British Railway Southern Region Electrics In Colour

Bruce Oliver provides an overview of the great variety of EMU and electric locomotives that have graced the Southern Region for the last five decades. It will be of interest to modellers and historians, as well as anyone wishing to know more about the history of motive power in this region.

Comprehensive in its coverage, Modelling the Southern Region - 1948 to the Present presents an historical overview of the post-war Southern Region of British Railways before guiding the reader through a series of detailed modelling projects, illustrating all of the techniques and equipment required, from building freight, locomotives and architecture, to modernization, electrification and the third rail. These projects make use of the best available commercial model-making products and provide an introduction to scratch-building your own lineside items. Each project is supported by a short historical background section and suggestions as to how each project could be further developed. The result will be a set of models that sets the modeller on track for a first-class model of the Southern Region. Contents include: full listings of all tools and materials; an explanation of the techniques used and possible alternative methods; step by step instructions from simple to more advanced projects; a detailed but easily digestible approach to building both ready-to-run and kit-built items; techniques and ideas on how to construct those items not yet available from the model trade. This is an essential reference for all those who wish to build a model railway based on the post-war Southern Region of British Railways and is fully illustrated with 237 colour photographs detailing modelling techniques.

The Southern Railway between 1923 and 1939 was the only British company to carry out a sustained programme of electrification which became known as the Southern Electric. Unlike many recent projects, each incremental step was completed on time and within budget. This successful project was more impressive as it was achieved during a period of economic stagnation (including the ‘great depression’) and despite government disapproval of the method of electrification. The driving force behind this endeavor was the railway’s general manager, Sir Herbert Walker, but at his side was his electrical engineer, Alfred Raworth, the man one journalist described as an ‘electrification genius’. Alfred Raworth’s career began working with his father the eminent consulting engineer and entrepreneur, John Smith Raworth. Following the collapse of his father’s business Alfred joined the railway industry and devised an ambitious and innovative electrification design. This was discarded when the railways of southern England were ‘grouped’ into the Southern Railway after which he took responsibility for the implementation of the electrification schemes. With Walker’s retirement in 1937, those who continued to support steam traction took the policy lead. A marginalised Raworth retired but was later to witness the fruition of many of his discarded ideas.

British Rail was a success. It successfully carried millions of commuters to and from their jobs every day; organised its trunk route services to yield a profit under the brand name ‘Inter-City’; pioneered world-beating research and technological development through its own research centre and engineering subsidiary. It transformed the railway system of Britain from a post-Second World War state of collapse into a modern, technologically advanced railway. It did all this despite being starved of cash and being subjected to the whims of ever fickle politicians. British Rail, A Passenger’s Journey is the story of how all that was achieved, seen from a passenger’s perspective.

Electric Railways 1880-1990 explores the history of the integration of both electric and diesel-electric railway systems and identifies the crucial role that diesel-electric traction played in the development of wireless electrification. The evolution of electrical technology and the modern railway produced innovations in engineering that were integral to the development of traction, power and signalling systems. This book presents a thorough survey of electric railway development from the earliest days pf the London Underground to modern electrified main line trains. The distinction between 'enforced electrification' and 'economic electrification' is also discussed and the pioneering role of J.J. Heilmann assessed.

The latest volume in this best-selling series brings together some 175 colour illustrations that provide the reader with a visual record of the Southern Region's individual identity in the years after Nationalisation. The photographs deal with more than just trains and locomotives. In the style of the series, they go beyond these to explore details of the SR's infrastructure, the concrete stations and signal boxes, the green signage and the other elements which sustained that region's individual identity. This title is not just a picture book, it is work of reference for all interested in the SR in this era and to those modellers and preservationists who seek to recreate it either in full size or in miniature.