The Southern Railway handbook: the Southern railway 1923-47

The Southern Railway may not have been the most glamorous of the 'Big Four' companies that emerged from the grouping of 1923, but it was the great innovator.

In the 1930s the Southern pioneered the first main-line electrification and created the largest electrified suburban railway network in the world.

It was the first to have regular departures - so that passengers did not need to carry a timetable - and the first to run true international services, introducing the 'Night Ferry' through-trains from London to Paris using special ferries.

This authoritative book provides highly detailed reference information about the Southern.