After steam finished on the main line on 11 August 1968, something had to take its place; something modern, less difficult to maintain, and that was a natural progression. 'Modernisation' was the word. British Railways - and later privatised companies - developed other methods of providing power. In the follow-up to Remembering Steam, Paul Hurley and Phil Braithwaite take the reader back down memory lane, exploring traction from the very first locomotive to the latest colourful multiple units, and of course the preserved locomotives, lovingly restored to their former glory and working heritage lines across the country. With over 200 never-before-seen photographs, paired with fond and nostalgic captions, The Changing Railways of Britain is a book not to be missed.

Author Tom Ferris uncovers Wales' railway heritage through a series of four attractively priced pocket books, each one looking at a 'lost line'. Explore the line station by station as the history, heritage and social background of the railway and its passengers is brought to life using archive photography, some of it never before published. Lost Lines series includes: - Ruabon to Barmouth Junction ISBN 9781909823174 - Brecon to Merthyr ISBN 9781909823181 - Aberystwyth to Carmarthen Junction ISBN 9781909823198 - Machynlleth to Aberllefenni ISBN 9781909823204

The Somerset & Dorset Railway, known as the S&D (said to also stand for 'Slow and Dirty' or 'Serene and Delightful'), ran from Bath across the Mendip hills to Bournemouth on the south coast. Never a high-speed line, the main traffic for the Somerset & Dorset during the winter months was freight and local passenger traffic. In the summer, however, there was heavy traffic as Saturday holiday services from the northern industrial towns passed along the line. In 1962, John Betjeman travelled along the Somerset & Dorset from Evercreech Junction to Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea, making a BBC documentary called Branch Line Railway, in which he pleaded for the line to be spared from the Beeching cuts. However, despite an active campaign to save it, and the promise by the new Labour government that there would be no more railway cutbacks, on 7 March 1966 the whole line was closed. 2016 will see the fiftieth anniversary of the closure of this much-mourned railway; here in this well-illustrated book, the history of the line is preserved.

In this fourth and final volume in this popular series, Paul covers the remaining sectors of the Rail Freight business from 1968 to the present day. The types of traffic covered include: * Container traffic * Charterail * Channel Tunnel Intermodal * Chemicals * Nuclear traffic * Milk * Parcels, mail and newspapers Using predominantly his own illustrations Paul examines in detail the changing scene. 1968 saw the end of steam on British Rail and this in itself had a massive impact on the operation of Britain's railways. Gone were the labour intensive steam locomotive depots and many of the rural goods depots. In their place were new diesel and electric traction depots with a wide variety of locomotive types - cleaner to operate and more efficient to run. However many were experimental in nature and breakdowns were not un-common. Gradually even the larger Goods depots were being replaced with larger concentrated freight yards. New methods of handling the goods came in with the advent of containers designed to be used by rail, road and sea. Waggons were larger and carried higher and higher capacities, specialist loading and unloading facilities meant new traffic flows were needed as demand for movement by rail having gone through a massive decline began to recover and the industry is seeing considerable growth potential going forward.

Passenger Trains in the North of England features over 270 black and white pictures and takes the reader northbound from South Yorkshire and Cheshire to the Scottish Borders. Also covered in detail are a wide selection of pictures from Cumbria, West and North Yorkshire among others. We see main line expresses, branch line and local trains, plus special workings running along today's railways and lines that have faded into history. Steam, diesel and electric powered trains are pictured right across the North of England including industrial and city views plus a great selection taking in the highly picturesque locations of the northern hills and Dales. Embracing a period of 65 years the book features images from as early as 1957 right through the late steam era up to the present day. The stars of the book are obviously the trains of the past, but just as important are the top photographers who have kindly provided these high-quality pictures for your enjoyment. While the author has sneaked a few of his own efforts in, the main contributions come from the great names of the railway photography world including Gavin Morrison, Les Nixon, Peter Fitton, John Whiteley, John Cooper Smith and others.

Like so many youngsters in the 1950s and 1960s Alan Clarke was a keen railway enthusiast and spnt a number of years out and about with his ABC Combined Volume and his camera at various rail related locations up and down the country. Living in the middle of the country enabled young Alan to visit a number of British Railway's regions thereby gathering a wider range of locomotive numbers and types. Faithfully underlining them in his combine volume and when pocket money allowed taking pictures as he went along. These pictures form the basis for this second volume of reminiscences of years gone but not forgotten. The development of Alan's photographic skills unfolds before us in these evocative black and white images. Each image is accompanied by a detailed caption. The photographs are arranged in sections, one for each trip, with an explanatory introduction to each. The quality hardback Silver Link Silk Editions are limited print runs and are not intended to be available for long, so grab them while you can!

Very few diaries of directors and senior managers of the Big Four railways have survived to enter the public domain. There are, however, two notable Southern Railway diarists whose records have been available in archives for some years, but have been largely ignored by historians; Southern Railway General Manager Gilbert Szlumper and Director Leopold Amery. Their remarkable diaries are addressed in this insightful book, which gives a slightly different view of the company in contrast to the almost sanitised histories by some writers. The surviving diaries of Szlumper are far from complete. They begin in 1936 and continue into the war years, but there are several gaps. Throughout, Szlumper comments on individuals and developments, revealing little-known facts and the circumstances that meant he could never truly achieve his potential. Formally retiring in 1942, he died in 1969, after which his diaries entered the public domain. Leopold Amery was director of the Southern Railway from 1932. A Birmingham Member of Parliament for many years, he was a statesman of some stature, his high offices including Secretary of State for the Colonies in the 1920s. In his autobiography, Amery writes very little on the railway, although he does comment on its family atmosphere. His diaries, which are in the public domain in a Cambridge University archive, have been published in two volumes but Amerys fascinating business activities were omitted by the publisher, and like Szlumper he comments on individuals and developments. The diary information of these two exceptional men has been supplemented by information from the railway, state archives and other sources, and many of the photographs have never been published before.

Mind the gap and jump aboard this fascinating history of the world's oldest and greatest underground railway. On seven guided journeys, travel through time and observe at first hand the influence of great Underground architects, such as Charles Holden and Sir Norman Foster, and how the stations have changed - but also how many things have stayed the same.

This book is a companion to the work West Coast Main Line Locomotive Haulage and gives a flavour of the many varieties of locomotives and other rolling stock that have operated over the East Coast Main Line, including details of its creation and operation. Utilizing over 20 maps and drawings, useful information on line speeds and gradients is also provided. It explores the usage of both diesels and electric locos on this line, and ends with a reflection on what the future may hold for this invaluable route. With over 150 images, this volume is an all-encompassing look at locomotive haulage on the ECML.

The author writes: `My hobby has been model railways for many years, since I was given a Tri-ang Princess Elizabeth train set for Christmas as an eight-year-old schoolboy. Over the years I have gained much modelling knowledge from practical experience, and belonging to model railway clubs, quite apart from the wealth of knowledge gained from working on the `real thing' from a young post-school teenager through to my retirement. My first published book, The Newcomer's Guide to Model Railways (ISBN 98-1-85794-329-0) has I am told proved to be very popular and has given many readers a great helping hand in their hobby. So it has been deemed necessary that I should produce a second book, which would enhance the first without covering the same ground too much. While in these pages I write about generic items and often reference the real thing, there are many regional variations, and these cannot be taken into account within the confines of this book. Therefore I would recommend that, before starting any regional or era-based project, you undertake a good deal of research to gain the correct facts. Internet searches, books and perhaps visits to preserved railways or to the national network will usually reveal plenty of detail. If you are starting out in the hobby or returning to it after several years of absence and have not obtained a copy of The Newcomer's Guide to Model Railways, I suggest it might be an advantage to obtain one. I hope you enjoy the items you are about to read and hopefully they will help and possibly nudge you into producing a great model railway layout. Remember - think safely, then act.

Gordon D. Webster's latest title examines the renewal - and revival - of railways in the north of England. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the role of train travel in Britain forever. Gone were the swarms of rush-hour commuters to the city and the tourist season was dealt a very swift blow. New trains and new franchises signalled a new era on the East and West Coast main lines, only for trains to run empty as an emergency timetable took hold. Across the Pennines, the famous Settle & Carlisle line was devoid of its usual summer charter traffic, though 'Staycation Express' loco-hauled services proved a success. This photographic collection looks at the rails of the north before and after the pandemic in all their scenic glory. It also covers the heritage steam railways, which faced their biggest ever challenge during this extraordinary period in history.

The railway came to Peebles in July 1855. However, this small town in the Scottish Borders soon became the subject of a dispute between the North British Railway and the Caledonian Railway. The Peebles Railway, the first to reach the town, was taken over in 1876 by the North British. In 1855, however, the Symington, Biggar & Broughton Railway was authorised and, in 1861, formally absorbed by the Caledonian Railway. The North British responded with a new line from Peebles to Galashiels which blocked the Caledonian. In this book, Roy G. Perkins and Iain MacIntosh look at the two North British lines, from where the original Peebles Railway left the line south of Edinburgh to Galashiels, using a fascinating collection of modern and period photographs. Although the railways in the Borders were closed in the 1960s, sections of them are still in partial use as cycle paths and the new Borders Railway will also bring fresh life to parts.

The first global history of the epic early days of the iron railway   Railways, in simple wooden or stone form, have existed since prehistory. But from the 1750s onward the introduction of iron rails led to a dramatic technological evolution—one that would truly change the world.   In this rich new history, David Gwyn tells the neglected story of the early iron railway from a global perspective. Driven by a combination of ruthless enterprise, brilliant experimenters, and international cooperation, railway construction began to expand across the world with astonishing rapidity. From Britain to Australia, Russia to America, railways would bind together cities, nations, and entire continents. Rail was a tool of industry and empire as well as, eventually, passenger transport, and developments in technology occurred at breakneck speed—even if the first locomotive in America could muster only 6 mph.   The Coming of the Railway explores these fascinating developments, documenting the early railway’s outsize social, political, and economic impact—carving out the shape of the global economy as we know it today.

During 1990-94, many locomotive classes became extinct, but new builds helped to redress the balance. Speedlink ended, but the first Eurostars appeared. In the final year, 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened. All these developments and more are chronicled here, using superb pictures by some of the country's leading photographers to record the end of an important railway era.

This book on the Brecon & Merthyr, deals with the section from Bargoed to Pontsticill Junction, covering the line built by the B&M to join onto the section running north from Bargoed built by the Rhymney Railway, much dominated at the time by nearby Dowlais Ironworks. Included is the short section from Pant to Dowlais Central. It contains photographs of every location along the line, including many that have not before been published. The volume includes a fascinating account of the Pantywaun Marshalling Yard, operative until Dowlais Ironworks ceased production, when the B&M ran freight services to and from Pantywaun, before the many collieries and levels in the area were closed almost overnight and the location finally obliterated under the development of Cwmbargoed Opencast.

Covering almost every line in the country, this acclaimed series of books juxtaposes photographs of the same railway location separated in time by just a few years, or maybe a century or more. Sometimes the result is dereliction or disappearance, in others a transformation into a modern high-speed railway. In both cases, the contrasts are intriguing and informative. This volume includes: GWR main lines from Brent Knoll and Frome to Wellington and Whiteball; Railways around Taunton; GWR lines to Yeovil, Dulverton, Chard, Axbridge and Mells Road; the Minehead branch, preserved as the West Somerset Railway; the Somerset & Dorset from Burnham and Chilcompton to Templecombe; and, the LSWR main line from Templecombe to Chard Junction.

Norfolk has enjoyed loco-hauled passenger trains for many years, with Great Yarmouth being a popular destination for summer holiday services from London, the Midlands, and the North. While these summer Saturday' services gained a significant following from enthusiasts and lineside photographers alike, they have not been the only workings to bring unusual traction to the area. The fleet of diesel units based at Norwich Crown Point depot has often been stretched, with augmentation required to cover services on the Norfolk and Suffolk branches, and for special events. A wide range of locomotives have been used over the years on local services to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. These culminated in the hugely popular Greater Anglia short set', featuring daily workings from DRS Class 37s. They finally ended in September 2019, with the arrival of a large fleet of new Stadler units, and disability regulations requiring the withdrawal of the outdated Mk2 coaches. With 180 colour images, this title celebrates these workings from inception in summer 1994 to their finale 25 years later.

R.J. (Ron) Buckley's photographs show the changing locomotive scene taking place throughout the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire, illustrating from the later 1930s those pre-grouping classes that were still working. These included the work of such well known designers as Wilson Wordsell and Vincent Raven of the North Eastern railway, John Aspinall of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway and Samuel Johnson and Henry Fowler of the Midland Railway. Ron's later photographs, from 1946 onwards, continue to show remaining working pre-grouping locomotives and also portray the newer designs of William Stanier, Charles Fairburn, Edward Thompson and Arthur Peppercorn, as well as standard examples designed under Robert Riddles.