Living life in the past lane

I always used to regard Class 31s as Western or Eastern Region locos. I most strongly associate them with depots like Old Oak Common, Finsbury Park, Stratford, Immingham or Gateshead. They were famili

This issue’s 10 Pictures comes from occasional Railways Illustrated contributor Chris Perkins. Born in the West Midlands, but now a longtime resident of the West Country, Chris was born in Birmingham

As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway, Emily Scaife explores the enduring bond between trains, rail lines and our great British countryside

Our next extract from Bradley’s Railway Guide: A Journey Through Two Centuries of British Railway History 1825-2025 takes us to 1948 and a change in railway ownership

Fifty years ago, BR allowed steam to run to Shildon under its own power for the big S&D 150 event. HOWARD JOHNSTON reveals that some invited engines – including National Collection ‘Battle of Britain’ Winston Churchill – didn’t make it.

Arguably, the British Railways of 1965 was not the same as that created in 1948, and yet in some ways it was, as there were some traditional operating methods and a staff mindset that had failed to ev