British Railways In The 1960s Western Region

An evocative collection of photographs covering the Western Region during a decade of great change. After the Second World War, Britain’s railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernization. The “Big Four” railway companies were nationalized from 1948, and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a program of building new “Standard” steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines, and so the last loco of the “Standard” types was built in 1960—and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. This volume covers much of the Western Region, as photographed by the author in his youth, often with limited time or disposable income but always with a passion for his project. While not a complete history, it offers a vivid illustration of how things were in the relatively recent past and imparts information through comprehensive captions, which give a sense of occasion—often a “last run” of a locomotive type or over a stretch of line about to be closed down. In simple terms, it’s a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever. Praise for the series “Profusely illustrated . . . impressively informative.” —Midwest Book Review “An evocative collection of views of the twilight of BR steam.” —Railway Modeller

After the Second World War, Britain's railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernisation. The 'Big Four' railway companies were nationalised from 1948 and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a programme of building new 'Standard' steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This programme was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselise and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the 'Standard' types was built in 1960 - and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books, 'The Geoff Plumb Collection', is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. Each book covers one of the former 'Big Four', in the form of the BR Regions they became: the Southern Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Great Western Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, including some pictures of the Scottish lines of the LMS and LNER. The books are not intended to convey a complete history of the railways but to illustrate how things were, to a certain extent, in the relatively recent past and impart some information through comprehensive captions, which give a sense of occasion - often a 'last run' of a locomotive type or over a stretch of line about to be closed down. The photos cover large parts of the country, though it was impossible to get everywhere given the overall timetable of just a few years - mainly when the author was still a schoolboy with limited time and disposable income to get around. Pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times. In simple terms, a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever.

After the Second War, Britains railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernisation. The Big Four railway companies were nationalised from 1948, and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a programme of building new Standard steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951.This programme was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselise and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968.This series of books, 'The Geoff Plumb Collection', is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. Each book covers one of the former Big Four, the Southern Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Great Western Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, including some pictures of the Scottish lines of the LMS and LNER.The books are not intended to convey a complete history of the railways but to illustrate how things were, to a certain extent, in the relatively recent past and impart some information through comprehensive captions, which give a sense of occasion often a last run of a locomotive type or over a stretch of line about to be closed down.The photos cover large parts of the country, though it was impossible to get everywhere given the overall timetable of just a few years mainly when the author was still a schoolboy with limited time and disposable income to get around.Pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times. In simple terms, a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever.

Steam on the Southern and Western is a personal record of railway views that were captured on black and white film in the late 1950s and 1960s, until the demise of steam on British Railways.The style of the book is the well-tried and- tested picture and captions format, and the majority of the pictures are black and white photography. Not every picture portrays a train as there are interesting branch line and infrastructure scenes to view as well. Furthermore, the book is intended to represent an eclectic mix of subjects and not to solely show main line scenes, for example.The book covers the Southern and Western regions of British Railways, with the Somerset and Dorset Railway included for good measure, as it fits neatly into the areas of the country for this volume. It also carries its share of photographs of British Railways standard locomotives in the locations appropriate to the regions. Where preservation starts to overlap with the still-active steam scene, some historic photographs are included.Photographs are grouped together by a particular location, for example, the Redhill to Reading line of the Southern, and Oxford on the Western. Each of these topic areas provides a flavour of the railway activity at the time. Overall, the book presents the reader with a gentle meander through the 1950's and 1960's railway scene and will stir the memories that so many of us have seen and still treasure today.

A “profusely illustrated” and “impressively informative” look at the end of the steam locomotive era on one of UK’s Big Four railway lines (Midwest Book Review). After the Second War, Britain’s railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernization. The Big Four railway companies were nationalized from 1948, and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a program of building new Standard steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books, The Geoff Plumb Collection, is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. Each book covers one of the former Big Four, the Southern Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Great Western Railway and London & North Eastern Railway, including some pictures of the Scottish lines of the LMS and LNER. Though not a complete history of the railways, the books bring a sense of occasion to the last run of a locomotive type or a stretch of line about to be closed down. Pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times. In simple terms, a look at a period not so long ago but now gone forever. “An evocative collection of views of the twilight of BR steam.” —Railway Modeller

This remarkable colour album of 1950s and 1960s images covers non-express trains working in and out of London termini, along with a selection of feeder services operating in roughly a 40 mile radius of the Capital. The trains featured are therefore semi-fast passenger, suburban passenger and freights. The advantage of casting the net beyond services in and out of London itself is to increase the variety of locomotive types and diesel/electric units featured, making the book a thoroughly interesting read.Throughout, photographs with identifiable landmarks, for example stations and signal boxes, are used wherever possible. Furthermore, every effort has been made to show a wealth of material which has never been seen before.London Local Trains in the 1950s and 1960s is an in-depth and well-researched account of the London railway scene, that meticulously charts their progress throughout the mid-twentieth century.

This book, covering the final years of steam on Britain’s railways, presents a wonderful array of over 200 color photographs, many of them previously unpublished. All the imagery is reproduced from original transparencies that have remained carefully preserved away from daylight since the day they were taken, so the original vividness of color remains – a rare quality. This book will delight today’s railway enthusiasts who are looking for new material.