Scottish Railways, Then and Now
This major volume is devoted to the changing railway scene over the past 30-40 years features the Scottish railway lines.
The railways of Scotland had a distinct identity from those south of the border, with their origins in five of the pre-Grouping companies - the Caledonian, the Glasgow & South Western, the Great North of Scotland, the Highland and the North British, which operated almost exclusively north of the border. Even within Scotland, the lines operated by each of the individual companies could evince great variations of operation. The great industrial central belt - from Edinburgh to Glasgow - was largely dominated by the Caledonian and North British, but both of these also operated lines through the much more sparsely populated West Highlands. The Glasgow & South Western had suburban services in and around Glasgow, but also possessed main lines running along the coast to Stranraer and inland to Dumfries and Carlisle as well as serving the great Ayrshire coalfield. The GNoSR and Highland were both more homogenous, serving as they did the scattered rural communities of northern Scotland, but even these railways had considerable variety.
The creation of the 'Big Four' in 1923 saw both the LMS and the LNER involved in Scotland. A separate Scottish Region was subsequently created by British Rail-ways in 1948 and, today, most passenger services are operated by ScotRail as a privatised Train Operating Company. In his third contribution to the well-received and highly successful 'Then & Now' series, Gavin Morrison covers more than 300 different locations through the length and breadth of the country, exploring many of the most popular lines. Inevitably, the book records the numerous closures that have affected Scotland's rail-ways - most notably the Waverley route and the 'Port Road' from Dumfries to Stranraer - but many of the most popular lines remain open. There is also evidence of positive developments - such as the completion of the electrification of the East Coast main line to Edinburgh, the continued expansion of the Glasgow sub-urban electrified network and the revival of freight. Each pair of photographs comes with detailed caption information, providing the reader with a fascinating portrait of the changing face of Scotland's railways during the course of the 20th century.
Hardback with dust jacket, 256 pages, black & white illustrations
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9780711026841
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