Although standard gauge railways – albeit of different gauges – came to dominate the railways of Britain and Ireland, there was also a considerable number of narrow gauge lines constructed throughout the British Isles. Whilst many of these were built almost exclusively for industrial purposes and never saw regular passenger service, a significant number from the Cambeltown & Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre, to the Southwold on the Suffolk Coast and the Lynton & Barnstaple in North Devon, carried regular passenger services.
Within the British Isles, three areas – Wales, the Isle of Man and Ireland – had the greatest concentration of narrow gauge lines and it was in these areas that the lines survived the longest. In Ireland, lines such as the County Donegal and Londonderry & Lough Swilly survived until the late 1950s and in Wales, a number of the lines survived into the postwar era and were to become amongst the pioneers of the preservation movement.
This new book will look in detail at the narrow gauge lines across the British Isles, illustrated with a comprehensive selection of both colour and mono photographs, the latter because a number of the lines featured had closed before the arrival of colour photography. Informative and extended captions illuminate the illustrations and provide a brilliant history of these interesting lines.
