Western Region in the 1960s
The Western Region has always been of particular interest to rail enthusiasts because of the memories it evokes of the Great Western Railway. The main lines to the West Country and South Wales are prestige routes and some of the most interesting and best loved trains have traversed them. In the 1960s the Western Region, along with all of British Rail, was undergoing a radical change - the transition from steam to diesel traction which was a difficult and often emotional business. On the Western Region the changeover was made even more traumatic by the contentious choice of diesel-hydraulic locomotives rather than the diesel-electrics favoured by the other Regions. Furthermore the 1960s saw the implementation of the Beeching Plan and its proposals for the rationalisation of the system had a devastating effect on rural areas. This decade changed the face of the Western Region and almost every lingering facet of the old Great Western was swept away.
Chris Heaps, following the same effective style as his successful London Transport Railways Album, has looked closely at the Western Region and portrays in over 180 pictures and extended captions, the story of this important period of change.
Hardback, 112 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9780711011267
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Updated: 2 January 2025