Backtrack

Backtrack, Britain's Leading Historical Railway Journal, covers all aspects of railway history from its earliest days through to more recent events up to around ten years before now including, early railway history from the 'pre-Stephenson' era, steam, diesel and electric locomotive history, railway company history, railway carriages and wagons, railway stations, railway ships, hotels & road vehicles, railway economic and social history, railway publicity and advertising. Backtrack's contributors include many of today's leading railway history writers. From the beginning the magazine has maintained a reputation for its production values and each issue contains a wealth of photographs reproduced to the highest standards, including a generous selection of historic colour. Published monthly, Backtrack is THE magazine for all who are interested in British railway history.

Editorial • In Town Tonight

SHAP SEASONS • An article in last November’s issue looked at the working of freight trains over Shap on the West Coast Main Line in 1965. Following the demise of steam traction on the ‘Southern’ in July 1967 the north west of England became the principal attraction for enthusiasts, especially the spectacle of steam over Shap Summit in Westmorland which reaches a height of 916 feet above sea level. Here are some atmospheric scenes around one of the most legendary railway locations.

BRIDPORT REMEMBERED 50 YEARS SINCE DORSET LOST ITS LAST BRANCH LINE

DELIGHT AND DESPAIR AT DUMFRIES IN 1965 THE DEMISE OF DUMFRIES AS A RAILWAY CENTRE

LAKE’S CHIEF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS SIR HENRY FOWLER THROUGH THE EYES OF CHARLES S. LAKE AND OTHERS • Continuing his series on locomotive chiefs MALCOLM COWTAN this time turns his attention to Henry Fowler of the Midland and later the London Midland & Scottish Railways.

THE BISHOP'S WALTHAM BRANCH PART ONE

FACING THEIR WATERLOO - ONCE MORE

GOING TO OBAN AND BACK • The west coast port of Oban was reached in 1880, fifteen years after the Callandar & Oban Railway had been authorised, a measure of the difficulty in engineering such a mountainous route. In 1965 the C&O route was closed between Dunblane and Crianlarich, after which trains to Oban travelled over the West Highland line as far as the latter place where a connection existed on to the Oban line. Some grand mileage was lost but a journey to Oban via the West Highland is still most certainly not lacking in scenery! GAVIN MORRISON is our photographic guide in this feature.

THE ‘CLAUGHTONS' • In 1913 the London & North Western Railway under C. J. Bowen Cooke introduced a new class of 4-6-0 express locomotives - the ‘Claughtons'. The most powerful of any of that railway's passenger classes, 130 were built up to 1921 but they were varied in their performance standards - not bad, but neither were they brilliant - and the LMS rebuilt twenty with larger boilers in a bid to improve them

GEOFFREY NORMAN WEBB

SPEEDLINK THE RISE AND FALL OF A RAILFREIGHT BRAND PART TWO

A TOTON PORTFOLIO

DECLINE AND FALL IN SOUTH WALES • Captured in photographs from the COLOUR-RAIL COLLECTION

PAINSWICK THE RAILWAY THAT NEVER HAPPENED • MIKE FENTON chronicles the four-decade frustrations of a Cotswold town which never made it on to the railway map.

TRAVEL WITH MY AUNT

Readers’ Forum • Letters intended for publication should ideally add extra detail to our articles (or offer corrections of course!) and not be too long, consistent with the detail they offer. As always, we are sorry that space and time prevent us from printing them all or sending personal replies. ED.