They were the flagships of the West Coast main line for the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway and were made to compete with the famous streamlined “Pacific” class locomotives on the East Coast line. The Coronation locomotives were beautifully streamlined and considered the pride of the line for decades. This is the engaging story of the most powerful passenger locomotives to serve on the British Railways' network and the extraordinary saga of their preservation, eventual rescue, and their return to steam on the main line.

    Packed with hundreds of never-before-seen photographs, journey logs, trainspotting notebooks and ephemera, The Lost Joy of Railways is a vivid recollection of the whole atmosphere of the railways during that glorious era when we were trainspotters.Divided into the six regions of British railways, each chapter documents the favourite stations and engine sheds that were a magnet to the spotter...Western Region - Top spots include London Paddington, Oxford, Gloucester and Bristol Temple Meads, with a section on the miracles of Barry Scrapyard. Southern Region - Top spots include London Waterloo, Bournemouth, Exeter Central and Salisbury, with a section on Eastleigh Works which started life in 1891. Eastern Region - Top Spots include London Liverpool Street, London King's Cross and Doncaster, with a section on The Great Escape; only 50 former LNER steam locos have been saved for preservation, far fewer than any other 'big four' railway companies. London Midland Region - Top spots include London Euston, London St Pancras, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool and Carlisle, with a section on The Great Escape discussing the preserved locos from the LMS. North Eastern Region - Top spots include Leeds, York, Darlington and Newcastle, with a section on BR Standard Locos. Scottish Region - Top spots include Glasgow central, Edinburgh Princes Street, Edinburgh Waverley and Perth, with a section on BR Diesel and Electric Locos. Records of trainspotting trips and the final days of steam are also included, along with feature pages on famous railway photographers, schedules, works, scrapyards, dastardly diesels and essential clothing, equipment and survival kit for spotters.The Lost Joy of Railways is a time machine that will carry you back to those innocent, glorious years when railways were still an integral part of our everyday lives.

    A nostalgic guide to 50 of the most famous locomotives of the steam train and early diesel age, including the people, power and popularity that made them famous.