Cornish Traction

As the modernisation of the former British Railways moved forward into Railtrack and then Network Rail, various schemes to bring the West Country railway network up to date came… and went! Consequently, the far west of the network from Plymouth to Penzance became locked in a kind of time warp of semaphore signalling and cascaded rolling stock. During the last forty or so years, Cornwall has seen the demise of once common classes of locomotives and the introduction of the famous HST, Class 66 and Voyagers, though journey times have little changed - mainly due to the nature of the route, but the largest hindrance to an improved service, is the lack of signals. The signalling was over rationalised, though the issue was partially rectified with minor upgrade schemes. This book aims to bring back memories of traction once common, or not so common, on the rails of The Duchy.