The 20 years covered by this book brought a step change in Britain’s railways. It was a time when Victorian-era steam locomotives rubbed shoulders with the latest diesel locomotives, and the advent of 35mm film enabled more images to be captured than ever before.

In this volume, the authors do not attempt to cover the whole of the London Midland and Scottish regions of British Railways, but provide glimpses of their favourite places to provide an appreciation of scenes that are now just memories, even on heritage lines.

Published in March 2024 by Amberley Publishing and written by Brian and Ian Reading, this soft-cover book measures around 16.5 cm x 23.4 cm, and has 96 pages, 177 illustrations, and 2 maps.

It has a published price of £15.99, but at the time of writing, it can be purchased for £14.39 from Amberley Publishing and for £11.92 from Amazon.

The book is arranged in six groups comprising: Market Harborough, London, and Shoeburyness; March to Derby via Stamford; Chinley, Manchester, and Shap Bank; Scotland; Bangor to Llandeilo via Shrewsbury; and Templecombe, the Lickey & Blackwell.

Maps are included to show the locations of photographs, with the locations rather needlessly colour-coded to show their group as that would be obvious from the maps themselves.

A mix of colour and black-and-white images reflect the changing times, and many views taken on engine sheds show how challenging life on the railway was before the wholesale elimination of steam by diesel and electric power.

Two maps show the locations of photos included in the book, but they also highlight great omissions, such as on the map below which shows that there are no photos between Stockport and Shap or between Bromsgrove and Bath.

The authors have also rather needlessly colour-coded the location marks, although the maps make it obvious in which sequence the photos are included.

The right-hand page is the first of a group covering the railways between Market Harborough and Shoeburyness, but the actual contents reveal the title is misleading as it includes just one photograph at both Market Harborough and Shoeburyness, whilst there are an overwhelming 22 taken at Willesden Junction; perhaps the section should have been titled southeast England.

The pages below are typical of many in the book, with many photographs showing locomotives in an engine shed setting rather than working for their living. These are just four of 22 examples taken at Willesden Junction shed.

As seen in the title, these pages are from the Bangor to Llandeilo via Shrewsbury section. As in other section, there is a great imbalance between the title and what the section contents, with just two photographs of trains on the Central Wales line to Llandeilo, but does include photos taken at Crewe and on the Shrewsbury to Stafford line.

The book’s sub-title is the late 1940s to early 1960s, by which time diesel locomotives were increasingly to be seen throughout the country. The photo on the right is the only example showing a diesel on an operational working and unusually shows a Peak piloting an Austerity 2-8-0.

To cover the largest region of British Railways in a volume of this size is a challenge. Instead of attempting to cover all parts of the region, the authors have provided a snapshot with a nostalgic selection of photographs in black-and-white and colour.

Insightful captions with a wealth of detail about the trains and locations add to the interest.

Many of the different classes that hauled trains during the period covered by the book are shown hard at work and on shed. A small criticism is in the choice of the section titles, such as the final section titled “Templecombe, the Lickey & Blackwell” which includes a photo at Bath as well as at Templecombe, and the superfluous inclusion of Blackwell as a suffix to the Lickey.

A little thought could have replaced the title with something similar to “Scenes from the Lickey Incline and the S&D.”

However, those are only minor criticisms, and overall the book is recommended for anyone who remembers the pre-diesel era and all things considered, this book merits a rating of 4.5/5.

The book is available to purchase from Amazon and from Amberley Publishing.

We would like to thank Amberley Publishing for providing us with a copy of the book for review.