The historic Georgian City of Bath is not a place that most people would think of in connection with railways or heavy industry. In 1960, however, it still boasted two major stations, Bath Spa and Bath Green Park. Before nationalisation the former was part of the Great Western Railway, while the latter (known as Queen Square until 1951) was part of the London Midland & Scottish and Somerset & Dorset Joint Railways. These had always been seen by the GWR as interlopers that were siphoning off traffic from its own lines. By 1960 both stations were managed by BR's Western Region, which did little to encourage traffic on the ex-LMS and S&DJR lines. After BR's Modernisation Plan of 1955 BR(WR) started to rapidly dieselise its trains through Bath Spa while those at Bath Green Park remained largely steam-hauled. In addition, the Beeching Report of 1963 identified Bath Green Park for closure, a proposal that BR(WR) was soon to implement.
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The historic Georgian City of Bath is not a place that most people would think of in connection with railways or heavy industry. In 1960, however, it still boasted two major stations, Bath Spa and Bath Green Park. Before nationalisation the former was part of the Great Western Railway, while the latter (known as Queen Square until 1951) was part of the London Midland & Scottish and Somerset & Dorset Joint Railways. These had always been seen by the GWR as interlopers that were siphoning off traffic from its own lines. By 1960 both stations were managed by BR's Western Region, which did little to encourage traffic on the ex-LMS and S&DJR lines. After BR's Modernisation Plan of 1955 BR(WR) started to rapidly dieselise its trains through Bath Spa while those at Bath Green Park remained largely steam-hauled. In addition, the Beeching Report of 1963 identified Bath Green Park for closure, a proposal that BR(WR) was soon to implement.
The author was born in Bath in 1947 and, growing up in the suburb of Oldfield Park, soon realised that he was virtually surrounded by railways, so joined the groups of small boys who spent their free time pursuingthe then popular hobby of trainspotting. In 1960 the city's railways still owed much to the pre-war companies. Six years later the Western Region achieved its objectives of complete dieselisation and the closureof Bath Green Park. This book is the author's personal pictorial record of these changes.
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