Kevin McCormack - Böcker

This book is a gallery of more than two hundred photographs, including a colour section, featuring a selection of Great Western Railway/British Railways (Western) branch lines and similar services taken between 1900 and 1965\. The emphasis is pictorial rather than factual with the aim of using photographs provided by two transport charities as well as the author, all of which are unlikely to have appeared previously in print or on the Internet. Generally, images depict working trains surrounded by recognisable infrastructure, often with station nameboards visible. Such pictures should be of particular interest to railway modellers as well as invoking nostalgia for the older generation who were pursuing their hobby around the time the pictures were taken. Most of the branch lines covered were victims of the 1960s "Beeching Axe", with closure to passengers or complete closure coming even earlier in some cases. Most of the services depicted are steam operated although a few GWR and BR diesel railcars/multiple units are included. All the scenes seem to reflect a more leisurely way of life than exists today.

Glory Days: Western Region Steam Around London is a photographic tribute to the former Great Western Railway (GWR) in the post-war years up to the end of Western Region (WR) steam on 31 December 1965.There was certainly a great deal of glory to be found in the 1950s, especially in the second half of the decade, with the creation of new named express trains, the reintroduction of the old GWR chocolate and cream colours on express coaching stock and the adoption of green livery with full lining out on all classes of locomotive that were likely to haul passenger trains. However, by the last two years covered in this book, the locomotives were generally unkempt and had been demoted to menial tasks. Numberplates and nameplates had often been lost and it was very depressing to see them in this deplorable state.Explore the glory days of Western Region steam around the capital in this wonderfully evocative book.

In the 1950s and 1960s the railway system in Ireland became a magnet for enthusiasts from Great Britain who realised that, as on the mainland, a way of life was fast disappearing as diesel traction replaced steam and the size of the rail network across Ireland was shrinking. Much of the interest stemmed from the similarity with the railways in Great Britain. Also, the existence of several narrow gauge systems, two railway-owned tramways and some cross-border operators added to the fascination. This album covers those main line and narrow gauge railways in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland during the 1950s and 1960s, which were photographed in colour and the images used are believed never to have appeared in print before. Although most of the pictures depict individual locomotives or ones hauling trains, the opportunity has been taken to show some of the railway infrastructure of the period as well, since this is of particular interest to railway modellers.There has been a very active preservation movement in Ireland over the years, with many wonderful steam-hauled rail tours being operated that continue to this day, however this book will focus on the normal every day operations.