The Last Days of Steam in Bristol and Somerset by Colin Maggs MBE

by Colin G. Maggs

Although diesel traction had been introduced to the county of Somerset as early as 1958 it was not until 1966, and the closure of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, that steam finally disappeared from the county. Here Colin Maggs has brought together a superb collection of photographs which retell the story of those last days of steam in the area. Depicted in this volume is the unusually wide variety of locomotive power which was to be seen throughout Bristol and Somerset during this era. Alongside the standard GWR and BR classes, are the many MR and LMS types which worked down as far as Bristol, some even making their way through Somerset. Here Southern and, very occasionally, Eastern Region engines were to be found, while the Somerset and Dorset line was the home of the unique class of 7F 2-8-0s. Accompanied by the author's informative captions these evocative pictures, often with a backdrop of splendid scenery, recapture the atmosphere of the end of the age of steam in Bristol and Somerset.

Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

About the author

Colin Gordon Maggs

Reviews

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read to research this post was Last Days Of Steam In Bristol And Somerset by Colin G Maggs which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. This book doesn't have a huge amount of information continued in it and is mostly photos with a bit of writing about each one. It does document the steam trains until their demise in Bristol & Somerset which started with the closure of the steam locomotive workshop at Bristol, Bath Road in 1964 and over a period of a couple of years the rest were closed. Diesel trains initially replaced them followed by trains like Deltics & HST's later on as they gradually got faster and faster. The county of Somerset mostly came under the GWR or Great Western Railway but there was a Southern Railway in the south of the county & a LMS branch line in the north which took in Bristol. At one time Bristol was the second biggest city in the British Empire and a great port. Minehead and other places became great seaside resorts with the popularity of trains and there still is a Butlins Holiday Camp there. Road transport was to be what caused the great demise of the railways in general. I enjoyed this book which is about what was a kind of heyday for Somerset & Bristol after all most people go abroad for their holidays although Bristol is still one of the most important cities in Britain. This book is a pleasant read.