London Branch Railways

by John Glover

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 24, 1999

About the author

John Soursby Glover, Jr. is an award-winning actor of stage and screen.

Reviews

[Alasdair MacCaluim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glover's book looks at all of London's branch lines: central, urban and suburban whether now part of the "Big Railway" or the Underground. A full description and photographs are given of each branch line with a history and discussion of future prospects.

This is a great period piece looking at London's railways in a period of change in the late 1990s. This was a time when rail privatisation was new and just before the establishment of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. This was before the days of the London Overground and the Elizabeth Line and when Croydon Tramlink (now London Tramlink) and expansions of the DLR were under way.

It's interesting to see which future predictions from the book came true and in the end and which didn't.

While the book is outdated in many respects, the description of the Silverlink Metro (now replaced by the Overground) and of the various railways in Croydon which were replaced by the trams is well worth buying the book for.