Backtrack | January 2024
BACKTRACK - VOL.38 No.1 - JANUARY 2024
Snow on Snow - three colour pages of wintry scenes by Gavin Morrison.
The 125th Anniversary of the Direct Railway Line from Aviemore to Inverness – the building of this route described by Anne-Mary Paterson.
Steam in Good Portions: Part One – Steve Leyland describes the working of the through coaches from Manchester to Glasgow in the last years of steam.
Great Central: Part Two – Stephen G. Abbott concludes the story of the GCR and the demise of most of its mileage.
The London & Brighton Railway’s first line – Jeremy Clarke describes how the railway first reached Brighton via Shoreham-by-Sea.
Celebrating ‘Jubilees’ – four colour pages of the popular LMS 4-6-0s in action.
Western Wanderings - archive photos by John Spencer Gilks of branch line scenes.
In the Line of Duty – Jeffrey Wells looks at some fatal accidents to railwaymen between 1880 and 1920 during the course of their work.
Colour Samples in South Wales – diesel locomotive livery variety photographed in colour by Rodney Lissenden.
The Turnberrry War Memorial – a footnote to the history of a famous railway hotel by Arnold Tortorella.
Closure of the First Part of the East Coast Main Line – Alistair F. Nisbet looks at aspects of railway policy in Fife and Tayside.
Thomas Elliot Harrison’s ‘Early Freaks’ – Rob Langham introduces some early locomotive curiosities.
The Swainsley Tunnel in the Manifold Valley – Mike G. Fell investigates an engineering project of the narrow gauge Leek & Manifold Light Railway.
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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
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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 January 2024.