British Railways in the 1960s: Western Region

After WWII, Britain's railways were rundown and worn out, requiring massive investment and modernisation. The 'Big Four' railway companies were nationalised from 1948 and the newly formed British Railways embarked on a programme of building new 'Standard' steam locomotives to replace older types. These started to come on stream from 1951. This programme was superseded by the 1955 scheme to dieselise and electrify many lines and so the last loco of the 'Standard' types was built in 1960 - and the steam locomotives had been swept entirely from the BR network by 1968. This series of books, 'The Geoff Plumb Collection', is a photographic account of those last few years of the steam locomotives, their decline and replacement during the transition years. In this book, Geoff Plumb displays his pictures around the western region. The pictures are of the highest quality that could be produced with the equipment then available, but they do reflect real life and real times.