The Day of the Holiday Express
In the late 1950s, although steam operation was on the retreat throughout the country as the new diesel locomotives and multiple-units were being introduced at an ever-increasing rate, the traditional patterns of operation survived. This was the era before the sweeping cuts of the Becching era, when summer holidays were still taken in Britain and people reached their holiday destinations by rail.
In The Day of the Holiday Express Richard Woodley recalls what it was like on one summer's Saturday in July 1960, the 9th, for the Western Region. Examining both the long distance expresses, in particular those special Saturdays Only trains that travelled often at no more than a snail's pace to and from the great West Country resorts from the Midlands and the North, and the local services that interlinked with them, the author recalls in detail the events of that particular day and how the Western Region coped with the traffic on one of the busiest days of the year in this period of transition.
Information has been gleaned from many enthusiasts who were active on the day; the data that they have provided being put together, like a jigsaw. to provide the reader with a fascinating portrait of the nature of railway operation in the period between Modernisation and the Beeching era.
Fully illustrated with a superb selection of photographs, The Day of the Holiday Express is a unique exploration of Britain's railway history.
Hardback with dust jacket, 184 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good
ISBN: 9780711023949
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