This book illustrates the story of the railway between London Euston and Birmingham, from its 19th-century beginnings to the British Rail era of Rail Blue.

The book has seven chapters that start at Euston, and cover the sections from Euston to Willesden, Stonebridge Park to Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard to Roade, Weedon to Ruby, Northampton, Coventry, and Birmingham.

An eight-page introduction gives a brief history of the birth of the line and how he sourced the book’s photographs, many of which were taken by his father.

Many illustrations are from pre-World War II, and even pre-World War I, and there are pencil sketches from before the advent of photography.

Overall, the book covers the period from when the line terminated at Curzon Street station in Birmingham, through the creation of the London & North Western Railway, its absorption into the London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1923, becoming part of British Railways in 1948, to British Rail in the 1980s.

Published in August 2025 by Amberley Publishing and written by Martyn Hilbert, this soft-cover book measures around 165 mm x 234 mm and has 96 pages and 160 mainly black-and-white illustrations. 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 £14.59 from Amazon.

The pages below illustrate the development of locomotive designs over 60 years, from the London & NorthWestern Railway Precursor and Prince of Wales classes at the top left to the Rail Blue electric locomotive at the bottom right.

Most illustrations are black and white, but there are some colour images, such as those on the right below. However, in many cases, such as these, the colour reproduction leaves a lot to be desired.

In contrast to the previous colour photographs, the Coronation Class Pacific shown at the top right below merits its inclusion in the portfolio.

Although the subtitle of the book is 1837 to Rail Blue, the photograph at the top left below is one of the few illustrations depicting locomotives in blue livery.

With a title Euston to Birmingham 1837 to Rail Blue, it is reasonable to expect photographs depicting the route throughout those years.

In each section, the author has generally achieved that aim, with illustrations covering locomotive designs throughout the years.

Although Most black-and-white illustrations are of good quality, the reproduction of some colour images is sub-standard, with the colour almost washed out. Disappointingly, there are few illustrations depicting locomotives in Rail Blue, as suggested in the title.

Although the captions provide much information, they are often too personal and relate nothing to the reader, such as “Ray took a driving trailer car at Wolverton carriage works…” instead of describing the type of driving trailer car, or even who “Ray” was.

Despite the criticisms, the photographs generally provide a good historical record of the Euston to Birmingham line over its first 140 years, and deserve a rating of 4/5.

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

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