The Changing Railway Scene: Western Region

This is part of a new colour series featuring the evolution of the railway scene on a regional basis, covering the period of prime modelling interest (effectively the years from 1948 to 1968 with an emphasis on the years after the Modernisation Plan of 1955). The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England and Wales. The region was managed first from buildings adjacent to Euston Station and later from Stanier House in Birmingham. It existed from the creation of BR in 1948, ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound-up at the end of 1992. The LMR’s territory principally consisted of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and the Midland Main Line (MML) south of Carlisle and the ex-Midland Cross Country route from Bristol to Leeds. The series will cover five major areas of operation starting with the London Midland Region and then going on to cover Eastern/North Eastern, Scottish, Southern and Western Regions. Each volume will provide a detailed overview of developments in the nature of train servies - both passenger and freight - in the region during this 20-year period. With specific details and illustrations relating to the many changing features of the railways during this important period, this book will appeal to all modellers and historians of the LMR.