British diesel locomotives of the 1950s and '60s

After the Second World War, the drive for the modernisation of Britain’s railways ushered in a new breed of locomotive: the Diesel.

Diesel-powered trains had been around for some time, but faced with a coal crisis and the Clean Air Act in the 1950s, it was seen as a part of the solution for British Rail.

This beautifully illustrated book, written by an expert on rail history, charts the rise and decline of Britain’s diesel-powered locomotives.

It covers a period of great change and experimentation, where the iconic steam engines that had dominated for a century were replaced by a series of modern diesels including the ill-fated ‘Westerns’ and the more successful ‘Deltics’.