It may be axiomatic to suppose that after the Nationalisation of the railways in 1948, wherever main line trains ran they did so on British Railways’ tracks, as opposed to the position prior to that w

ABOVE: Haymarket-based Class 40 D260 passes Falahill on Borthwick Bank on September 2, 1965, on the Waverley route as its heads south with a delightfully mixed freight for Carlisle. This line would cl

While there were undoubtedly many benefits for a single, nationalised railway, for customers there was one thing lacking: competition. For passengers, the car was a viable alternative in most cases, a

When ALFRED FISHER took off on a mission to ride the Tollesbury Line in Essex in the early 1950s, he had no idea of the drama to follow…

Overhauls, restorations and running notes

If there is one principle that has been absolutely clear in railway preservation, it is that nearly anything is possible. Whether it has been facing daunting engineering challenges, restoring locomoti