Rails South West From Birmingham in the Late 20th Century, 1972-2000
Rails South West From Birmingham in the Late 20th Century, 1972-2000

Author: Peter J Green

Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport

Published: 2024-12-30

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1399058924

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Towards the end of the twentieth century, take a photographic journey along the railway lines to the southwest and south of Birmingham. Starting at Birmingham's main stations, New Street and Snow Hill in the centre of the city, you can travel from the West Midlands through the urban, industrial, and rural landscapes of the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, visiting the branch lines and the various heritage railways and railway centres along the way. As well as the diesel locomotives and railcars that are illustrated in most of the photographs, various steam-hauled special trains are also included. While the railway has gradually improved as a means of transport, for the author it has become increasingly less interesting as it has been modernised. Fortunately, the spectacle of 'Peaks', Class 50s and many other locomotives going about their daily business has been well recorded, and many scenes are captured in these pages. Much railway infrastructure still remained at this time and many older railway stations and mechanical signal boxes, with their associated semaphore signalling, are also featured, adding to the interest of many of the photographs.

Railway Renaissance
Railway Renaissance

Author: Gareth David

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-09-30

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 1473862027

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“David’s superb book looks at the defiant renaissance of such heritage railways . . . in contrast to Beeching’s vision of a streamlined railway network.” —Books Monthly When a 35 mile stretch of the former Waverley route from Edinburgh to Carlisle reopened on 6 September 2015, it became the most significant reopening of any UK railway since the infamous Beeching Report, “The Reshaping of British Railways,” was published in March 1963. In his report, Dr. Richard Beeching recommended sweeping closures of lines across the UK to improve the financial performance of British railways, which led to wholesale closures over the following decade and a reduction in the UK rail network from 18,000 miles in 1963, to some 11,000 miles a decade later. But since that low point was reached in the early 1970s a revolution has been taking place. Passenger traffic on the railways is now at its highest level since the 1940s and from Alloa to Aberdare, as well as from Mansfield to Maesteg, closed lines have reopened and the tide of Beeching closures has been gradually rolled back. Scores of stations have been reopened and on many of the newly revived lines, passenger traffic is far exceeding the forecasts used to support their reopening. In this comprehensive survey of new and reopened railways and stations across England, Scotland and Wales, Gareth David asks what it tells us about Dr. Beeching’s report, looking at how lines that were earmarked for closure in that report, but escaped the axe, have fared and reviews the host of further routes, which are either set to be reopened or are the focus of reopening campaigns.