Scotland still has hundreds of miles of 'dismantled railways', the term used by Ordnance Survey, and the track beds give scope for many walks. Some track beds have been 'saved' as Tarmacadam walkway/cycleway routes while others have become well-trodden local walks. The remainder range from good, to overgrown, to well-nigh impassable in walking quality. This book provides a handy guide to trackbed walks with detailed information and maps. It is enhanced by numerous black and white old railway photographs, recalling those past days, and by coloured photographs that reflect the post-Beeching changes. The integral hand-crafted maps identify the old railway lines and the sites of stations, most of which are now unrecognisable. The 'Railway Age' is summarised and describes the change from 18th century wagon ways and horse traction to the arrival of steam locomotives c.1830. The fierce rivalry that then ensued between the many competing companies as railway development proceeded at a faster pace is recounted. Although walkers may be unaware of the tangled history of the development of the railway system during the Victorian era, many will have heard of, or experienced, the drastic 1960s cuts of the Beeching axe. However, in more recent times Scotland has experienced a railway revival - principally in the Greater Glasgow area but with new stations and station re-openings elsewhere. The long awaited 30-mile Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank, the longest domestic railway to be built in Britain for more than a century, is something on a very different scale. Early passenger numbers have exceeded expectations and towns served by the line have seen significant economic benefits. Many railway enthusiasts cling to the hope that more lines will be reinstated. Meanwhile, those walks offer a fascinating and varied selection of routes that can fill an afternoon, a day or a long weekend - an ideal opportunity to get walking!

Glasgow is unique among British cities in that it has the largest rail network outside of London, and there was once a time when the city had four very grand stations - Central, Queen Street, St Enoch's and Buchanan Street. Two of these have gone and with them the heyday of the city's railways. Those times are captured for us in this collection of fifty-two photographs, accompanied by a history of each of the city's lines. The neighbouring region of Dunbartonshire is also covered and was itself unique in that Milngavie was the home of one of the world's first monorail systems. Stations featured in the book - many of them long gone - include Cowlairs, Possilpark, Eglinton Street, Buchanan Street, Dalmuir Riverside, Stobcross, Bellahouston, Summerston, Maryhill Central, St Enoch's, Partick West, Cumberland Street, the Singer Terminal (Clydebank), Rutherglen and Strathbungo.

By the latter part of the nineteenth century most towns along the Scottish Borders had acquired a rail service. Falling passenger numbers led to line closures beginning in the 1930s and continuing until today. This nostalgic collection of photographs illustrates many of the area's lost stations, along with historic rolling stock.

The infamous 'Beeching Axe' swept away virtually every Scottish branch line in the 1960s. Conventional wisdom viewed these losses as regrettable yet inevitable in an era of growing affluence and rising car ownership. This ground-breaking analysis of Beeching's flawed approach to closures has unearthed strong evidence of a 'stitch-up' - the Beeching Report ignored the scope for sensible economies which would have allowed a significant number of axed routes to survive and prosper.David Spaven traces the birth, life and eventual death of Scotland's branch lines, and outlines the controversial closure process through the unique stories of how a dozen routes lost their trains in the 1960s: the lines to Ballachulish, Ballater, Callander, Crail, Crieff, Fraserburgh, Kelso, Kilmacolm, Leven, Peebles, Peterhead and St Andrews.He concludes by exploring a potential renaissance of branch lines, propelled by concerns over road congestion and the climate emergency.Features rarely seen photographic material including 96 photographs and maps.

Michael Mather explores eastern Scotland's disused railway lines.