Cold Railway Workers

Tough times on the tracks - the railway workers who kept the trains moving through the big freeze.

January 1963 was the coldest English month of the entire twentieth century. A news item in the typical vox pop style finds Tim Downes asking a group of railway workers how they're coping. But all the interviewees are West Indian and the questions assume that they are unused to cold weather. The monosyllabic response and lack of interest in Downes' questions from one of the workers is a highlight.

This item is likely to have been filmed in the Birmingham area although the exact location has not been recorded. The opening section is silent.