Riding Yorkshire's Final Steam Trains

Journeys on BR'S North Eastern Region

Keith Widdowson

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2015
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• eBook ISBN:
  9780750973533
• Subtopic: Rail Transportation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Keith Widdowson visited the North Eastern Region on over 40 occasions during the final 18 months of steam. Most of the locomotives were neglected, filthy, prone to failure, and often only kept going due to the skills of the crew. The ever-dwindling numbers became corralled within the industrialized heartland of Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, and Normanton. Here he recalls that bygone era, stalking the endangered "Iron Horses" in their final habitats. He was often far from alone in his quest. The "Haulage-bashing" fraternity often congregated, lemming like, on the early morning mail trains, the holidaymaker trains, or the Bradford portions—indeed, any service with a steam locomotive at its front. This is a compelling snapshot of the race against time at the end of the golden age of steam.

Table of contents

• Title
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Chasing: An Addiction Explained
• 2 A Southerner Ventures ‘Abroad’
• 3 Planning the Attack
• 4 Here We Go
• 5 The Last Remaining Outposts
• 6 The Main Players
• 7 Disappointments Galore
• 8 The Alnwick Adventure
• 9 Where are Those Elusive Jubilees?
• 10 Riding Yorkshire’s Nocturnal Mail Trains
• 11 All Aboard the Rail Tours
• 12 Brief Encounters
• 13 No More Wakefield Portions
• 14 The West Riding Finale
• 15 And Still They Come
• An Afterthought
• Glossary
• Appendices Appendix I
• Appendix II
• Appendix III
• Appendix IV
• Appendix V Two Sample Summer Forays (NER Extracts Only)
• Appendix VI Railways Across the Pennines
• Appendix VII Preserved Railways in the North East of England
• Sources
• About the Author
• Copyright