British Rail’s Scottish Region was somewhat set apart from the rest of the system and not just in a geographical sense. During the 1980s, it still had two classes of diesel locomotive that couldn’t be found anywhere else in Britain (the so-called ‘MacRats’, Class 26s and 27s) plus the added attraction of loco-hauled passenger trains that ran through spectacular scenery. The weather might not always have been so attractive (nor the summer season midges!) but these elements helped to make the country a place of pilgrimage for many railway enthusiasts from the south.
Using mostly images from the Arthur Turner collection, Scottish Diesels in the 1980s is a reminder of a time when the loss of steam traction from the network had largely been forgotten and when a new form of interest in the succeeding (though ageing) types of diesel locos was now very evident.
Photographs are arranged in chapters, each covering an area of the Scottish railway network. Photographs are mostly presented in one-per-page format, with extensive captions at the foot of each page. Hardback. 80 pages.