This album of 160 color photographs was taken in the Southern Region of B.R., which was formerly the lines constituting the Southern Railway. Bill Reed took the pictures between 1958 and 1967 during a number of visits to stations, sheds and areas offering attractive vantage points of locomotives. From Greater London in the north, at sheds and stations including Bricklayers Arms, Feltham and Victoria, to Brighton, Southampton and Bournemouth on the south coast. Dover and Folkestone in the south east were visited as well as Exeter, Yeovil and Wadebridge on the south west. The Isle of Wight is also included as the area was incorporated into the S.R. upon Grouping and later the Southern Region of B.R. This book contains a selection of photographs taken on numerous branch lines around the region and these are particularly evocative of the final years of steam under B.R. operation. From a modern perspective they also give an indication why there was such an eagerness on the part of B.R. for their closure. Many of the lines utilized locomotives that had been in service for a number of years and were perhaps coming to the end of their life span.

In 1955, the Modernisation Plan had just been issued which showed that steam traction's future was doomed. In the Southern Region many old classes had kept working due to the Second World War and the subsequent austerity period. No the SR 4-4-0 classes gradually disappeared, hastened by the 1961 electrification of the Kent lines. The Western Region had a more balanced engine set of 4-6-0s and tank engines, but was to see steam finish earlier. In this book, Tony Butcher's black and white images portray the poetry and the power of these living machines.

"A region-by-region look at remarkable 1950s black-and-white photography of steam railroading take by Robert A. Buck, George C. Corey, Gordon S. Crowell, John Gruber, Fred Matthews, Bob Meiborg, John E. Pickett, Gordon R. Roth, Jim Shaughnessy, Richard Steinheimer, J. William Vigrass, Philip A. Weibler, Ron Wright, and Richard H. Young"--Provided by publisher.

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.

In the days of steam each of the six British Railways regions had its dedicated enthusiasts, none more so than the Southern, a region of contrasts headed by the magnificent Bullied Pacifics. These comprised the 'Merchant Navy' class, all of which were eventually seen in rebuilt form, to the lighter 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' 4-6-2s. ......

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.

Nostalgic portrayal of steam locomotives in Devon during their last sixteen years of operation.