Cumbria, England’s most north-westerly county, can be seen as something of a microcosm of what the railway is all about. Its distinctive geography and major economic forces in the form of mass tourism and concentrated industrial development, shaped the railways in the area. Cumbria’s lengthy coastline, indented by estuaries and rivers such as the Coniston, Derwent, Duddon, Eden, Esk and Kent, has added to the mixture and over the years has given rise to a splendid railway network.
Railways in Cumbria: A Snapshot from the Fifties and Sixties is an unashamedly nostalgic album that depicts the railways of the county. Despite the title, it uses images from as far back as 1939 and as recent as 1970, although the vast majority are from the 1950s and 1960s and the vast majority have not been seen in print before.
The book commences at the county town of Carlisle and radiates out in a largely clockwise fashion. Most of the county’s railways survived the Beeching axe, but several of those those that did close are featured in this volume. The famed Settle & Carlisle also naturally features, and there is a brief incursion into Lancashire at Carnforth, still a key gateway to the railways of Cumbria.
All of the images are black and white, and almost all are presented in full page format. The vast majority feature steam traction, although a few early diesels are also included. Informative captions accompany every image. 80 pages. Hardback.