Waterloo to the West Country

Using the extensive photographic archive of Rhys Jones, Waterloo to the West Country takes the reader on a journey from London to Penzance, predominantly using colour photography from the late 1950s and early 1960s. Following the former L&SWR line from Waterloo to Exeter, Bulleid’s Battle of Britain, Merchant Navy and West Country classes feature heavily, as well as newer British Railways Standards, other Southern Railway designs and some of the survivors from the pre-Grouping era. Beyond Exeter, via the route along the Dawlish sea wall and over the south Devon banks, Great Western Railway classes are in dominance. Some of the long-lost West Country branches and the “Withered Arm” of the Southern are visited along the way. All the photographs are accompanied by extended captions revealing detailed histories of many of the locomotives featured, and further anecdotal information. For completeness, in a few locations the archive images are supplemented by more recent images of steam operation.