Book Description

In this new book Alan Postlethwaite has brought together a fascinating collection of facts and photographs to shed new light on the long history of the Southern Region of BR and its predecessors. The age of Southern steam was made of more than locomotives and trains- it also consisted of rolling stock, paperwork and all the infrastructure of a complex transport system. The book aims to illustrate these often overlooked aspects of the railway, as observed during the 1950s and the 1960s but with origins identified as early as the mid-nineteenth century. It covers the whole of the Southern area, from Kent to Cornwall, including the Isle of Wight and a selection of closed lines and stations. It also features rare and commonplace examples of station architecture, yards, sheds, signal-boxes, trackwork, bridges, coaches, wagons, electrification, signs, lamps, maps, tickets and notices, as well as railwaymen and their work. The author has drawn upon many untapped sorces and uncovers many aspects of the Southern which have been ignored in other works. This is entertaining and informative reading for anyone keen to unravel the background of the Southern and its predecessors.