Backtrack  |  October 2020
Between Shrewsbury and Hereford - colour spread of Gavin Morrison's photographs on the scenic North & West Route in the 1970s/80s.
The Monster Excursion - Alistair F. Nisbet describes a Caledonian Railway works outing from Glasgow in 1898.
'Bulleid was a brilliant engineer but not a practical one!" - Jeremy Clarke takes a personal look at the work of the always controversial Southern Railway locomotive engineer.
"A Merciful Release after a Long Illness' - Geoffrey Skelsey's account of the end of the Mildenhall Branch in 1962.
JSG in South Wales - archive photos from the John Spencer Gilks collection on the valley branches.
The Llanfair Train - three colour pages featuring the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway during its final British Railways years.
Wolverton in the News 1838-1890: Part Two - Jeffrey Wells concludes his survey of the development of this railway town.
Steaming on Oil - A. J. Mullay explains the fuel conversion programme on Britain's railways in 1945-8.
The last of the Bury Electrics - Stewart Jolly's colour pictures of the last year or two of the Class 504 units before conversion of the Bury line to be part of the Manchester Metro.
Remembering Kimberley Station East - Richard Clarke looks back to his time as signalman on the old Great Northern in Nottinghamshire.
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 October 2020.