Rail Books

The privatisation experiment on Britain’s railways will soon be largely over as a new government takes passenger franchises in house – but there re...

Canals and Railways of Wiltshire A network of inland waterways criss-cross the length and breadth of the country. Constructed in the late 18th cent...

AC Electrics: 86, 87, 90 and DVTs Built in 1965–66, the 100 Class 86 electric locomotives worked passenger and freight trains on the newly electrif...

AC Electrics: 91, 92 and DVTs Following the electrification of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, 31 Class ...

Classes 20-27 Britain's Railways Series; By far the most reliable of the many types of early British Railways diesel locomotives, the Class 20s (or...

Class 37s, vol 2 The Class 37s have been in service for six decades and can still be seen in a variety of places. Most notable for the Class is the...

Class 56s and 58s Designed specifically for heavy freight operations in the UK, British Rail’s Class 56 was introduced in 1976–84. The first 30 of ...

Class 57s The Class 57 diesel locomotive was an outgrowth of the tremendously successful and iconic Class 47. Rebuilt from redundant Class 47s by B...

Heritage DMUs: The Final Years At the beginning of the privatisation era of Britain’s railways, there was a pause in new rolling stock deliveries. ...

Class 31s Perhaps overshadowed by more ‘exotic’ locomotives, the Class 31s played a significant part in British Railways’ Modernisation Plan. Inten...

Electrostar: Capital Commuter At the turn of the millennium, a large percentage of the passenger services around London and the south-east were ope...

Class 68s In 2009, Direct Rail Services (DRS) ordered a small fleet of locos designed to remain in service until at least 2036 to futureproof its c...

British Rail Shunters: The Final Years By the beginning of the 1990s, the variety that once characterised British Rail’s (BR) shunter fleet had all...

Class 73s Built in the 1960s, the Class 73s were primarily used on the Southern Region, owing to their ability to operate from either a diesel engi...

British Rail Shunters: From Corporate Blue to Sectorisation The role of British Rail’s (BR) diesel shunters was increasingly threatened by the la...

Class 33s In 1960, the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built a class of 98 locomotives, later to be designated Class 33s. They were c...

Japan’s Railways: Kinki to Kyushu At the start of the Menji Era, Japan emerged from its years of self-imposed isolation and quickly modernised. Par...

Japan’s Railways: Hokkaido to Chubu Japan’s first railway opened between Tokyo and Yokohama in 1872. Its railways were nationalised in the early 19...

Irish Railways: 100 Years The 100 years since the Irish Free State was set up in 1923 has seen enormous change, both in society and on the railways...

Class 159s: 30 Years’ Service By the late 1980s, the Class 50 and Class 47 locomotives working Network SouthEast’s West of England line from London...

Class 47s: Jack Of All Trades In 1962, construction of the first Class 47 began – the first of many. These ubiquitous locomotives were very popular...

Brush Type 4 to Class 47s – The First 20 Years It is 60 years since the first Class 47, No D1500, entered service with British Railways (BR). For m...

East Coast Main Line Locomotive Haulage The East Coast Main Line (ECML) runs from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, with branches to Leeds...

Class 47s: Inverness to Newquay 1986–87 In the mid-1980s, the winds of change were blowing through British Rail and often not for the good; the pac...