This book portrays the railway scene around Oxenholme, a busy junction station at the foot of the Westmorland fells on the West Coast main line, in the heyday of BR steam from 1957 through 1961. It aims to convey to the reader the many fascinations of the trains, train-working, and the daily challenges and goings-on – the things that motivated local enthusiast Alec Mayor to keep his unique and detailed records of train operation and time-keeping.
It was from these records, combined with his personal insights as a Carlisle train controller, that Paul Irving later compiled a fascinating narrative. Though express passenger trains are naturally at the centre of the story, local services, parcels and the many freight trains that passed north and south take their places too.
In Oxenholme: Trains and train working in the heyday of BR steam – through the eyes of Alec Mayor the author, John Pickup, has drawn on Alec and Paul’s work to transport the reader back to enjoy the interest and excitement of those days. Producing a book richly illustrated with Alec’s own photographs, accompanied by a track layout of the station and environs from the late 50s/early 60s, maps and images from the wider collections of the Cumbrian Railways Association.
13 colour and 68 black & white photographs. 48 pages