This book takes the reader on a pictorial journey; in time from the early 1970s to 2020 and to places all around Scotland. All of the images are published for the first time. The captions reflect the author’s recollections and experiences from the platform end to more hands on railway adventures. As well as the everyday railway, there are insights into the preservation scene and steam on the main line. Starting in the days of BR blue and progressing through sectors to privatization the reader will find pictures of liveries, locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure that are no longer with us; ”inter city” livery, BRCW class 26s, HAA coal wagons and Semaphore signals at Stirling being examples. From a base in Edinburgh we travel to locations across the country from Wick to Carlisle, from the scenic majesty of the West Highlands to the industrial Central Belt. There we will see; diesels and electrics in a selection of liveries on freight and passenger workings, steam on the main line and visit sheds, stations and preserved lines. This includes some more unusual places such as Cameron Toll, Prestongrange and The Isle of Mull and buildings that have been demolished such as Mallaig steam shed, Grangemouth shed and Millerhill diesel depot. This book will provide; reference material, nostalgia for some enthusiasts, a look back in time for others and for modelers, inspiration for their projects. So come and enjoy the journey.
The age of steam is past, the heyday of Swindon Works is long gone – but the legend lives on. What made the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works iconic? Was it its worldwide reputation; perhaps its profound impact in shaping the new town of Swindon; or that it melded those who worked there into one big family? In a new and exciting format, this book, by popular railway historian Rosa Matheson, helps explain why the never-ending love story endures. With big facts and fascinating stories, it is a must read not only for ex-Works employees and their families, nor just for GWR fans and railway enthusiasts, but also for any newcomer seeking to find a good way into railway history.
A pictorial survey of the Class 14 locomotive’s twenty-year history in British industry. In 1957 the Western Region of British Railways identified a need for 400 Type 1 diesel locomotives for short-haul freight duties, but it was 1964 before the first was introduced. General-purpose Type 1s were being delivered elsewhere but WR management regarded these as too expensive for their requirements. After completion of design work on the ‘Western’ locomotives, Swindon turned to creating a cheap ‘no-frills’ Type 1. At 65% of the cost of the Bo-Bo alternative, the Swindon 0-6-0 represented a better ‘fit’ for the trip-freight niche. Since 1957 the privatised road-haulage industry had decimated BR’s wagon-load sector; whilst the 1962 Transport Act released BR from its financially-debilitating public-service obligations, the damage had been done, and the 1963 Beeching Plan focused on closing unprofitable routes and associated services. By 1963 the original requirement for 400 Type 1s had been massively reduced. Fifty-six locomotives were constructed in 1964/65. Continuing traffic losses resulted in the whole class becoming redundant by 1969. Fortuitously, a demand for high-powered diesels on the larger industrial railway systems saw the bulk of the locomotives finding useful employment for a further twenty years. This companion book to “Their Life on British Railways” provides an extensive appraisal of “Their Life in Industry” for the forty-eight locomotives which made the successful transition after withdrawal from BR in 1968/69. “Inside is the most extensive published work on Class 14s in industry with illustrations, tabulated data, complete dates and records, plus information and maps about the coal and steel sites at which they worked. Comprehensive.” —Trackside magazine “The amount of detail and level of research is impressive, and this series of books is invaluable for anyone interested in modern traction history.” —Railways Illustrated
Self-propelled carriages were a major innovation at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the GWR was quick to develop a large number of steam motor cars to link farms and scattered villages across the South West to the new branch lines. Their steam motor cars ran from 1903 to 1935, stopping during the war, and were so effective at making rural areas accessible they became victims of their own success. Wagons brought in to meet the high demand proved too heavy for the carriages and they struggled on hills. Soon the steam rail motor services were in decline. After its cancellation all ninety-nine steam carriages were eventually scrapped. Engineer Ken Gibbs reveals the unique GWR carriages, a window into early twentieth-century transport, and the modern replica he helped build, now the only way of viewing these charming historic vehicles.