The 1960s was a decade of great change on British railways as it went through the changeover from steam to diesel and electric traction.

Steam passenger railways started and finished in Lancashire, where in 1829 the first passenger service from Liverpool to Manchester ran, and in early August 1968 the last British Railways steam-hauled services finished. Many pictures are taken in locations that have changed beyond all recognition, or have disappeared altogether.

George Woods shows steam in action and at rest in a large variety of locations in picturesque Lancashire, taking in both open countryside and urban scenes during the last years of steam operation, 1966 to 1968.