Lancashire's Railways 1978-present

Lancashire Railways depicts in colour photographs the changes to be seen on the railway network around Lancashire from 1978 to the present day. Spanning the end of the regional BR Rail Blue era, through sectorisation and privatisation, the book captures the huge variety of motive power in operation in this period, from diesel and electric locomotive-hauled services, to first and second generation DMUs and EMUs, as well as some industrial railways. The book covers the county’s network from its northern boundary, including Lancaster and Carnforth, to the West Yorkshire boundary, the Fylde area (Blackpool, Lytham etc), Central Lancashire (the Preston area, Chorley, Leyland) and West Lancashire where it reaches the current Merseyside boundary south of Ormskirk. Traditional former Lancashire towns of Bolton, Bury Oldham and Wigan which are now part of Greater Manchester are also included as well as the city of Salford. This photographic survey through more than 40 years of the railway scene in Lancashire will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of the railways in this county.

Martyn Hilbert lives in Preston and has had a lifetime interest in railways, which he has been photographing since the mid to late 1970s. He has written five books: Merseyrail Electric (2016), Network North West, (2017), Network Greater Manchester (2019), Class 142 - The Bus that Became a Train (2020) and Lancashire's Railways.