Backtrack  |  January 2016
January 2016
As it was at Manchester Victoria - Tom Heavyside's colour of the station in the 1980s/90s before recent reconstruction.
The Cold War: Part One - Malcolm Timperley describes the trials and tribulations of the railways during the bitter winter of early 1940.
Locomotives for the North West of Scotland - Following his recent articles on railway development in NW Scotland, Peter Tatlow considers the locomotives specifically designed for these lines.
Oswestry: Railway Town of the Welsh Borders: Part One - Jeffrey Wells describes how this once significant railway centre came about.
At Paddington - archive photos of the famous GWR terminus.
Spaced Out - Philip Atkins looks at some locomotive wheelbase oddities.
The BR Class 3 Tanks - five pages of colour featuring the '82XXX' 2-6-2Ts.
To Blackpool in 1967 - two colour shots of the North and South stations.
The Closure of the Potteries Loop Line - E. A. Gibbins examines the case against the Kidsgrove-Tunstall-Hanley route.
A Wheeltapper's Lot - Tony Robinson describes the duties of a somewhat misunderstood railway worker.
Bridging the Gaps - some fine railway viaducts photographed in colour by John Spencer Gilks.
Southern Airways: Part One: Flying Machines and Aerodromes - R.A.S. Hennessey considers the links between the Southern Railway and the growing aviation industry.
Farewell to Allhallows - David Idle photographed the last day of this Kent branch in December 1961.
Tiverton Junction - three colour photos by Steve Burdett in 1980.
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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 2016.