Locomotives of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway: A Definitive Survey, 1854-1966

The Mendip Railway is a unique railway line that survived with the help of partnerships with larger, more secure companies, but suffered from inter regional rivalry and eventually closed. This heavily illustrated book traces its history and brings to life this singular, much-missed and loved railway.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 09 September 2021
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Even though it was closed to traffic in 1966, with most of its infrastructure swiftly destroyed by British Railways, this unique railway line still lives in the minds of many, some too young to remember it in its heyday. For more than a hundred years, it courted disaster and could have succumbed to overpowering financial pressures on numerous occasions, but it survived with the help of partnerships with larger, more secure companies, namely the Midland Railway and the London & South Western Railway. Later on, after the grouping in 1923, the line came under the control of the L M S and the Southern Railway. It was unfortunate that the line suffered in later years due to interregional rivalry between the Western and Southern Regions of British Railways, which led to its eventual closure. The variety of companies involved in its running meant that during its lifetime, the small pool of locomotives needed to service the line was supplemented by the best each partner could offer. So, from the beginning to the end, there were a myriad number of types of locomotive running over the Mendips, providing a lively variety of motive power. This heavily illustrated book traces this unique and fascinating history and brings to life this singular, much missed, and loved railway.

Weight: 1272g
Dimension: 247 x 258 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526748355