Backtrack | November 2025
BACKTRACK VOL.39 No.11 NOVEMBER 2025
LNER 2-6-0s on the West Highland - three pages of Gavin Morrison’s colour photographs.
Twilight of the ‘Patriots’ - Andrew James sets out a case study of these LMS locomotives in their last years.
Kilmarnock’s railways to 1922: Part One - Douglas McNaught presents a study of the traffic through this important Ayrshire centre.
A winter’s morning at Ryecroft in January 1978 - from the photographs of Michael Mensing.
Headlamps and Headcodes - Simon Lilley looks at experiments with lighting, glare and visibility problems in foggy conditions.
A Clapham Junction selection - colour photographs of steam and electric trains at this important South London hub.
Summer on the West Country branches - colour spread by Martin Smith.
‘A Popular Railway Chief’ - Gary Bonsall writes about a Great Central railwayman who rose ‘from lad porter to District Traffic Manager’.
Dugald Drummond - Impressions of the chief mechanical engineer, latterly of the LSWR, collected by Malcolm Cowan.
Accident on the Emett Railway - Alistair F. Nisbet describes a misfortune on a novelty railway at the Festival of Britain in 1951.
A Welsh junction with a telephone box - Peter Butler revisits Talyllyn station at the southern end of the Mid-Wales line.
A ‘Tramm’ to Scotland - Ross Tomlinson describes an unusual journey to Scotland with a permanent way machine in 1986.
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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
- 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 November 2025.