Longmoor Military Railway - The Long Decline

Longmoor Military Railway started life as the Woolmer Instructional Railway in 1909 but expanded rapidly in WWI also changing its name to the now familiar term. This book is primarily concerned with the period after WWII when the military steadily became less reliant on railways and successive Government budgetary constraints steadily forced the LMR into a terminal decline culminating in closure in 1969. Due to being basically a self-contained system, the LMR became ever more popular with the enthusiast fraternity culminating in several hugely popular open days and associated special trains to the site in the 1960s. The final years saw Longmoor itself become home to a number of preserved steam engines although sadly the centre was later forced to close. The author is well placed to record the railway’s pictorial history having undergone junior officer transportation training at Longmoor, later returning to run the course as head of the Railways and Movements Division at the Army School of Transportation.