Rails South West From Birmingham in the Late 20th Century, 1972-2000

Book excerpt: Towards the end of the twentieth century, take a photographic journey along the railway lines to the southwest and south of Birmingham. Starting at Birmingham's main stations, New Street and Snow Hill in the centre of the city, you can travel from the West Midlands through the urban, industrial, and rural landscapes of the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, visiting the branch lines and the various heritage railways and railway centres along the way. As well as the diesel locomotives and railcars that are illustrated in most of the photographs, various steam-hauled special trains are also included. While the railway has gradually improved as a means of transport, for the author it has become increasingly less interesting as it has been modernised. Fortunately, the spectacle of 'Peaks', Class 50s and many other locomotives going about their daily business has been well recorded, and many scenes are captured in these pages. Much railway infrastructure still remained at this time and many older railway stations and mechanical signal boxes, with their associated semaphore signalling, are also featured, adding to the interest of many of the photographs.