Vol 36 No 7 - July 2022

Backtrack

Britain's Leading Historical Railway Journal

Backtrack3 min read
Editorial
There’s a saying somewhere about death and taxes being the only certainties we have to encounter during the great adventure but the last few years have dumped more trauma and uncertainty upon us than we either want or can cope with – plagues, wars, p
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Backtrack
Publisher and Editor MICHAEL BLAKEMOREDesign + Repro Barnabus Design in Print● Typesetting Melinda Trevivian● IT Consultant Derek Gillibrand● Trade Account Manager Ann Williams ■
Backtrack19 min read
Steam-era Duties On The Southern
On 9th July 2020 it was 53 years since the last steam locomotives on the Southern Region worked in regular revenue-earning service, a full electric service being in operation to accelerated timings from the following morning. These had worked from ei
Backtrack19 min read
Railway Accidents On The Cornwall Line 1859-1900
This article does not intend to furnish a company or line history: there is already adequate reading material which describes the 53 miles 39 chains of railway between Plymouth and Truro, and the 11 miles 27 chains Falmouth branch. Such reading matte
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From Rugby To Peterborough The Heyday And Demise Of A Cross-country Route Part Two
In the remainder of this article the narrative uses the first person singular when describing the writer’s personal experiences. I lived in Lubenham in 1954-55 and then in Market Harborough, so knew the line well in its last years. At Lubenham, virtu
Backtrack21 min read
THREE LIVERPOOL & MANCHESTER RAILWAY CURIOSITIES
The Liverpool & Manchester Railway was the first modern main line railway, both in concept and operation. It was colloquially known as the ‘Grand Experimental Railway’ and to a point this was true – no-one had attempted to run a main line railway to
Backtrack20 min read
George Hudson Railway Villain Or Railway Visionary?
In an article published in July 1847, the Pictorial Times wrote of how men such as William Wordsworth, James Watt and George Stephenson had made their mark in life despite their lowly beginnings. However, the paper continued, there was one man who st
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Teddy Ashton Takes The Train
“Great and wonderful is man who conceived and constructed the railway train! It is almost alive! It flies along of itself, and carries its maker in its arms like a child! How beautiful! How glorious is the locomotive! The lightning on wheels! The hor
Backtrack6 min read
A South Eastern Journey From 60 Years Ago
“Some trains are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” (Malvolio, with apologies). In the last days of steam on the South Eastern main line, one train at least may, in the eyes of many enthusiasts, have achieve
Backtrack10 min read
Common User Arrangements For Wagons
Prior to the First World War, unless the customer was the possessor of privately owned wagons, the railway company accepting merchandise, but not necessarily minerals, for conveyance was expected to provide the wagon within which to carry the load. I
Backtrack3 min read
The Gwr Streamlining Experience
In 1935 the Great Western Railway was due to celebrate its centenary and the directors were casting around for ways in which some sort of a publicity ‘splash’ could be made. Streamlining was in vogue on the Continent and had already been used to a li
Backtrack14 min read
Readers’ Forum
The uncredited letter in the May issue was from Mr. John Bushby whom I’m now pleased to acknowledge Ed. I was interested to read Tim Graves’s article in BT April 2022 but I have to take Tim up on one matter of accuracy, which is nothing to do with ra
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Book Reviews
|★★★★★ excellent|★★★★ very good|★★★ good|★★ fair|★ poor| A Definitive Survey 1854-1966 by Tim Hillier-Graves, published by Pen & Sword Transport, hardback, 246 pages, £35. ISBN 978-1-52674-835-5. ‘Slow and Dirty’ or ‘Serene and Delightful’, the old S

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