Over the Alps on the Watercress Line takes a nostalgic look back at  the Mid Hants operations on this switchback line.
Using archive and recently recorded video, we see resident and  visiting locomotives doing battle with the formidable gradients.
Also featured in this programme are some of the special events that are held on the railway each year such as :-
War on the Line, The Watercress Belle, The Diesel Gala, Footplate Experience, Santa Specials 
and many visiting steam and diesel locomotives in action on the 'Alps'

Available on DVD - Running Time 57 minutes

Brief History:
The Alton, Alresford and Winchester Railway Company, which later became the original Mid-Hants Railway, opened the line in 1865.
It started from Alton where it connected with the London and South Western Railway line to Guildford thence  later to London via Pirbright Junction and Woking.
The other end of the line joined  with the LSWR main route from London to Southampton, at Winchester Junction,  north of Winchester City Station.
From the outset, services were operated by the LSWR, who eventually absorbed the line in 1884.  In 1the 923 grouping,  the line became part of the Southern Railway,
which in due course  became part of  British Railways (Southern Region) at nationalisation  in 1948.

Watercress grown localy in the surrounding areas was taken to Alresford station and regularly taken by train to the top London hotels.
It was from this that the line is affectionately know at the "Watercress Line".
One of the main features of this charming preserved line line is its steep gradients which often proved a challenge
to the skills of the drivers and firemen - who referred to the line as going "Over The Alps".

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