BBC - The Railway Keeping Britain on Track (2013)Part 6 North of the Border

Documentary series which goes behind the scenes of the rail network, revealing the inner workings of one of Britain's biggest and oldest institutions.

Part 6: North of the Border

Keeping trains running on Scotland's rail network is a huge challenge as it passes through some of the UK's busiest urban commuter routes and stretches on through frozen highland mountains. With winter looming large, the country's train, station and engineering staff are entering their toughest season. When overhead power lines are ripped down by a freight train, it spells chaos. Yet even without engineering problems, this is a network under constant strain, particularly at Edinburgh's Waverly station. Yet what really makes Scotland stand-out from the rest of the UK are its vast and remote wilderness railways, such as the West Highland Line. Here, rail engineer Iain MacKinnon spends his days inspecting miles of mountain track on foot, clearing dead stags from the line and tightening every loose bolt that he finds.

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