The Railway Grouping 1923 to the Beeching Era: A New History

When King George V ascended to the throne in 1910, world trade was increasing and at home the country’s private enterprise railways were booming with larger trains and more freight being carried than ever before. Over the next 50 years the country experienced two world wars. Railways had been forcefully reorganised, not once but twice, eventually becoming state owned. With the Government now in control of the railway’s finances, reformation was on the horizon in the medicine of Dr Beeching. This volume sets out to chart the passage of the railways during these turbulent times. Contrary to popular belief, life on the railways during these times was not all doom and gloom but times of innovation, competition, new buildings, new lines and the spread of electrification.