Author Tom Ferris uncovers Wales’ railway heritage through a series of pocket books, each one looking at a ‘lost line’ of Wales.

Take a nostalgic steam-powered journey back in time on the line between Shrewsbury and Aberystwyth. By the early 1850s, Shrewsbury had become the important railway junction it remains to this day. The first line to serve the town was the Shrewsbury to Chester which opened in 1848, followed by the Shrewsbury & Birmingham (1849) and the Shrewsbury & Hereford (1852).

Includes an essay on the history of the line and photographs of its locomotives, trains and stations. Explore the line station by station as the history, heritage and social background of the railway and its passengers is brought to life using archive photography, some of which has never been published before.

Books in the series:

• Cambrian Coast Line
• Ruabon to Barmouth
• Aberystwyth to Carmarthen
• Brecon to Newport
• Vale of Neath
• Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
• The Mid Wales Line
• Chester to Holyhead
• Bangor to Afon Wen
• Rhyl to Corwen
• The Heads of the Valleys Line
• Conwy Valley Line

Written by Tom Ferris

'There are now eight books in the series, all in the same format and by the same author. 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