heritage structure, but also it would've impacted on the whole of the Severn Valley Railway.

♪ The solution was to re-waterproof over the arches.

♪ That has worked beautifully.

♪ (narrator) And the job unearthed an unexpected treat for engineering history buff, Nick.

(Nick) This lovely piece of rusty hardware belonged to one of the navvies.

It got discarded and covered over with the fill as they were building the viaduct.

That would have been in 1876 or thereabouts, and it didn't show the light of day until we came along.

Then it emerged, a direct connection with people who actually built that viaduct 150 years ago.

Isn't that fantastic?

(narrator) At the southern end of the line, the Flying Pig is approaching its final stop, Kidderminster.

(Tom) Crossing clear, Bob!

(whistle blowing) (soft music) (narrator) After a hot morning on the footplate, the crew are looking forward to their lunch break.

♪ (grunting) I enjoyed it!

Hope the passengers did!

-I think Tom did as well.

-Oh, yeah.

(Bob) Made it nice and easy for him.

Make sure I'm bang on time everywhere.

I won't be late.

♪ (narrator) And sticking to the time table keeps the station team happy, too.

(man) It's one of those jobs where everything's going to plan.

It's relatively straightforward and there's not much to do.

You earn your corn when it starts to go wrong.

(Tom) Well, Martin's known me since, what, five, six years old?

-Something like that?

-Yup.

Makes you feel very old.

♪ (narrator) With the morning run over, it's a chance to rest and take on water.

(Tom) It's about 27 degrees today, so on an enclosed cab like there is on the Flying Pig, it does get a bit sweaty.

But there are ways and means of overcoming that.

Stand in the line of fire.

Give it a crack.

(water pouring) Oh.

Refreshing.

(bright music) (narrator) At Dawlish on the South Devon Coast, work is underway on the second phase of an £80 million rail resilience scheme.

Phase two will add to the 400 meters of new seawall that has already been installed to protect this stretch of the line, which is regularly battered by violent storms.

The extreme weather has turned Dawlish into something of an online phenomenon.

Thanks to a series of cameras along the line, viewers around the world can now live stream events in this seaside town.

(man) It's so unique here.

Obviously you get seawalls everywhere where waves crash over and you get wet, but for them to crash over a train, it's like a theme park, I guess.

We've sat on the train and a wave has hit the train, come through the window, and we have been drenched.

People are screaming on there like it's a fun fair ride.

It's a really unique experience.

You've got the train driver's wipers going and they're trying to clear the windows and it's just breathtaking.

I think those fun fair rides are going to end once the whole of this seawall is built, but it's such a unique experience that I don't know it's shared anywhere else in the world.

(calm music) (narrator) Neil moved to South Devon to look after his dad, who had worked on the railways for many years.

Neil didn't share his father's passion for the railway, but every day he would walk along the seafront and was overwhelmed by the power of the waves hitting the seawall.

(Neil) The main reason I put the cameras in is for the storms.

That is what is so unique to Dawlish, and to actually get the waves coming over the seawall and hitting the trains, you just don't get to see that anywhere, really.

We've had the website crash so many times when the storms come, because people, as soon as they hear it's gonna be stormy down in the Southwest, they're logging on to the cameras to watch.

The camera down at San Remo Cam actually gets hit by waves, so the trains come past and the waves are hitting the camera, you can hear the waves hitting the microphone box, and it's quite an experience.

(waves crashing) (narrator) What started with a single fixed camera in 2014 has now grown into Dawlish Beach Cams, a 24-hour operation followed by 120,000 people around the world.

(Neil) People flocked down to the camera once it went live.

We put a little campaign on Facebook and it just went crazy.

Lots of people were flocking to the website to watch Network Rail start this rebuild and they're still here today continuing the work as a result of that storm.

(narrator) News cameras have charted phase one of the seawall construction.

Now he's planning for phase two with the Network Rail engineers who welcome the publicity for the new works.

-Hey, mate, how you doing?

-Hey there, Jack, -how you doing, all right?

-Yeah, not too bad, mate.

(Neil) Good to see you!

It seems like you've got a lot more concrete work going on here and quite a few more panels in place.

(Jack) That's basically getting us ready to start the recurve installation.

So in the next three weeks, the area that you can see in front of me should really be pretty much poured right all the way to the top of the facing panel.

(Neil) Oh, okay.

So when's the next time do you think I'll be down with the camera to show everyone what's happening?

(Jack) I'd like you here when we install the first recurve units, really.

You've got a great social media platform and the message that you try and give across is very simple in terms of what's happening, the engineering principles behind everything and-- Oh, absolutely, yeah.

I'm trying to keep everything positive, you know, that this is needed for the storms that come and it needs to last.

(narrator) One of Neil's Dawlish beach cams has no interest in wild weather or even trains.

Instead, it follows another local attraction.

(Neil) Black Swan Cam is with Dawlish Town Council.

We've done it together to try and get some nesting birds down there.

The main purpose of that camera is to zoom in on the nest in the middle of the brook and hopefully catch some black swans hatching live one day.

People love the black swans of Dawlish.

It's one of the things Dawlish is famous for.

(narrator) Recording 24 hours a day along this scenic coastline, Neil's cameras have been attacked by birds of prey, captured falling meteorites, and shared beautiful sunsets.

Through wind and rain, they've survived the storm conditions along the South Devon Coastline.

(Neil) I just wanted to find a way of capturing it, because the base and the boom when the waves hit this, it shakes, it's like thunder.

Unless you experience it, there's just nothing like it.

It's absolutely phenomenal.

(waves crashing) (narrator) The new seawall might put an end to waves crashing onto the track, but Neil's cameras will continue to film the trains along this stretch of the Riviera Railway.

(Neil) So my dad would be having a right laugh at me now.

He spent his entire life trying to get me into trains and I refused to take part, but now I know he'll be looking down at me with my cameras looking over the trains and him just laughing, saying, "I told you I'd get you into trains one day."

(soft music) (mellow music) (narrator) Winding its way through rural West Yorkshire, past historic (indistinct) villages is one of Britain's most popular Heritage railways.

♪ It takes visitors on a journey from a bygone age and skirts a wild moorland landscape.

Opened in 1867, the Branch Line was once part of the Midland Railway, serving at textile mills along its route.

Following closure in the 1960s, it was resurrected by local enthusiasts, and today, Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is run by a loyal band of more than 500 volunteers.

♪ Preparations are underway to mark the 50th anniversary of the cinema classic that put the railway and one of its steam engines firmly on the map.

♪ The Green Dragon, Locomotive 957 took center stage alongside a young Jenny Agutter in Lionel Jeffries' family favorite, The Railway Children, filmed here in 1970.

♪ (man) It takes quite a bit of getting going.

Once it gets going, it's really hot.

(steam hissing) (narrator) After an extensive six-year overhaul, the pressure is on to get the engine ready for the 50th anniversary celebrations.

(man) It's singing a bit.

It's not always a good sign when it sings like a kettle.

(steam hissing) (narrator) While Locomotive 957 played a starring role on screen, much of The Railway Children was filmed at the station halfway down the line.

(man) Oakworth!

(bright music) Oakworth!

♪ Oakworth Station!

(narrator) Oakworth Station is still preserved in the Edwardian Era and has been attracting railway enthusiasts and movie buffs for over 50 years.

(man) It's been so important to the line.

When the film launched in 1970, the passenger traffic on the line increased so much.

The place that the film has in the hearts of so many people, it still surprises me every day.

You know, we get people who turn up from many, many miles away just to come to Oakworth Station and to be on the platform and run up and down shouting, "Daddy, my Daddy!"

It's a wonderful thing to see, really.

(narrator) Assistant Station Master Jim Shipley remembers how Railway Children fever captured the local community.

(Jim) The railway volunteers at the time were heavily involved.

There's a lot of interest in the film, even after 50 years.

Nice scenery, steam trains, nice ending, what more do you want?

(narrator) The railway goods shed where everything from coal to livestock was once unloaded is currently being brought back to its former glory.

(Richard) The inside of it has remained pretty much untouched, so it's still got gas lights in there.

It's quite a significant building for the railway, but also of national importance, I would say.

(narrator) Commercial Manager Rebecca Atkins is overseeing the restoration, which includes some unique original features.

(Rebecca) So I just wanted to show you, Jim, the footprints.

Can you see the indentations there?

That's where the clerk would have stood at his desk.

Footprints from many, many years of standing in the same place.

(Jim) Every goods clerk should have shoes like that.

(laughing) (Rebecca) And I would expect he stood there because the stove that we're gonna put in would have kept him roasty toasty.

(Jim) This would have been an ideal location for him to be working in.

He's got--you can see down the line through that window into the yard there.

I'm sure he had a kettle on the boil as well.

(narrator) Work will continue at Oakworth Station as the railway prepares for the anniversary event in a few weeks' time.

(soft music) (dramatic music) Boasting dramatic coastal lines and picture postcard routes, Britain's railways travel over 20,000 miles of track.

Keeping the line safe are a team of Network Rail first responders, the Mobile Operations Managers.

(man) We're always on the lookout for any defects along the way.

It's vital that we keep it maintained and that we're in a position to respond if we need to.

(narrator) The Mobile Operations Managers patrol the network, answering emergencies and preventing accidents.

(man) We'll often get reports of trespassers on the line, but the problem is catching them.

Usually by the time anybody gets there, they're gone.

♪ (narrator) On the road in the Scottish Highlands, Alex Campbell's patch stretches from Inverness up to Thurso on the far north coast.

Today, he's training former signalman Jamie, who's recently joined the Mobile Operations Team.

(Alex) Trespassing, vandalism, train failures, we are kind of the jack of all trades as Mobile Operations Managers.

(narrator) This stretch of the railway runs through a remote and wild landscape of moors, mountains, and often treacherous coastal tracks.

(Alex) The rail network runs through probably some of the most beautiful scenery that you can get in the country.

It's got something special about it.

(narrator) Alex and Jamie are attending one of the railway's signature landmarks.

Stretching 1,800 feet across the valley over the River Nairn, the Culloden Viaduct boasts an impressive 29 archways.

Built in 1898, it was named after the famous 18th century battle and stands just a mile from Culloden Moor.

But Scotland's railway structures can attract unwanted attention from a surprising source.

(Alex) Out in the country, we've got the ramblers that may want to take a shortcut instead of walking a couple hundred yards down to a crossing.

(narrator) Alex is equipped with the latest technology to deter trespassers.

(Alex) We just check each of the propellers, make sure there's no nicks, we're all good for flying.

Take off.

(soft music) (narrator) Being able to operate the drone... -I'm quite happy.

-...allows Alex to access parts of the railway more quickly than he could on foot.

♪ (Jamie) Yes, how close in can we come from there?

(Alex) So I would say I want to be about 50 meters.

If there was a trespasser came on at the north end of the bridge, we would be chasing the trespasser coming down.

(narrator) Routine drone flights are a preemptive visual deterrent for trespassers, but today the line is clear, so Alex could use his drone skills to show off what the railway has to offer.

(Alex) We aim to come out every so often just to give new material for the social media team so they can then go online, give them updates mainly for tourists.

"Staycations" is the main word that they're looking for now, information on their Twitter feeds, Facebook, all these sort of media platforms that here's what you can do within Britain.

(narrator) He's been asked to capture a local service crossing the famous viaduct.

(Alex) I'm hoping to get a good shot of the train coming over the viaduct here and the scenic background there at the same time.

It takes a while to master.

You've got to have a one shot here.

It's not that I can get the driver to stop at this end of the viaduct and reverse back for me.

(narrator) Right on schedule, it's the 7:55 from Inverness.

(Alex) That's the train now.

So there he is.

Beautiful sunny pictures.

Stunning.

(upbeat music) As you can hear, they're above us now.

There we go, brilliant.

♪ (soft music) (narrator) The tiny Ross-shire village of Achnasheen lies on the scenic route from Inverness to the Kyle of Lochalsh.

Today, Mobile Operations Managers Alex and Jamie are doing a routine test of the points.

(Alex) There is only five passing points in the whole line.

And, this being one, we have to make sure that they are fit for purpose, that the points are oiled, the tools are there correctly, so it's all been proactive.

(narrator) If the automatic point system fails in this remote Highland location, they need to be fixed manually as quickly as possible.

(Alex) So there should be, at a minimum, one clamp, one scotch, and one pump handle.

(Jamie) Yeah, they're all there.

(narrator) So Alex and Jamie will carry out a manual override test known as clamping and scotching the points.

(Alex) This is the pump unit that will bring the points across.

Points here out they call hydropneumatic, which mean if a train's coming, points will come across themself, they're pushed across by the train.

The pneumatic will bring it back to its original point.

So if there's a failure safe, for instance, in the station, We both have to come out or the driver comes out and has to clamp and scotch the points.

So Jamie, if you want to clamp and scotch the points, please.

(narrator) Jamie is a new addition to the Mobile Operations Team, so it's an ideal chance for some on-the-job training.

The points are moved using a hand pump.

(Alex) You actually want it done quick, but you want it done right the first time.

(narrator) A block of wood known as the scotch is wedged on one side of the rails.

(Alex) You keep your fingers clear of the points the whole time.

You don't want any of that stuff coming back and trapping your fingers.

(bright music) (narrator) And a clamp is used on the other to hold them in position.

♪ (Alex) It's good, there we go.

(narrator) In remote spots like this, the line is at the mercy of the elements.

(Alex) We're wide open here, and the snow coming in, it's usually vertical and there's drifting.

We might do this in the wintertime where you've got around about six to seven inches of snow blowing a hooley.

(orchestral music) (narrator) But after 30 years on the job, Alex is happy, come rain or shine.

(Alex) The day that you don't enjoy coming out here is the day you want to leave the railway.

As an office window, you know, you can't ask for any more.

Brilliant job.

(narrator) Trainee Jamie has passed his test with flying colors.

(Alex) That'll be the point of no sale for restoring back to its normal position, a steady yellow signal.

Any minute now, there we go.

31502 Inverness West, over.

(man) 150, state your message, over.

(Alex) Line is clear and safe, over.

Coming out and doing the job, there's not a better way to learn, and if I was to send Jamie out on his own now, I could say yes, I have full confidence that Jamie can do this without asking for any help.

You know, I'm looking forward to getting cracking on my own, I have to be honest, you know?

I don't have to listen to Alex all day then, you know?

You're working on the next one's three o'clock!

On your way.

(laughing) ♪ (birds chirping) (dramatic music) (chugging) ♪ (narrator) In the heart of Yorkshire's Worth Valley, it's a special weekend for the Heritage line made famous on the big screen.

♪ Visitors are stepping back in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of cinema classic The Railway Children, filmed here on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

At Oakworth, volunteers have donned period costumes and the station looks just as it did in the much loved family film.

♪ (man) We thought we'd like to see where the actual platform, where they filmed some of the scenes.

I think they've done a lovely job here, actually.

(woman) It's just beautiful.

I absolutely love vintage things, so it's lovely to see the old-fashioned style, it's gorgeous.

(narrator) Today's visitors will ride on the railway's rarest vintage carriages pulled by its fleet of historic steam engines, and behind the scenes, the main attraction is about to make its debut.

(mellow music) ♪ After six years in the repair shed, Locomotive 957, the film's star engine, is taking to the tracks once more.

(whistle blowing) ♪ (man) Everybody remembers the Green Dragon.

♪ Well, it's gone through a major overhaul, a full steam test, new paint job.

It's caused a few headaches for a few people, but we've got there and we've managed to get it ready for today and relive The Railway Children.

♪ (chugging) ♪ (narrator) At Oakworth, the station team have preserved the style of the Edwardian era.

(Richard) We were so lucky that Lionel Jeffries decided to keep the name of Oakworth.

So all of the station scenes in the film were filmed here.

We tried to keep the station as it was around about 1905, 1910 partly because of The Railway Children connection, so we've got the signs on the fences, gas lights on the station platform.

Perks's office in the film was the ladies' room.

And we've got Perks's cottage over there.

So everything was set around this sort of area.

And we try and dress the station with period pieces, milk churns and oil cans and things like that that would have been out and about on the station around that sort of era, really.

(narrator) And the cozy waiting room and booking office have also been perfectly preserved.

(Richard) So in here, we can see the original gas lights.

The booking office, a bit of a time capsule in here, but everything is operational.

We've got our block bell for communicating with the signal box, we've got our telephone system that connects to the network, our safe here.

When the railway went into preservation, there was still the last day's takings in the safe.

(narrator) Down at the end of the platform, the goods shed has undergone a six-month restoration.

(Rebecca) The work that we've had done is now completed.

We've had the walls completely whitewashed, we've had the gas pipes completely changed so we can use our original gas lighting.

So it just gives a really nice ambiance within the shed.

We also have our Old Gents' Saloon.

It's 150 years old this year.

The chairs are original, some of the lights.

It featured in Railway Children, which is special for the railway.

(bright music) ♪ (narrator) A memorable scene from the film is being reenacted by the trackside.

(Richard) There's been a landslide and the children have to stop the train and avert a terrible disaster, and they wave Bobbie's red petticoat to stop the train.

So it's one of those nice little scenes from the film that we can manage to recreate for the public.

♪ (narrator) And the railway's famous green engine has played its part perfectly.

♪ Seeing Locomotive 957 back out on the line has brought a nostalgic splash of color to the day's anniversary celebrations.

♪ And riding behind the Green Dragon is a dream come true for film fans.

(woman) When I was growing up, The Railway Children was one of my favorite books.

When she started talking and she started saying "Daddy," I kept saying, "No, you've got to say, 'Daddy, my Daddy' like in the film!"

-You love trains, don't you?

-Choo-choo!

(woman) Choo-choo!

(laughing) (whistle blowing) (Richard) The film holds such a great place in so many people's hearts.

To enable them to come and experience the station the way it was in the film, it's great to see people's reactions.

♪ The public who visited today seemed to have got so much out of the visit.

♪ Seeing the station busy with happy passengers... ♪ ...it's why we do it and it's what it's all about, really.

♪ (chugging) (dramatic music) ♪ (bright music)