Backtrack | July 2015
July 2015 Journal
Cannon Street: The 'City Terminus' - four colour pages of Dick Riley's colour photos from the 1950s of one of London's lesser known termini.
Memories of a Nine Elms Fireman - Part One: Grime, Danger and Unsociable Hours - Life at London's main shed for the South Western main line in the 1950s.
'Deltic' Dawn and A4 Sunset - Alan Tyson looks at the arrival of the 'Deltic' diesels on the East Coast Main Line and the departure of the A4s to the Aberdeen route.
Britain's Railways and the Great War Food Crisis - Part One: A Hard Row to Hoe - Malcolm Timperley describes how the railway companies put railway land to productive use for the war effort.
Working Aberdeen's Harbour Railway - by Alistair F. Nisbet.
The Phantom Crampton - Miles Macnair unearths a 'freak' locomotive design from 1886.
Long live the 'Lanky' - four colour pages of LYR locomotives at work.
The 'North Atlantic' Coaches of the LMS Northern Counties Committee - Colm Flanagan describes some notables railways carriages from Northern Ireland.
Western Railtouring - 3 colour shots by David Idle of 1960s steam specials.
In and out of Waverley - Tom Heavyside's colour photos of Edinburgh's station and the Princes Street Gardens.
Inherit the Peace: Part Two: Transport Under Law 1919-23 - A. J. Mullay concludes his post-war survey of the 1918 Armistice and its effect on Britain's railways.
The Blackburn Railway 1845-58 - Part Two of Jeffrey Wells's early history of the Bolton -Blackburn line.
From the Pendragon Archive: In Great Eastern Territory - four pages of archive photos of GER locomotives.
Signalling Spotlight: Taff Vale Railway Signal Boxes - four colour photos, with detailed descriptions, by Paul Joyce.
Railway Passengers assurance Company - Mairead Mahon shows how passengers were urged to protect their interests.
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 2015.