With stunning previously unpublished photographs documenting the end of steam railways of the G.W.R.

With a wealth of rare and previously unpublished images, Kevin Redwood documents this fascinating period in Britain’s railway history.

The South Wales Division was one of the three operating divisions of the Western Region. Explore the South Wales Railways in the 1980s with previously unpublished photographs.

In mid-1964, Keith Widdowson got wind that the Western Region was hell-bent on being the first to eliminate the steam locomotive on its tracks by December 1965. The 17-year-old hurriedly homed in on train services still in the hands of GWR steam power, aiming to catch runs with the last examples before their premature annihilation. The Great Western Steam Retreat recalls Widdowson's teenage exploits, soundtracked by hits from the Beatles, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones, throughout the Western Region and former Great Western Railway lines. He documents the extreme disorder that resulted from that decision, paying tribute to the train crews who managed to meet demanding timings in the face of declining cleanliness, the poor quality of coal and the major problem of recruiting both footplate and shed staff. This book completes the author's Steam Chase series and provides a snapshot into the comradery that characterised the final years of steam alongside the long-gone journeys that can never be recreated.

It could be argued that the great Western or 'Gods' Wonderful Railway' was for many years the most famous railway in England. Much of the railway that we see today was the work of one of the greatest engineers of his time, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The company was also served by locomotive engineers such as Gooch, Armstrong, Churchward, Collett and Hawksworth, who produced a series of locomotives that were well designed, elegant and powerful.Serving many holiday resorts of the south west, with trains such as 'The Cornish Riviera Express,' the publicity department exploited to great effect that the 'Great Western' was the 'Holiday Line.' It is probably true to say that in the years before the Second World War the company was producing some of the most effective publicity material in England.Using previously unpublished material from the extensive 'Great Western Trust' collection at Didcot Railway Centre, the book illustrates in both black and white and color many facets that made the Great Western 'Great"

New paperback edition - A narrative history of the most iconic railway company of the great age of steam.

Whitland to Pembroke Dock is the latest book in the West Wales Railways series which continues the previous South Wales Main Line series covering the line from the Severn Tunnel through to ends of the main line in West Wales. This volume covers the section from Whitland to Pembroke Dock, a largely agricultural and holiday line, centring on Tenby and Pembroke. The line was worked by Whitland depot which was a steam sub-shed of Neyland, with its own allocation, mainly of tank engines. These worked the Cardigan and Pembroke Dock branches until the former was closed under the Beeching closures of the mid-1960s, when the engine shed was closed under dieselisation in 1964. The volume of freight traffic was radically affected by the withdrawal of goods sundries and parcels traffic, but especially by the withdrawal of wagon load freight traffic in 1976, which had brought much Animal Feed and Farming traffic to the line. Like much of South Wales, the traffic is now purely passenger with DMUs though Summer Saturdays still sees a through train now with IETs to and from Paddington, carrying on the service from HSTs. The previous Pembroke Coast Express in steam and early diesel days was the prime train on the branch running to and from Paddington and is still reproduced in the modern preserved steam special workings.