Backtrack | October 2013
Class 37s on the China Clay - colour spread by David Cable of the china clay trains in the late 1980s/early 90s.
'Heavier than Expected': BR's early Lightweight Diesel Multiple Units - A. J. Mullay shows how BR's earliest dieselisation programme centred on DMUs was largely successful.
Some thoughts on 'Claughtons' and 'Patriots' - David Pearson explores some of the economic and tax reasons which influenced the LMS in creating the latter design out of the former.
The Brighton heads East - Jeremy Clarke describes the coastal route between Brighton and Hastings.
From the Platform End at Paddington - colour spread of scenes in the 1950s taken by J. T. Bassingdale.
'All Lines lead to King's Cross': inertia and Revival on the Great Northern Lines - in Part Two Geoffrey Skelsey brings the story up to date with the completion of the recent redevelopment of the terminus.
All Gas and Turbines - some archive photos of the two experimental gas turbine locomotives of the early 1950s.
Steam in the North East - four colour pages by David Idle.
Stationary Locomotive Testing - Part Three - Adrian Tester describes the working of the testing stations.
The Main Line Stations of Manchester - four pages of archive photos.
Dover Marine Station - Paul Joyce presents some notes and photos of Britain's Gateway to the Continent.
Take a Drop of Water with it - three colour shots of engines taking water on West Coast route troughs.
The Humber Ferries, Grimsby and Associated Railways - described by Jeffrey Wells.
The London Railway Horse - J. D. Bennett looks at how the railways companies managed their equine workforces.
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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.
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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.
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Backtrack October 2013.