The 55-mile rail route between Birmingham and Oxford is still an important artery for the Nation’s passenger and freight traffic. Trains from the north of England routed through Birmingham can gain direct access southwards to Reading, and thereby to the south coast.

The photographs in this book, though, recall a time up to the mid-1960s when it was an altogether different railway. These were the dying days of steam and of equipment and working practices developed from Victorian times.

An informative, accessible and portable resource for the train enthusiast as well as the general reader, and a superb souvenir or gift for visitors past and present.

Books in the Series:

• Birmingham to Oxford
• Ryde to Cowes
• The Cheddar Valley Line

Roger Norfolk’s interest in railways dates from the mid-1950s where the playground talk on a Monday was of the weekend of train spotting by the local main line. Ha later became a keen photographer, an interest maintained to this day. For many years he contributed to the SVR house magazine and has written articles for other magazines following his role as the driver of the Flying Scotsman on the BBC 4 TV documentary, Flying Scotsman From the Footplate.

The foreword and introduction describe succinctly and knowledgeably the history of each line, mentioning other lines it connected with. The route is then illustrated by carefully selected quality captioned photographs displaying much variety. Every photograph has a steam train in it and along with describing the location the author explains the features that caused that particular class of locomotive to be used. The device of bleeding the photographs to the edge of the page with no white borders is dramatic. Although he does not say so, these books are a celebration of the work of enthusiastic post-World War II railway photographers. [...] Good value for money for a wide audience.'Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society