Southern Steam January July 1967

At the beginning of 1967 the writing was clearly on the wall for Southern Steam, with the intention of eliminating it altogether on the 18th June of that year. From the 2nd January, with the Brush type 4s working many main line trains including the Bournemouth Belle, steam was reduced to thirteen departures from Waterloo, three of which were in the early hours.From the 3rd April this was further reduced to just five day and three night time departures. However, by this time it was realized that due to late delivery of the new electric stock, the deadline for the demise of steam was put back to the 9th July and an interim timetable introduced from 12th June.Using information gathered from many sources, Countdown to Extinction chronicles the events of 1967, with the final five weeks in detail, including events that formed the background to the time.

This book is first and foremost the story of the enginemen and their steeds which brought the steam era to an end on the Southern. It is therefore primarily about locomotive performance but enlivened by stories about how that was achieved and also about the band of young men who followed the exploits of men and machines, day and night over those last two years. It includes a substantial contribution from an ex-Nine Elms fireman and many anecdotes about the enginemen. The book contains about eighty train running logs plus records of lineside observations, detailed descriptions of the work covered by the locomotives and crews from the various steam motive power depots, copies of the actual duty rosters posted at Nine Elms, together with a unique collection of about 150 black and white and color images taken in the 1965 to 1967 period covered by this book. It is the most comprehensive story of those last few years yet produced, and it is truly The Untold Story, a fine tribute to the enginemen who performed near miracles with their doomed and run-down fleet of locomotives, in the very different world of the mid–1960's railway, unequaled anywhere else in Britain.

This pictorial book covers London's railways from 1967 to 1977, showing the transition from steam to diesel and electric traction. This volume has a very readable narrative, telling tales of the authors adventures during his many trips around the London railway network. The volume encapsulates a period of time in Britain, during which a great deal of change was taking place, not only with railways and transport, but also socially and economically. Jim Blake, describes all of these changes, while also looking at the capitals transport scene of the period.

From the Edwardian golden age of steam to the present, the railway has captured the hearts and imaginations of the British people like no other mode of travel. In wartime and peace, along major routes and minor, steam, diesel and electric trains have carried commuters to work, families to holiday destinations and provided the means to myriad other adventures – the train a constant presence in an ever-changing way of life. A Century of Railway Travel presents one hundred years of the British passenger's story, using striking full-page imagery with commentary from bestselling author Paul Atterbury. From the open platforms of provincial stations before the First World War to the modern throngs at Waterloo on Derby Day, and from compartments that separated rich from poor and male from female, to the rise to dominance of modern standard class, this book depicts the rich tapestry of progress and heritage that has been the last century of British train travel. The coloured card ticket in your hand, the rough feel of the upholstered seats, and the call of the whistle, the scenery begins to move across the carriage windows of one of Britain's great steam-trains: with full-page illustrations and text alive with insight and nostalgia, this is a passenger's history of train travel in the last century.