The 1950s and 1960s was a time of profound cultural and technological transformation. With images and vivid recollections, we journey back to the newly formed London Midland and Scottish regions of British Railways. We explore favourite routes and railway places, many now changed beyond recognition. Trackside, at busy stations, in and around depots – an evolving mood is revealed in pictures.In the 1950s, railway pride and optimism overcame staff shortages, Former LMS classes return...

With images and vivid recollections, we journey away from the main line to valleys, quarries and factories. Industries as diverse as slate, iron, paper, glass, food and tourism relied on dozens of small railways to keep people and goods moving. At quarries, factories and picturesque rural stations, Brian and Ian Reading explore scenes, many of which have now changed beyond recognition. This photographic tour includes the Isle of Man Railway, Stewarts & Lloyds Minerals at Corby, British Ind...

The 1950s and 1960s was a time of profound cultural and technological transformation. With images and vivid recollections, we journey back to post-war southern England. We explore favourite routes and railway places, with many since changed beyond recognition. Trackside, at busy stations, and in and around depots, an evolving mood is revealed in pictures. In the 1950s, railway pride and optimism overcame staff shortages, returning locomotives to pre-war performance and introducing modern B...

The 1950s and 1960s was a time of profound cultural and technological transformation. With images and vivid recollections, we journey back to post-war Wales and the Western Region of British Railways. We explore favourite routes and railway places, many now changed beyond recognition. Trackside, at busy stations, in and around depots, an evolving mood is revealed in pictures. In the 1950s railway pride and optimism overcame staff shortages, returning locomotives to pre-war performance and ...

The 1950s and 1960s was a time of profound cultural and technological transformation. With images and vivid recollections, we journey back to post-war East Anglia and the East Coast Main Line with many locations changed beyond recognition. Trackside, at busy stations, and in and around depots, an evolving mood is revealed in pictures. In the 1950s, railway pride and optimism overcame staff shortages; returning locomotives to pre-war performance and introducing modern BR standard classes. B...

The Flying Scotsman is probably the most famous railway locomotive in the world. It first caused a sensation for its beauty and its speed in 1923, and it soon became a national icon. The fastest and most comfortable way of travelling between London and Scotland, The Flying Scotsman only got faster and more luxurious as competition from other routes, airlines, and the motor car threatened. From 1928 it began running non-stop, an achievement that earned it yet more attention. This superbly i...

The name 'Great Western Railway' immediately conjures up images of Stars, Castles and Kings, the legendary express passenger locomotives that were the envy of the world in their day. However, the Swindon empire also produced extensive fleets of all-purpose tank engines - everyday reliable workhorses and unsung heroes - which were standout classics in their own right. The most distinctive and immediately recognizable type in terms of shape, all but unique to the GWR, was the six-coupled pan...

The Bristol Omnibus Company can trace its origins to 1875, when Sir George White formed the Bristol Tramways Company. The company operated its first city bus service, a horse-bus to Clifton, in 1887 and first introduced motor buses in 1906. Not satisfied with the vehicles that it had bought, in 1908 the company began to manufacture its own buses and soon began to sell them to other operators as well, Bristol buses being built for use both in Britain and abroad for 75 years. Bristol buses c...

ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL is famous for the engineering wonders he left behind - from the SS Great Britain to the delights of Paddington and Temple Meads stations, but much of what he designed has been lost. From the ships Great Western and Great Eastern to the majestic water towers of Crystal Palace, the Hungerford Bridge and the South Devon atmospheric railway, many of Brunel's achievements have been lost to rebuilding, fire, neglect and scrapping. What survives of some of these structures...

The Somerset & Dorset Railway, known as the S&D (said to also stand for ‘Slow and Dirty’ or ‘Serene and Delightful’), ran from Bath across the Mendip hills to Bournemouth on the south coast. Never a high-speed line, the main traffic for the Somerset & Dorset during the winter months was freight and local passenger traffic. In the summer, however, there was heavy traffic as Saturday holiday services from the northern industrial towns passed along the line. In 1962, John Betjeman travelled a...

For the last 150 years, every Londoner, tourist, and visitor uses the tube to explore and enjoy London. But behind the facade of ox-blood brick buildings and colourful diagrams lies a wealth of history and interesting facts. This book tests your knowledge in this area with 250 questions (and answers) about this incredible network.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the trains that took over as the Age of Steam was drawing to a close in the 1950s. Ideal for anyone interested in Britain's railways and the evolution of rail transport.After the Second World War, the drive for the modernisation of Britain's railways ushered in a new breed of locomotive: the Diesel. Diesel-powered trains had been around for some time, but faced with a coal crisis and the Clean Air Act in the 1950s, it was seen as ...