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BackTrack December 2023

Steam Train Photo

BlueClearcell

BRITAIN'S LEADING HISTORICAL RAILWAY JOURNAL

December 2023 Journal

BackTrack Cover December 2023Across the Sea to Ireland - three pages of vintage Irish locomotives

From Teenage Clerk to Station Master - Michael J. Smith describes his father's work on the Metropolitan Railway from 1919 to 1965.

Reshaping British Railways as a Business - Geoffrey Skelsey revisits the legacy of Dr. Richard Beeching.

Great Central - Part One: Genesis to Maturity 1836-1957 - Stephen G. Abbott outlines the development of the GCR and its place in our railway network.

The Framingham Flier - Alistair F. Nisbet describes a Great Eastern branch in Suffolk.

When there was work to be done - four colour pages featuring the Great Central's outstanding O4 Class 2-8-0 freight locomotives.

The Joys of National Service - railway journeys recalled by Michael H. C. Baker

Railtours: A Retrospective View - taken by Paul Chancellor.

Pulverised Fuel for firing locomotives: Part Three - the concluding part of Miles Macnair's survey of alternative steam-era technology.

Eric Bruton up on the West Coast Route - archive photographs in the northern hills from the early 1950s.

Scottish Sub-Sheds colour photographs by Gavin Morrison at out-stations of larger locomotive depots.

Ardersier and the Fort George branch - a lesser-known Highland Railway branch described by Alistair F. Nisbet.

George Wakefield: The hymn-singing station master - Anthony Dawson introduces a North Staffordshire official with a wide range of community interests.