With over 200 colour photographs this book provides an insight into an area of railway operations that has received little coverage up to now – diverted trains.
British Rail had a policy of diverting trains around engineering work where possible and this continued through to rail privatisation in the 1990s. Although rail replacement buses have become more common in recent years, diversion of rail services still takes place, both passenger and freight, but less often than before.
An interesting feature of diverted trains is that they would often use unusual motive power or run on lines which didn’t normally see that type of traffic. Some diversions featured electric traction being hauled by a diesel locomotive.
The author, Kim Fullbrook, has selected photos from his extensive collection to show diverted trains over a 40 year period from 1980 to 2020 with several other photographers providing additional geographic coverage. Both passenger and freight trains appear, mainly featuring diesel traction but also a few electrics.
The Class 47 was Britain’s most widely used locomotive for three decades and naturally features in many of the pictures, along with HSTs, but there are also plenty of other types of motive power portrayed. Certain locations are featured with similar views taken decades apart to illustrate changes to have taken place between the photographs.
Photographs are presented in one or two-per-page format with extensive captions accompanying each. An introduction to diverted trains over the last 40 years is also included. Hardback. 120 pages.