Tribute to the Western Region Hydraulics

When British Railways began to give serious consideration to the elimination of steam traction during the mid-1950s, the management at Western Region decided that their main line diesel locomotives would use hydraulic transmission, at a time that the other regions were concentrating on diesel-electric power. By the later 1960s tough there was a reduction in freight traffic and a need to standardise the rolling stock so inevitable the axe fell on the hydraulics. Although the reign of the hydraulics was brief it is paid tribute to in this collection by Tom Heavyside who has put together his own photographs with a detailed text telling their story.