Andy Gibbs

In this volume Andy Gibbs returns to the Highlands, Lowlands and borders of Scotland with many more images of trains in the region. The journey starts in southern and south-west Scotland, travels through the central belt before continuing into the Highlands and finishing at Wick and Thurso. The 1970s and 1980s are periods of rail history often overlooked with British Rail seemingly in terminal decline and heavy industry falling by the wayside. Locomotives featured include classes 06, 08, 24, 26, 27, 37, 40, 47 and electric locomotives, as well as multiple units from the branch and commuter lines. Trains are pictured in spectacular scenery, sites of industrial decay and urban cityscapes.Andy Gibbs offers the rail enthusiast a vibrant selection of previously unpublished photographs documenting the Scottish rail scene in the 1970s and 1980s.

British Railways’ modernisation plan permitted individual regions to specify locomotives to fit their own requirements rather than opt for a ‘one size fits all’ policy. As a result, the Southern Region with its third rail network ended up with some very specialised locomotives. Its thrifty reuse and rebuild policy also affected this. The Class 09 shunters stayed entirely on the Southern until privatisation. The Class 71s and the rebuilt Class 74s were all bar one example scrapped very early on. The Class 33 and Class 73 have over the years trundled well off the Southern, and the fact that many Class 73s are still in everyday service after sixty years shows how versatile they are. Bi-modes decades before it became fashionable!In this volume Andy Gibbs revisits Southern Region locomotives and charts their spread across the country during the 1970s and 1980s with a variety of previously unpublished photographs.