Last Years Of Steam On The London Midlan

Extensively illustrated with photos, a history of the many locomotives that became part of this British Railways region. This book investigates the vast number of locomotives that came to the London Midland Region in 1948 upon the nationalization of the four largest railway companies in the UK. It is a class-by-class survey with over two hundred illustrations, covering all the top link and freight classes and also looking at the smaller types of locomotive, operating on branch lines and doing more humble tasks. The author explores what happened to them, and also looks at those that eventually made their way into preservation.

The book investigates the vast number of locomotives that came to the London Midland Region in 1948 at Nationalisation. This is a class by class survey with over 200 illustrations, covering all the top link and freight classes, also looking at the smaller types of locomotive, operating on branch lines and doing more humble tasks. The author explores what happened to them and also looks at those that eventually made their way into preservation.

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 This program was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselize and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the Standard types was built in 1960 and the steam locomotives had been swept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

The London Midland Region (LMR), which served central England, played a leading role in British railway history. This famous network linked many of the key cities and towns that were essential for British manufacturing and commerce - London, Rugby, Crewe, Chester, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. The LMR was always at the heart of the railway industry.

ALAN MAUND lived in Worcestershire all his life and had an enthusiasm for steam. He traveled extensively in Britain and built up a large railway photographic archive from the late 1950s onwards. This book is made up entirely of Alan's collection of photographs from across the Midlands. It will appeal to railway enthusiasts, modelers, and those with an interest in local history. Alan started using color film in 1959, and color slides make up the majority of these photographs. Many enthusiasts in this era had a policy of filming steam only and ignoring the new diesel interlopers, but not Alan; diesels do make appearances, and so do some early electric classes. A particular passion of Alan's was small industrial steam locomotives, and he restored a Kerr Stuart 'Wren' class 0-4-0 to working order between 1959 and 1961. So in addition to larger British Railways locomotives, their smaller relations are also seen across the Midlands. Alan passed on in 1983 and his widow, Wendy, gave Alan's collection of railway photographs to filmmaker and author Michael Clemens, whose late father was a friend of Alan's. Alan's collection lives on today at film shows around the country and now in this book.

ferroequinologist (noun) Someone who studies the 'Iron Horse' (i.e. trains and locomotives). From the Latin ferrus 'iron' and equine 'horse' + -logist As the British steam era drew to a close, a young Keith Widdowson set out to travel on as many steam-hauled trains as possible – documenting each journey in his notebooks. In Confessions of a Steam Age Ferroequinologist, he cracks these books open and blows off the dust. His self-imposed mission, that of riding behind as many Iron Horses as possible prior to their premature annihilation, led to hours of nocturnal travels, extended periods of inactivity in station waiting rooms, missed connections and fatigue. However, any downsides of his quest were compensated by the camaraderie found amongst a group of like-minded colleagues who congregated on such trains. This is a book that no self-respecting ferroequinologist should be without.