Books by Patrick Bennett

No fewer than sixteen pre-grouping companies were represented within Cumbria's borders, seven of these in Carlisle alone. To the east of the mountains are the great Anglo-Scottish lines of the London and North Western and the Midland. Venturing across the Pennines were the transversal routes of the North Eastern Railway, from Newcastle to Carlisle, and Darlington to Tebay and Penrith. The Cumbrian coast presents a completely different picture. Here the multiple competing companies were concerned principally with the transport of coal and mineral ores to serve the huge industrial complexes to the west and south. The two principal coastal lines were the Maryport and Carlisle in the north and the Furness in the west and south. In the Whitehaven/Workington hinterland there was a number of other railways, all concerned with mineral extraction and transport. Lines penetrating the interior of the Lake District were the Coniston, Lakeside and Windermere branches and the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway that crossed the Lake District from west to east. In the north were the Caledonian with its main line to Carlisle and the short-lived Solway Junction Railway, and the North British with the Waverley, Port Carlisle, and Silloth lines. The Glasgow and South Western also ran trains into Glasgow. The history, development, and in some cases closure of each of these lines is described in turn, illustrated with a selection of photographs from different periods in their history.

Derbyshire is a county of contrasts, and the development of the railways reflect this. In Limestone Country in the west the LNW held sway with its railways from Ashbourne and Cromford to Buxton involved in the extraction of limestone. Meanwhile, in the east of the county, no fewer than four different companies fought over the lucrative business of coal carrying in the huge North Midlands Coalfield. From the historic railway town of Derby, the Midland Railway had routes south to London, west to Birmingham and north to Sheffield. In the north of the county was the MR's Hope Valley route, which included two of the longest tunnels in Britain. Further north still was the Great Central's Woodhead route carving its way through the gritstone. Altogether no fewer than six railway companies were represented in the county, including the Great Northern penetrating from the east, the North Staffordshire in the south-west and the Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway with its transversal Chesterfield-Lincoln line. A complex but fascinating story, told using previously unpublished photographs, this book charts the development of the county's railways from the earliest days.

1980 to 1995 was an extraordinary time for the railways of Britain, especially the freight sector. In 1980 there was a unified, monochrome railway. Freight traffic was still abundant, with marshalling yards active and many branch lines still operating. There were hundreds of collieries. In the early 1980s, Sectorisation arrived. The freight division was separated from the passenger side and further sub-divided into different freight sectors. New locomotives were introduced, and the older types started to disappear. As the eighties progressed, the freight sector was constantly changing. The mixed freight train became a thing of the past but new traffic flows developed, particularly in containers and aggregates. The coal sector steadily declined and branch lines became disused. In the early nineties three new freight companies were created in anticipation of privatisation and then finally privatisation itself arrived, with all freight traffic being taken over by an American company. It was a period of enormous change and adaptation, and the story is told here through the images of two photographers who were keen observers of the railway scene throughout the whole of this fascinating period.

A nostalgic look back at a time of great change on Britain's railways in the north of England and Scotland.