Backtrack | July 2017
July 2017
The 'Night Ferry' - two articles by Arnold Tortorella on how its introduction was reported in 'The Times' and Allan Trotter on the final years of the service.
The Men from the Ministry - George Smith presents an account of a visit in 1826 by two Prussian engineers to learn about Britain's developing railways.
The Southern Gone West: Plymouth and its Branches - Part One - David Thrower describes how the GWR and LSWR came to Plymouth.
'Knights of the Southern Lands - five pages of colour of the famous SR 'King Arthur' 4-6-0s.
Down in the Lime Street Cuttings - John C. Hughes presents an illustrated view of the cuttings and tunnels taking the railway out of Liverpool's famous station.
The Marshall Meadows Tunnel Railway near Berwick-upon-Tweed - Roger Jermy uncovers a little-known industrial line on the Northumberland coast.
Atlantic Journeys - archive photos of 4-4-2 locomotives from six different companies.
On the London & Birmingham Line - four colour pages of latter-day steam on Britain's first trunk main line.
The Formative Years of the London & Birmingham Railway 1832-8: Part One - described by Jeffrey Wells.
The Great Western in Wirral: Part Two - Tony Robinson concludes his account of the GWR's route to the Mersey, ending with the demise of the Paddington - Birkenhead service in 1967.
Colonel Howard G. Hill and his two locomotives - David Harris introduces the man behind the American wartime 2-8-2 and 0-6-0T locomotives.
Some thoughts on Passenger Accommodation - a review of 'passenger experience' by Alistair F. Nisbet.
A Suffolk Tragedy - John D. Mann recalls a 1936 visit to the closed Southwold Railway.
read more
read less
The specialist magazine was first published in 1986 for the purpose of ‘recording the history of Britain’s railway’ - the magazine’s strapline - and it is now published by Pendragon Publishing. Dropping every month, Backtrack magazine is your monthly dose of railway nostalgia and historical insight.
35 years later and Backtrack has firmly established itself as the authority on topics such as the history of Britain and Ireland’s train stations, railway bridges, signalling, biographies, train services and staff recollections - all of which regularly appear in the magazine. Backtrack's contributors include many of today's leading railway history writers and the magazine has a reputation for being of the highest quality.
With a multitude of unmissable monthly features, every issue aims to chronicle and record part of the history of Britain’s railway system. Every issue contains a dozen or so large articles that focus on a particular line or area in British railway history.
Whether you’re into early railway history from the 'pre-Stephenson' era, steam, diesel or electric locomotive you’ll find every era covered in minute detail - from railway company history, railway carriages and wagons, railway stations, railway ships, hotels and road vehicles, railway economic and social history and railway publicity and advertising.
A Backtrack digital magazine subscription is your go-to for railway history:
- Britain's leading historical railway magazine
- Delving into the era of horse-drawn tramroads up to locomotives and rolling stock
- History of lines, the social, political, financial, engineering and labour aspects of the railway
- Archive black and white quality images and historical colour coverage of the railway scene
- The history of train stations, railway bridges, signalling, biographies and train services
- Contributors include many of today's leading railway history writers
- Delivered directly to your device every week
You'll receive 12 issues during a 1 year Backtrack magazine subscription.
Note: Digital editions do not include the covermount items or supplements you would find with printed copies.
Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Backtrack July 2017.