Stuka Volume 2

It is now more than 40 years since the end of main line steam on Southern Region metals. Despite the passage of time, interest in the final years of SR steam remains strong. This new all-colour album will be of interest to those who experienced Southern Region steam in Surrey and Sussex during the decade up to 1967, all those involved in modelling SR steam and all those nostalgic for an era when steam still reigned supreme.Although the South Central division of the Southern Region was, by the mid-1950s, largely electrified as far as passenger services were concerned, there remained considerable amounts of steam traction still visible through until the final withdrawal of Southern Region steam in the summer of 1967. Apart from the main lines from Waterloo to Bournemouth and the West Country, which passed through north Surrey, much of the region’s freight traffic was also still steam- hauled until the introduction of diesels on these services. In addition, there was also steam over many of the non-electrified secondary routes and branch lines, such as that from East Grinstead to Lewes, part of which is now the preserved Bluebell Railway, where closure rather than modernisation was the order of the day.Roy Hobbs, a native of Redhill, recorded the contemporary railway scene in colour from the late-1950s onwards and his collection, supplemented by the work of other noted photographers, provides the foundation for this pictorial exploration of steam in the area between 1955 and 1967. Incorporating some 85 images, the majority previously unpublished, along with detailed captions, the book explores the considerable variety of steam-hauled trains that were still common even in the 1960s.